Damn it! How do you fix plastic bodywork?

[vette78]

After an extremely irritating experience with a concealed post last night (that'll teach me to park 'outside of a designated area') at my Grilfriends sister's school, i m now the proud owner of a dent in the back of my C5.

I seem to have managed to push the rear foglight in a bit, where it is now stuck, accompanied by a tennis ball sized dent in the body shell. Not knowing exactly the best way to deal with repairs on these things (the back end is plastic is it not? - certainly flexes like it is..) i'm after some advice.

VHR, I recall you had to repair the back of yours after a dodgy fuel map turned your tail pipes into a flamethrower - did you have to get a whole new back panel?

Any guidance much appreciated before I attempt to 'fix it' myself and necessitate an entire back end rebuild...

Chris

[te51cle]

You could try warming up the spot gently with a hair dryer, see if it pops bac to shape that way. You might be able to get a hand up behind it to give it some help. Be careful that it might be a bit brittle in this cold weather though.

[vetteheadracer]

Sorry to here about your misfortune.

I was very lucky that although the "flamethrowers" removed the paint, it did not warp the rear panel as it is a polycarbonate piece.

No idea how you reform your panel, but Mr T's idea of a hairdryer sounds like a good idea, plus I would use something inside the body work to help push the bump back out again.

[Viper]

if its polycarb you will need a lot of heat, I occassionally work with the stuff and forming it isnt easy, perhaps this is why Nigels flame throwers didnt do any damage

[vette78]

Hurrah!

Got a chance to have a proper look at it today and have managed to get it looking pretty much as it was.

What had actually happened was that the fog light had been pushed behind the plastic in one corner, thereby bending a bit of the back plastic into a dent and making everything look a bit awry.

I took the rear lights out and with my hand down the back and a bit of wiggling managed to free the fog light. I think the plastic has `remembered` the dent a little but it looks at least 90% and, I hope, will straighten itself out further over time.

Thanks for the advice guys - and another thumbs up for the Vette! They're more resilient than I thought!
I hate to think what would have happened to my old Cerbera - the body wasn't quite so flexible!

Chris