Porsche aluminium bonnet damage - saveable?
Discussion
Hi all
Porsche 997.1 - aluminium bonnet. Ive been an idiot - had car on trickle charge amd didnt re secure bonnet. Flew up on me at 20mph
Fortunately wings and roof are ok but corners of bonnet are damaged
Spoke to a bodyshop ive used before - they havent seen it yet but suggested that ally is very difficult to manipulate back to shape....
Views on this please?



Dont really want to go new bonnet - would like.to keep all original as whole car is mint
Repairable?
Porsche 997.1 - aluminium bonnet. Ive been an idiot - had car on trickle charge amd didnt re secure bonnet. Flew up on me at 20mph
Fortunately wings and roof are ok but corners of bonnet are damaged
Spoke to a bodyshop ive used before - they havent seen it yet but suggested that ally is very difficult to manipulate back to shape....
Views on this please?
Dont really want to go new bonnet - would like.to keep all original as whole car is mint
Repairable?
That’s an easy repair for a body shop. Aluminium is tougher to repair than steel, it doesn’t have the same ‘memory’ as steel, so doesn’t want to pop back into shape and tends to need careful heat to get it to move, but that’s an easy repair.
Your problem is that although the repair is easy, to get it back to a factory finish the entire bonnet would need to be resprayed, unless you could live with the fact that on close inspection the paintwork is cracked in that corner?
Your problem is that although the repair is easy, to get it back to a factory finish the entire bonnet would need to be resprayed, unless you could live with the fact that on close inspection the paintwork is cracked in that corner?
Ouch. Aluminium in those areas is surprisingly soft. I've had my GR Yaris back from the dealer for service and found the left hand rear corner bent downwards about 4mm due to some idiot leaning on the car there or something. I just bent it back up.... But it didn't have a crease like yours, nor broken paint. You might have some luck with a PDR guy - getting those bits straight won't be too much trouble I reckon. Hopefully they can repair the cracked paint and save you having to get the whole panel painted. Obviously cost vs benefit of PDR vs trad body shop will come into play which you'll soon know if you get some estimates from both specialisations.
Decent bodyshop.
There are cracks visible in the paint in the pic you posted so after the metal has been reshaped it will need paint.
Likely small amounts of filler may be necessary.
Bonnets need the whole panel painted, trying to do small areas ends up with the edge of the new clearcoat usually being visible as a thin dull line. Once you've seen it it will bug you.
There are cracks visible in the paint in the pic you posted so after the metal has been reshaped it will need paint.
Likely small amounts of filler may be necessary.
Bonnets need the whole panel painted, trying to do small areas ends up with the edge of the new clearcoat usually being visible as a thin dull line. Once you've seen it it will bug you.
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