Can hail dents be repaired DIY?

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We had a really bad hailstorm last night and my hood has several small hail dings. I have full coverage insurance,but I`m wondering if there`s a way to actually remove the dings myself?
 
Yes, if you can get to them, and im sure youll get many replies, but the thing is, once paint/clear-coat flexes like that, in time it will peel and flake.
 
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Absolutely NO WAY !

It takes special tools, a specially trained technician, and a very special ability in the technician to do an acceptable job.

There are many dent removal specialists is most large cities and suburbs. A google search in our area is in order.

We once had a wagon that some punks rollerbladed over. I thought the car would be totalled. "Dentbusters" totally removed avery single dent and we could not identify where they once were. No painting, no body work, just paintless dent removal. Their work was amazing !
 
Hello, +1 on the new generation of dent removers. Simply pushing them back out (if you could) wouldn't take the stretch-of-the-metal into account. The first V70 I ever looked at 1,000 hail stone marks on it. Kira
 
I've seen the dry ice used but only on large flexible dents. Small pea Sized dents need professional care
 
Originally Posted By: CMMeadAM
Absolutely NO WAY !

It takes special tools!

For hail "dings" they basically use small picks to "massage" out the ding. But the sheetmetal, primer, base coat, and clear coat have all flexed, and in time it will flake and peel. Most hail damage repair people are fly by nights, just like "storm chasing roof repair men". Take it to a well respected local body shop, if you want a lasting repair.
 
If you have full coverage, let them do it. It's under the "Comprehensive" coverage line with either zero deductible or $50 max. It isn't charged against you like an at-fault accident is, so there's no real reason to take on something pros do really well and most of the rest of us do...well, not so well
whistle.gif
 
Have to disagree. Good Techs in this business have complete sets of tools to accomplish succesful dent removel. They are fsr from just "small picks."

And when done properly, the good techs use radiant heat to warm the paint and metal so there is absolutely no paint damage.

We had a show car damaged by hail and the then named "Dentbusters" chain removed every dent leaving no marks blemished or signs of damage whatsoever. Ten years later, there is absolutely no "flaking or peeling."

Taking a car to a body shop for dent removal is costly and totally unecessary when the damage can be repaired without painting.

Lastly it's totally untrue that most hail damage repair people ( Paintless Dent Repair ) are "fly by nights".......the storm chasers may be, but most in our experience are professionals and quite talented at that.
 
I'd say if you care enough about your car's appearance to ask this question, you wouldn't be very happy with your own DIY result. As has already been said, good paintless dent guys have extensive training, tools and a certain talent for the job.

Go to your local Nissan dealer and ask them who they use. Very few dealers do this work in house.
 
PDR should be able to fix you up good. I had hail damage back in 2003. Hail was almost the size of golf balls. More then 75 dents on hood alone. All were fixed no problem at all. Paint and clear coat is still perfect today. I bet my hood shines better then most people 1 year old cars.
 
Originally Posted By: clarklawnscape
Yes, if you can get to them, and im sure youll get many replies, but the thing is, once paint/clear-coat flexes like that, in time it will peel and flake.


Dont they respray with clear?
 
Originally Posted By: 45ACP
Originally Posted By: clarklawnscape
Yes, if you can get to them, and im sure youll get many replies, but the thing is, once paint/clear-coat flexes like that, in time it will peel and flake.


Dont they respray with clear?


45, do you have real experience on this? My paint and clear coat have zero issues for 9 years and I think the company told me lifetime warranty on their work.
 
Im not saying all are fly by nights, but we get alot of hail here in the spring, and all of these people (roofers and dentless hail auto repair) people just "show up" out of nowhere and they do normally offer some type of "warranty", but its hard to get any warranty work actually done in lets say Indiana, when theyre out in lets say New York (chasing the storm) tomorrow. I'm not saying they dont do good work, it does appear flawless, but ive seen plenty of flaking paint on cars that have had dentless repairs done. Of course theres always an exception, as i too have seen these repairs (few) last. Imo its a coin toss. A coin toss that im not willing to make.
 
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No, I've never seen them use suction cups, and they don't respray any clear either. They usually won't touch a dent that has the paint chipped or cracked off. If you have one of those, they'll point it out to you and tell you they can remove the dent, but the paint blemish will remain. If there is just a small chip they can touch it up so it's barely seen.

Paintless dent repair only works successfully when the paint is not damaged where the dent is. And we;ve had them work on a couple of cars with factory lacquer paint that is 42 years old with outstanding results. ( They heated the body panels and paint with carefully placed heat lamps so as not to damage the original paint. And.....the technician was an ARTIST ! )

As I've stated, it takes very specially trained people with special tools and a talent to do the work.
 
If primer, sealer, base coat, and clear coat is designed to flex (ding). I wonder why finish companies offer (optional) FLEX additives, heres an insert per DuPont.........................
DuPont, Flex Additives

Plas-StickT Flex-Additive 2350S
Description
Plas-StickT Flex-Additive 2350S is designed for use in selected ChromaSystemT undercoat, single-stage and clearcoat products. 2350S is part of a system of products designed to improve the adhesion, chip resistance and flexibility of ChromaSystemT products.

General Information
Components:
2350S - Plas-StickT Flex-Additive is for use with the following products:
DuPont URO® Primer-Filler
ChromaPremierT Sealer
ChromaOne® Single-Stage
ChromaPremierT Single-Stage
ChromaClear Clearcoats
ChromaPremierT Clearcoats
 
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I have painted numerous cars in my life, and dont simply say things to satisfy people. So, like I said, top coats (paints, clears) and undercoats (primers) are not designed to flex!!! Every vehicle Ive painted since 04, I have added flex agents to prevent future problems that I'm referencing. Normally (current factory finshises) these additives are used only on plastic parts to allow for flexing that I have described in each of my posts. Heres another insert from Martinsenour paints (for those whom know nothing about auto finishes its NAPAS house brand made by sherwin williams)............................
Martin-Senour Urethane Flexible Additive 3084 offers you the advantage of one flexible additive for acrylic lacquer,
acrylic enamel, polyurethane enamel, acrylic urethane enamel, and primer-surfacers. It adds flexibility to each of
these systems. Plus, it’s easy to use and can be applied over a wide variety of semi-rigid and flexible plastic parts.
It offers the following benefits:
• Convenience of stocking just one additive for many different finishing systems
• Fast drying time lets you get the job done quickly
• Long usable pot life
Urethane Flexible Additive 3084 is the most “flexible” of flexible additives. Use it with more finishing systems than
any competitive additive. Pot life of 3084 is twice that of competitive additives. Plus, Urethane Flexible Additive
3084 can be used over a wide variety of semi-rigid and flexible plastic parts.
 
Im sorry to beat a dead horse here, but the person whom originally asked the question is obviously in love with their car, as in their post they note (#175 out of 300) or something like that. And to most all paintless/dentless repairs that ive ever seen, I can take a magnified glass and show them "tiny pings" in the paint left behind. Now I can take 2k grit paper and wet sand and buff those microscopic imperfections away (which no paintless guy is going to do). But the damage (flexing) is done. And 9/10 times from what ive seen given time key word being TIME, that paint is going to peel/flake. So I stand by my original post and have more than backed it up. To the person whom asked....."dont they spray clear?" No, thats what paintless means. And to the one whom asked about a "suction cup", the answer is yes, but a "suction cup" is rarely useful. And heat, dry ice, etc, again, the finish has flexed and its not designed to do so.
 
I can't comment on the DIY part.

But, I had paintless dent removal done on the hood of my Nissan in 2007. I actually posted a thread here. The pics have since disappeared.

http://www.bobistheoilguy.com/forums/ubb...2500#Post962500

The paint never cracked or peeled, as others in this thread said it would. I just went outside and double checked. There is no cracking or peeling where the dents were removed.
 
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