Restoring a car from door dings

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So, I found a car I have always wanted, an Rx-7 gsl-se. Really low miles for an 85 (68,000) and good shape. But its had multiple owners and has its share of door dings. Some deep, others barely there.

This is a major pet peeve of mine. What is the best way to get back to a laser straight appearance? Bondo won't do that and is not an option. I wonder if new sheetmetal is the only perfect answer?

The picture doesn't capture the dings, they can be seen lookimg along the side of the car. It looks better in photos. Really, it could use a high quality repaint. But I wont do that with wavy bondo.

 
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I have had good results from a paintless dent repair for some deep door dings on a Fusion before selling it privately. I think it paid for itself.
 
Originally Posted By: Arob
I have had good results from a paintless dent repair for some deep door dings on a Fusion before selling it privately. I think it paid for itself.


My car has a steel crash bar right behind the center of the door skin so you can't get the rod behind it. Aftermarket door skins aren't that great.

So we're back to skimming the door with iceing and block sanding. Most high dollar show paint jobs use this method.
 
Originally Posted By: Clubber_Lang
So, I found a car I have always wanted, an Rx-7 gsl-se. Really low miles for an 85


I had an '86.... I hated that thing

Good luck.
 
Find a GOOD PDR guy. If they can't push it out from behind the panel, there's always glue pulling.
 
Apparently you don't know anything about body work. What's wrong with body filler?

You don't just goop it on to fill a dent. You pull the dent with various tools but metal almost usually stretches when there's a dent made. Once it's 90+% smooth you use a little body filler and sand it smooth. Nobody would ever know.

PDR is an option if it's a nice smooth round dimple with no scratched paint.
 
Nothing wrong with bondo...but my car is black, and bondo is naturally wavy...which i want to avoid the bondo wave look.
 
Originally Posted By: Linctex
Originally Posted By: Clubber_Lang
So, I found a car I have always wanted, an Rx-7 gsl-se. Really low miles for an 85


I had an '86.... I hated that thing

Good luck.

Thanks for your support
 
Like Nick said, if you want superior quality, one method probably won't do it. It will require some pushing, pulling, filling and repainting which isn't cheap obviously.

Super cool find though!! How's the interior and how does she run? As a teen back in the 80's, I had a neighbor that would pay me to detail her mid 80s RX7. I used to love driving it around the corner to pick it up and drop it off. Rotaries are so cool.
 
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I am always amazed at what a good PDR tech can do! We just had a golf ball sized hail storm come through our area which damaged thousands of cars. My truck was sitting in front of an empty garage when they started to come down, and I went to move my truck inside, but as soon as I opened the door, I took a golf ball to the head that almost knocked me out, so I had to watch my truck get huge dents all over it, and now they are completely gone. Even if you are going to repaint PDR should be done first. Watch some you tube videos, and see some of very large dents, and creases they can remove anywhere on the car. Those guys are artists. Even the manufactures use PDR at the factory on new cars.
 
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A good PDR tech can get it close and then you can paint if necessary. Like Nick said, some filler before painting is not going to be noticeable. How do you think he factory gets welded panels smooth?
 
It's all about the prep. Some filler in there and it's sanded and sanded and sanded until there's nothing to even possibly notice. Primer will fill some gaps too.
 
Originally Posted By: Reddy45
Find a GOOD PDR guy. If they can't push it out from behind the panel, there's always glue pulling.



I was going to say. Ive had PDR on a few cars either bought used or when something happens like a branch falling on it.

None of my 6 cars have any dents on them as a result. We park very carefully and conscientiously because we know how lazy and rude others are... but PDR has had to be used in a few cases and never once has any hole had to be drilled. Very pleased with our top notch PDR guy...
 
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