Some recommendations for paintless dent repair projects
1st let’s start with some car paint care tricks: Fixing Scratches: Apart from rust-proofing the vehicle, you should fix small scratches promptly. If the scratch is not too deep, you should only use touch up paint and finish off with a rubbing compound to get a good shine. If the scratch is deep and exposes the metal, you will have to sand off the surrounding paint and apply primer before painting the affected area.
Paintless dent repair ? Dents near edges – If a dent of any size is situated near the very edge of a body panel or near a seam, PDR repair may be impossible. The reason for this is that in order to repair a dent using these techniques, you need to access the back side of the dent. The dent has a crease – If there is a sharp crease (like a folded page) in the dent, PDR likely will not work. Older vehicles – If your vehicle is older than 1990 or is a classic car, the odds are good that attempting paintless repair techniques on a dent will damage the paint. This is because the paint quality on older body panels can’t withstand the strain of the repair techniques.
Applying dry ice to the dent is an effective way for fixing hail damage. The huge change in temperature can force the dents to pop out. Everything for you to do is just moving the dry ice around the damaged area to cool the area rapidly. But be careful as dry ice will damage your skin if you don’t wear gloves when handling it. Fixing hail damage by dry ice can be a cool solution, but sometimes it can not remove all of the dents. So in this case, you will need to do additional repairs.
A good paintless dent repair might look perfect, or close to it,but the metal underneath that shiny paint is still damaged. It’s thinned out and its structure has been weakened. But as long as the paint is still there and it’s not immediately obvious, that’s probably good enough. After all, it’s not a safety concern or anything. Just remember: Sometimes it really pays to hire a pro. To DIY or not to DIY? I’ve never tried to use an at-home paintless dent removal kit to bang one out myself; however, I have owned a car that I had completely repainted because paintless dent removal wasn’t an option. And it’s a pain in the butt. And it’s expensive. And I’ve also made some bad calls in terms of judging what I can handle myself … and what I’d just make worse. That said, I’ve never bought a product from an infomercial to attempt a car repair.
Only three things in life are certain: death, taxes, and getting a dent in your car or truck. Even if you’re as careful as possible, you can’t always account for runaway shopping carts, wrongly thrown footballs, out-of-nowhere light posts, and other real-life annoyances. However you got your dent or ding, the next thing on your mind is, undoubtedly, how to get it out. Sure, you can take it to a body shop or friendly neighborhood mechanic for repair, but their price quotes can be unbelievable, especially if they want to remove the paint first or use body filler. $200 for that tiny dent?! I don’t think so.
We recommend going to a professional repair service to avoid a lot of extra costs. Meet EvidentPDR in Colorado. Ben Lincoln has been working on cars since childhood and found a passion for Dent Repair at an early age of 15. Not many find their calling in life so quickly, let alone in the dent repair industry. After identifying his passion, he harnessed his talents and became the 256th person to become VALE Master Craftsman certified in the world (there are only ~600 as of July 2018). During the last 12 years he has assembled a veteran team to share his vision: To deliver the best workmanship, relentlessly focusing on customer service, and going above and beyond expectations to make sure every customer is proud to do business with Evident PDR! See more info on https://www.evidentpdr.com/.
The two techniques mentioned above will remove the majority of hail damage on your car, but a professional job at your local auto body shop is recommended for deep dents or badly damaged surfaces. The services tend to be cheap, fast and rarely require a new paint job. However, it is a good idea to compare prices and offered services at various body shops to see which package works best for your wallet and car’s situation.
I don’t care if you wash your car yourself (more on that strategy later in this page) or you take it to a quality car wash. (Yes, not all car washes are created equal) This is not an option as dirt is your #1 enemy when it comes to the finish on your new car paint. And this doesn’t mean once every 6 months whether it needs it or not. This means regularly and consistently. (A minimum of once a month…minimum!)