Paintless dent removal

[Howard L.]

Well, forgot to post the link. DA me.

https://www.dentcrafttools.com/


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[billyxmas]

My safari was damaged in a windstorm by a flying tarp styructure. Bent 2 curved panels on roof in front. dents mostl;y on the seam between thetwo panels. can I do anything aobut this with a suction cup/

[TG Twinkie]

Refer to my recent post to see how I removed a dent. Not sure it will work for you.

[Castaway]

Originally Posted by AtomicNo13

Hot glue... learn to do yourself!

Could explain how this is done?

Gary

[LY007]

I got hit with a shopping cart with an expensive car some years ago. I was skeptical of PDR but they only wanted $50 vs about $500 for repair and paint, so I thought what the heck - if it doesn't work I'm only out $50. I dropped it off and headed for a coffee shop. Before I could take my first sip they called and said they were done. It was a flawless. Definitely my goto guys now.

[LY007]

Originally Posted by Castaway

Could explain how this is done?

Gary

They hot glue a stud to the car, and then hook a weighted pull tool to the stud. Then they have a chemical that dissolves the glue withou messing up the paint. You can buy a kit on eBay to do this. You tube videos.

[Moflash]

Foolish to try this yourself as if you mess it up ( and you will ) the pros who charge very little will not be able to repair your work.
Aluminum does not have the memory that steel does.


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[AtomicNo13]

I have had 100% success on all vintages of Airstream and several aluminum bodied painted automobiles. Never ruined anything nor pulled off any paint. What can you loose? You already have a dent!

[TG Twinkie]

I agree with Moflash. You could mess it up to the point where even a pro could not repair it.

[Howard L.]

Above a photo of the basic gear I think you need for the hot glue PDR repair on small dents/hail damage. Look on Amazon, there are knock off brands of the Mini Dent Lifter. The total for what you see here will be around $100-150. It does pay to buy the best plastic puller tabs.
The work shown was on a contiguous pair of dents the size of a silver dollar and quarter. Not deep, just a pair of smooth indentations caused by my knee when a step ladder slipped. There are a number of good YouTube videos on the process. Here is a very good one:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-MM5Jmlytjw

Your results will not look like the pro finish work in the videos, but it will be fairly good. The "knock down" part is the most difficult. To make the dent disappear must take a lot of practice. In spite of the warnings above, the aluminum will pull just fine. What you must do is use a flat knock down point to re-flatten the metal. A pointed tool will make small dents in the aluminum while you are working to lower the newly created high spots.
Whether you use the mini lifter, or the pull handle, watch the metal as you start to apply pressure. If it looks like the aluminum has eased back out before the pull tab has popped off, stop and remove it with alcohol. Check, you may have already done enough. The larger the tab used, the more glue, and thus the stronger the pull. Since the "knock down" of the pulled area is the most difficult, try to correct with the pull just enough to get the job done and call it quits if you can.


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[Howard L.]

After watching this video again, do not use a sharp snap to pull the glue tab. That's OK for steel, but for our aluminum, which is much softer, just use a slow pull while watching the surrounding metal. There is no need to over pull with a sharp snap of the puller or handle. You can re-glue and re-pull as many times as necessary without overdoing it using one big snap.

[calbadose]

I am a new, proud owner of a 2004 International and have a few dents I would like to try to repair myself. Question on the PDR technique with the hot glue gun...will the hot glue pull the clear coat off the trailer? Should I try with a plunger first?

thanks!

-Cal

[Howard L.]

No, the glue will not pull the clear coat off--unless the coat is already compromised from underneath (in that case, a dent is not the worse problem). Use denatured alcohol to release the glue from the metal or pull tab.
As stated above, the Aluminum will not "knock" (tap) back down as well as steel will. Therefore, watch your pull and stop/remove tab when the dent looks pulled near flush. Pull again if not quite there. Better to make several easy pulls than to over pull and then have to knock the hump back down (over pull then knock back down is the procedure for steel). I know a pro can work the aluminum as well as steel, but AL is tough to work with for that final spotless finish-especially for a beginner. The dents I've worked out are probably 75-80%, where a pro's work would be 95%. Not even near perfect, but I have to look closely to see work on dents from dime sized hail, to a deep tennis ball size spot up high in back where dealer dropped an AC unit during install.
Looking for, but yet to find, a U Tube video on aluminum.


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[MtnCamper07]

As you can see from the photos I have a few dents to repair also. The dents in the rear were there when I bought the As, the dents in the front are new - a tree branch broke off during a storm and (of course) fell on the TT. These dents are accessible by removing the end caps from the inside and using a rubber dent roller to help push it back into shape. I was wondering - has anyone tried to do this? I understand that by using a heat gun, one can heat the metal a bit to help the metal 'return' to its original shape and ease the stress on the edges of the dent.

If anyone has tried to fix dents such as these with nothing more than a suction cup-type dent remover (automotive) please let me know. That could save me a bunch of work. Somehow, I don't think I'll be that fortunate. Thanks

[1973Argosy]

I don't think you will get enough of those dents out with glue or suction cup to be happy. I am a certified paint bull pdr tech and my suggestion would be to pull the interior panels out so that you can push the dents from the backside. Where the aluminum has creased will always show, so don't expect a new looking end cap when you're done.

[TG Twinkie]

Try my idea with an inner tube, plywood and shop vac.

http://www.airforums.com/forums/showthread.php?t=153091

[MtnCamper07]

Thanks 73Argosy... I think I have no choice but to get at these from behind the panels. A mechanic friend saw the TT today and said the same thing. He cautioned me to always use a piece of plywood or something flat as anything sharp will leave spikes, dimples, or worse. He said to work slow and take your time. While it may not be perfect, it will certainly be an improvement and will save me $$. Besides, I need to repair other problems. I tried to look up the video using the inner tube idea but the video was no longer there. ((At least, I could not pull it up). Thanks all.

[Williker]

I'm going to have to try the inner tube technique. I have a small dent on the front end cap on top (I can see it standing on the hitch but it's hidden from the ground).

[1973Argosy]

I would start with just the palm of hand, the aluminum is thin and very easy to push. Start from the center of the dent and then do criss cross along the outer edges of each dent. Do it a little at time on each dent, it may take several times on each dent. As a previous poster stated it is much harder to push a high spot back down. On steel sheeting the metal has memory and will often "pop" back into its factory position, aluminium is very soft and has little to no memory so be easy. Once you have pushed the majority of the dents out you can go back with the HANDLE END of a screw driver to massage out the remaining dents and creases to an extent. I have worked a door ding or two on the wife's Jaguar xj (aluminum skin) and can't stress enough to go easy and push a little at a time.

[TG Twinkie]

There is no video on using the inner tube. Just detailed instructions. It's a simple matter of centering the tube over the dent, lay the plywood over the tube, connect the shop vac hose to the plywood. Press down and turn on the shop vac.
You can experiment with it by laying the tube on a hard surface, plywood on tube, connect the shop vac and hit the switch. Then while the shop vac is running try to lift the plywood.