my tailgate has taken a battering at some point in its life.. so theres a nice dent on the swage line. what shall i do? i cant get behind it to knock it out with a hammer. I dont know if filling it would be any good would it? sorry for the Marmite pics lol
i dont have a slide hammer. what about drill a hole, self tapper, then pull out with a claw hammer? then weld hole shut or it that a bit of a bull in a china shop method? haha
A good smart repair/mobile dent man would get the worst out followed by a skim of filler. They are made of sterner stuff than modern cars so warn your dent man to bring his heavy duty bars. Worst ways they'll drill a hole somewhere on the inner edge of the panel which they normally cover with a bung after ( smear with grease or touch in the bare metal before they but the bung in, or weld it up. £30 ish.
Nah cant get to the inside, that was my first idea. Ill probably try to make some diy slide hammer. Or just leave it for which ever paint shop i send it to.
I thought about this a bit more Tack the end of a chain with weld to the dent Lay a ladder or somthing as strong on the floor butting up against the front and rear wheels Put a piece of steel tube vertical to the floor Pull the chain straight from the dent to the bar and weld the link of the chain where it meets the bar You than can pull on the tube using the ladder as a fulcrum and get enough force to pull the dent out
I reckon a slide hammer is still your best bet http://www.machinemart.co.uk/shop/product/details/cpb9d-9-pce-dent-puller-set
Jeez guys ! Seriously a good dent man will do it with no damage to the outer skin or welding up of holes, at least on the outside of your bodywork , as I said he'll have to drill a hole in the edge, ie the hidden bit that is in the shut, but not directly behind the dent, this gives leverage for the soft tipped but heavy gauge bar to work the dent out. Google them, I have this kind of work done a few times a week. With modern cars with thinner steel they often don't crack the paint and definitely don't need filler, but on our old buss'es you will need a thin skim .
Nope Just a redneck work around Ive pulled dent out in panels before by tacking the left over steel shafts from pop rivits to a panel and using good quality mole grips to tug an pull it into the best shape before filling Most body shops will knock a repair or inperfection in below the surface abrade it with 80 grit and fill straight over it
I had to reread it twice but it makes sense, paradox just described the same principle as using a dozer to pull out the damage. As said already, drill a hole on the inside of the panel, and tap a drift through the whole to the inside of the dent, dress the edges of the dent down a little with a hammer, and skim. a dent guy would not get a great finish on it as there's no paint on the panel - and they work by reflection.
Thanks dude im hopeless at getting my ideas accross on the intermither A quick sketch on the back of a fag packet was all that was needed back in the day lol I suppose i would be using the wrong approach straightening front panels out where they had a spare wheel on the front and hit somthing Ive found the best way to pull it back to initial sape it to tie a rope round the wheel mount and use another car to pull it out If you dont have another car then tie it to a tree and reverse I see no problem with that work around as its just your supplying the force needed in an alternative way
Not the ones I know - they're tight arse and wouldn't waste the filler for one thing. Dents get pulled everywhere I know. That particular dent, like most, needs pulling not because of the depression, but because above and below the metal it too high and you can't sand that down no matter how much filler you slaver it with.
