I don't need it right now, but a few years ago, I had heavy hail damage on a car and took it to a paintless dent removal specialist. He did an amazing job and you couldn't tell (from the outside) any damage was ever done. I know they must undergo a lot of training and use some special tools that look pretty simple. I even watched him remove one dent but does anyone know the theory and physics of how the process works? Just curious. Don't tell me if you have to kill me. http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif

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von '69 300 Dlx SS TC #15 ACES #1575
My '69 SS (http://mywebpage.netscape.com/jerryacheson/vons69.html)

Believe me, there is no "magic", just TONS of practice. The basics is you simply push out the damage with such finesse that you don't damage the paint or leave any damage. We have a set of tools at work for it and I have watched the training video, I have the knowledge to do it, but no where nears the amount of time to invest to get it down. It is sort of like learning to play a piano. You can read music, and know where all the notes are on the piano, but that doesn't mean that you can make your fingers move around and create music.

I feel that it is a very specialized field and few bodymen will be found doing it. We also have another kit for paintless dent repair that involves a tool where you glue a "stud" on to the surface and then pull the stud with tool that is supported around the damage. It actually works kinda neat, but again, I don't have much luck with it. The head painter has had a lot of practice because we have a contract with Toyota to repair damage that is on new cars. We usually have about ten or fifteen cars on the lot with little tiny dings and such that he has gained a lot of experiance and can do pretty amazing stuff with it.

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1965 Buick Gran Sport Convertible
1965 Buick Skylark H/T
"Fan of most anything that moves human beings"

There was a news story circulating around my area awhile back, about the paintless dent removal. We can get some major hailstorms up here, and one season was really bad. There were cars that looked like Fred Astaire wearing golf shoes did a dance on the hood, deck and roof! The problem was that to get at the roof dents, the "paintless" outfit drilled soooo many access holes in the undersupport sheetmetal (inside the car) that they became structurally unsound. Glass was popping, doors wouldn't close properly, and roofs were buckling. I'd look carefully for a reputable shop, and live with a few dents if they can't be gotten to.

Caution should be excercised when having paintless dent repair done. Beware of the out of town storm chasers, they will be lonoong gone if and when a problem arises. PDR can be done very well. Takes a TON of patience. As MARTINSR said, practice and experience are major. I could NEVER do it. Many really good PDR techs, have never done conventional repair, or those that were collision techs, never made any money on comission. Our PDR guy has the patience of Job and has godlike results. In my opinion the metal in our velles is pretty thick to have consistant, superior results. I am not saying that PDR can't be done on old velles, but much more difficult in many areas on car. The Dealerships up here that got in trouble, were using carpet bagging storm chasers. Their solution for access on Chevy pickup trucks was to chop out entire inner roof, then do PDR. They ended up replacing A LOT of inner roofs, no charge. Karl

I do PDR for a living, and as was previously stated, it is not magic, but takes A LOT of practice. I practiced for the better part of a year on old hoods and doors to get the "feel" required to effect a repair without going too far and causing damage or cracking paint. Patience and good vision come in handy to help you "see" the tool as it moves behind the panel. There is also a limit to what can be repaired using this proces. It works great on smaller dings and dents, with hail damage a great example. If you get to a size bigger than a half dollar, it gets a lot tougher to repair it completely, but you can make the dent a lot less conspicuous. As for hail damage, I definitely agree with staying away from the "storm chasers" and seek out the local shop. Also, when working on hail damage, we drop the headliner to gain access to the roof, and try to drill as few holes as possible to avoid the structural problems mentioned earlier. There are tools available to slide between structural members and the outer panels to get at the tough spots. All in all, it's a great alternative to traditional body repair, in the right circumstances, and can yield exceptional results when done correctly by a qualified technician.

Does the PDR process work with older cars with heavier gauge metal? I can see how it would work slick on modern cars with their thin sheet metal but can the same be done on the older thicker stuff?

I've had PDR done on my '68 several times by the guy who services our dealership, in fact I'll be having a few more popped out soon! I have had very good luck on my 34 yr old sheetmetal, he says it just takes a little longer. All in all, an amazing process.

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"SSuper Dave" Palmer
A.C.E.S. #1483
Team Chevelle #32 Gold
1968 Chevelle 700R4, soon to be a 427!
1988 Trans Am, runs when nothing else will.
1970 El Camino, licensed and insured for the first time since 1988, drove it down the block the other day, bodywork is continuing.