worried about: PAINT REFlection_

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jayelleseven

New member
Hey guys, my first post yet I am def. not new to forums. Im on about 3 other car forums :]





I posted this on the meguiars forum but didnt get much of a response... (and sorry if its in the wrong section)



So:



Id like to get body work done on a small door dent (about the size of a computer mouse) yet...





I am VERY VERY concerned about the paint matching AS WELL as the reflection of the paint.



The car is a lil over 1 yr old and the paint is nicely reflective as you can see:





J-DDetailing008.jpg




J-DDetailing002.jpg




I know theres ppl on here who have done some wetsanding, priming, clear coat applications.. etc so you guys should have a good idea about this.



I hear the applications of clearcoat must match in order to attaint the same reflection, any input?? Thanks_
 
jdhutchin said:
You could try PDR... then there wouldn't be any repainting.
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Yup. PDR can usually pop a dent out and get it looking normal, and it is a fraction of the price of body shop work. You may want to check in your phone book for Paintless Dent Repair.
 
jayelleseven- Welcome to Autopia!



If the PDR doesn't work out, then the trick will be to find a good paint shop. A *good* shop can match the texture/gloss/color just fine, you really won't see it. The trouble is that it's hard to find a shop that's any good- there are a lot of hacks in that line of work.
 
I have seen personally what PDR guys can do. If they are GOOD, you will never know the dent was there after they are done.
 
thanks for the replies. I have talked to a couple ppl about PDR and they said it was too much a crease or indention to fully get it out. I will try some more and see how is wiling to try.





And yeah I have to do more research.. Id really like to save some money but will not risk the quality/outcome of the work.



Does anyone in the SoCal area have any good experiences with some shops? If so which ones? Thanks_
 
The only thing I can add is when I had to recently find a decent body shop after I recently moved and didn't know where to go, I called a classic car dealer and asked for a referral. You might give that a try.
 
velobard said:
The only thing I can add is when I had to recently find a decent body shop after I recently moved and didn't know where to go, I called a classic car dealer and asked for a referral. You might give that a try.
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Thanks, hadnt thought much about that. Hopefully its not too costly.. Im jus really worried.. my baby =/
 
Personally, I'd rather live with the dent than let a hack shop work on the car. Finding good body/paint shops seems *incredibly* difficult and sometimes the "fix" is worse than the original problem. Since you're not dealing with a serious wreck, or rust, or some other time-sensitive issue I'd take however long it takes to find the right shop. I waited many years (over a decade) to get a few spots done on my Jag rather than risk having it botched up.



If you know anybody who competes in concourses, you might ask what shop they recommend. The guy who's finally working on my Jag (as we speak, in fact) was recommended by my Jag club's chief concours judge, who services/restores Jaguars for a living...took him two years to find somebody he'd trust with my car and he was having show-winners painted by others the whole time. He knows how I am so he kept looking until he found the right guy.
 
Accumulator said:
Personally, I'd rather live with the dent than let a hack shop work on the car. Finding good body/paint shops seems *incredibly* difficult and sometimes the "fix" is worse than the original problem. Since you're not dealing with a serious wreck, or rust, or some other time-sensitive issue I'd take however long it takes to find the right shop. I waited many years (over a decade) to get a few spots done on my Jag rather than risk having it botched up.



If you know anybody who competes in concourses, you might ask what shop they recommend. The guy who's finally working on my Jag (as we speak, in fact) was recommended by my Jag club's chief concours judge, who services/restores Jaguars for a living...took him two years to find somebody he'd trust with my car and he was having show-winners painted by others the whole time. He knows how I am so he kept looking until he found the right guy.
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Wow.. thats a long time.. and I have been waiting a few months. I jus re thought what I think ill do.. but man I am in a crunch.. too long of a story to explain. I am sure others can understan my concern tho.. I mean its a Nice whip...



on the right:



J-DDetailing017.jpg
 
Accumulator said:
Personally, I'd rather live with the dent than let a hack shop work on the car. Finding good body/paint shops seems *incredibly* difficult and sometimes the "fix" is worse than the original problem.
Click to expand...



I agree with accumulator. It sucks I know, I have some small dent on the passenger side dogleg (that strip of metal that runs between the rear wheel well and the rear passenger door) that can't be accessed by PDR, and after a lot of soul searching I decided to live with it vs going through the horror of having basically the whole side of the car repainted. Bumpers and stuff are easy to repaint and get it looking right, but when you start talking about metal and doors, boy I wouldn't.



Is the dent in those pictures? I can't see it.
 
Straighten out your camera and take picture of the dent so we can see it.

Crease or not, PDR will probably be your answer. I had ding taken out that was an incredibly sharp crease. My PDR guy just heated up the metal with a torch and worked it back and forth. Might not wnat to watch though! He ended up dinging it with a hammer a few times to make it round, then worked out the new round dent. I can't tell where it was now! Sweet job for $50!



As far as paint matching goes, you really need to get a referal from someone in your area. as posted earlier go find a Hot Rod shop or similar and ask them who they would use. There are some truely talented people out there, and there are some absolute hacks also.

Matching your black paint with the right gloss on orange peel will be a pretty simple job for even a medum skilled tech. Black is a pretty easy color to match.

Price? Probably looking at $500 +/-. I would think that they would spray the entire door, and if that doesn't match they will do the entire side of the car.

Try the PDR first. Even if it isn't prefect it will look 99% better. Like most here, you can also just call it "the first dent" and be done obsessing. :D The first one is the one that hurts the most.
 
thanks guys, I will def. look into more PDR work. I will find someone good enough and also willing to try their best.



Photo, not the best but I dont have the camera right now to take more, look at the UPPER RIGHT hand corner of the photo.



Driver side door dent



J-DDetailing009.jpg




You cannot see the crease that well since the paint is so reflective but it looks UGLY as some angles. At night u cannot really tell either... any more advice-- THANKS_
 
I think I see it, it it back towards the handle on the door, further down towards the bottom?



I would think PDR would work...
 
PDR will work. Ask around if they have the new hot glue pull tool. Now, this isn't that cheap toy you sometimes see on info-mercials...it is a real 'tool' that can get most of these so-called 'impossible' dents. The glue sticks in seconds and is superstrong. The tool that pulls it resembles the old fashion dent remover that used to be drilled into the dent, and has a weighted puller that goes up a shaft. The glue comes off with mineral spirits.
 
Yeah Im pretty sure you spotted the dent..







and Thanks for the tips, I jus need to find someone really good at PDR.. any recommendations in SoCal??
 
I don't know any PDR's in SOCAL since I live on the opposite coast! In my experience, stay away from Dent Wizard since they are usually beginners working to get their feet wet. You can try this. Call around different body shops to see if they use an out of the house dent specialist. If they do, try to get his name. After calling a few shops, if you keep getting the same name, you may have found your winner. Also, alot of insurance companies ONLY use independent PDR's since they are usually better than company (DENT WIZ) agents, so try calling them.



In my area, there are only 3 Dent specialists that I consider worthy to touch my car, they are...



Cy the Dent Guy...Cyrl McCrackin, very good work, exceptional price.

Bob Miller...one of the founders of Dent Wizard. They guy is a miracle worker and can get dents that NOBODY else can. Pricing for him is moderate.

Charley the Dent-ists...High-line dent removal specialist. His prices are way high, but will work magic on anything.



I live in the South Western PA area.
 
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