[Stevebay22]

Parked my car in the city the other day and came back to the this little guy.
It's about a 2 inch dent right on the edge of the hood. I can get my hand back behind the dent, wondering if there is a tool I can use to pop it back out. You guys have any recommendations?

 

[aralfa8589]

That doesn't look like one that will pop out successfully. The sharp line along the leading edge looks to be jammed in on both sides of the 7" mark on your tape.
When I did the bodywork on my 89 I spent more time on the nose than the rest of the car. The hood and bumper both need to be removed, and there's some tedious hammer and dolly work. You'll have high spots around the outside of the dent. You'll need some paint repair, but you could lose all the road rash at the same time. Looks like a nice car.
It's beyond the scope of the Paintless Dent Repair techniques.
It sucks because it's in a spot that, because of the car's lines, is like a magnet when looking at the car.
If you're inclined you could do the work yourself (honest!) and take it in for paint.

 

[Stevebay22]

what are you thoughts on removing the hood and getting a small contour surface back there putting a piece of padding and tapping it? Maybe a ToolKit Like This. I am not looking to make it brand new just get the dent semi popped back. Any Bay Area help around?

 

[aralfa8589]

I'd sure give it a try if you're not looking for perfection-try a chunk of wood and resist the urge to do it in one whack. Don't hit it dead center, instead come from the sides. Post pictures. Go to the show and casually throw a light jacket over the dent.

 

[Stevebay22]

Ya I am at the point where I would like to give it a shot and worst case I buy a new part and have it painted. I am thinking I am going for this Toolset. What is the best way to remove the hood?

 

[aralfa8589]

Keep in mind that the dollies are used as backing when tapping on the other side of the panel with body hammer. You're gonna want to push from the inside for what you're trying to do.

 

[gigem75]

Looks like it needs to be pulled rather than pushed imho. A good job for the HF spot welder dent puller outer. I've been thinking about getting one for where someone put a dent right behind the rear door but don't want to spend the 100 bucks for one dent. Although I've semi fixed it and did a respray it still isn't right and at some point I'm going get it right. Especially since I've learned so much on the Spider I'm doing I'd like to apply that knowledge back to the GTV. My point being that if someone was to get one for one dent I'd buy it from them.........
You'd still need to finish it off with a little bit of filler and a few taps with a sheet metal hammer. The auto parts stores around here that sell paint will mix up as little as a pint which would be plenty for you and still have some left for touching up other nicks. Get it primed with some etching primer and then filler primer and use one of the small guns from HF to shoot it or maybe find a shop that would shoot it for you. Just a thought.
Aside from that I hope the bastard that did that and didn't even cop to it gets it back in spades.

 

[Stevebay22]

I got a guy at the local ferrari/benz dealer that is going to take a look. I will keep you guys posted with updates. Thanks!

 

[Superflow]

Yeah I agree with gigem75, I'd say initially use a stud welder and slide hammer.

 

[aralfa8589]

Pulling with a stud puller is definstely the way to go...I have a good one!
But he's just wanting to fix it a little bit. We'll see how happy that makes him with a car that he's taking to local shows. I entered the "In Progress" class at a local show and got 3rd place only because I had an Alfa. This was against heavy duty hot rods.
So, are we gonna take the grinder to the nose and use a stud puller? It makes sense to get the tools if you're a car guy and anticipate using them again. Sometimes you can rent the tools.
It's still driveable while you're doing the fix.

 

[ghnl]

And nobody said, "eh, that'll buff out..." ?!?

You can probably get it 90%-95% better which might be OK for a 'driver'. That last 5%-10% is what'll cost you. And if you mess with it trying to get it to 95% repaired yourself, you'll make a proper repair harder in the future. The metal is likely stretched and will need more than simply bumping out.

Make sure you are sitting down when your Ferrari/Benx dealer gives you the estimate...

 

[lgbalfa]

i would still have a professional paintless dent removal guy look at it.

you can do more damage to it if you don't know what you are doing.

good luck and keep us posted.

 

[SamW]

You should be able to get to it by just removing the bumper, I have/had a nasty crease dent just at the base of one of the headlight buckets on my silver project spider. I bought a hammer and dolly set and even though I could barely get to it, I have gotten it about 80% there, the next 20% is the skill/art/experience/money part, but I am going to keep playing with it and see how far and well I can take it.

 

[Alfajay]

wondering if there is a tool I can use to pop it back out. You guys have any recommendations?

Sometimes a broad, shallow dent can just be "popped" out. But when the metal gets severely creased, that just doesn't work. Looking at Steve's photo, the metal looks pretty tightly folded along the side adjacent to the grille. That one isn't going to "pop" out.

i would still have a professional paintless dent removal guy look at it. you can do more damage to it if you don't know what you are doing.

This has always been my position, though admittedly I'm a coward when it comes to bodywork. I'll take tackle anything mechanical, but consider bodywork to be a black art. That's not to say that you can't do it!

 

[aldo]

i would still have a professional paintless dent removal guy look at it.

you can do more damage to it if you don't know what you are doing.

good luck and keep us posted.

Agreed, some of those guys are so good that the only explanation is that they have a deal with the devil.

 

[lgbalfa]

get multiple paintless dent removal opinions.

if one paintless dent removal guy says that they cannot do it, you might find someone that can.

i have taken my car to a few who said no way and then i found a guy who said no problem.

 

[Dickson]

Ditto on PDR. I've been amazed at some of the repairs they have made.

 

[Typhoon90]

That will not come out without the paint film cracking. Leave it alone unless you want to respray that panel.

 

[maxwedge]

I agree on the leave it alone or do it right. Most people would much rather buy a car with a small dent, than buy one with bad body work and who knows what lurking under it, myself included. In case you didn't notice, that is not a simple bolt on part that you can simply get a new one, have it painted and put back it back on. It's probably at least a $500-1200 repair to do correctly at a decent body shop, depending on how desperate they are for work.