Arrowstorm

I hate to post this picture. This happened when apparently, my lugs were loose and my tire just flew off, taking 2 studs with it and taking out the lower panel of the body. Long story. I made it home safe. I'm not quite sure what happened. The rear axle looks ok because I was going slow when it happened (luckily) and I stopped immediately.

So now I've got this dent in my 72 Vista that doesn't really have any other body damage at all.

Any ideas on how I could go about pulling this out myself? Or if it can be done? I know of some tricks that might work with modern cars like applying heat or using a plunger, but this is much heavier steel.

Or... should I just take it to a body shop? And if so, how much do you guys thing I should expect to pay.

I'm not ready to paint the car yet. I was in the middle of saving up the last few dollars for a new hood and then get it painted NEXT year. But if I could get this dent out one way or another and have it look at least "Okay" as opposed to "PERFECT", I'd be alright with that.

Also, the trim near the rear of the wheel well was pushed in, but it looks like I MIGHT be able to just pull that out a little bit.

Any advice would be appreciated!!

Thanks,

Buz

My442

Is there rust at the bottom of the panel?


That won't be a cheap fix.


Figure 6-8 hours of body work and paint.


I would guess $1500.

Professur

Well, a professional is going to grind the paint off, use a stud gun to weld studs all along that and use a slide hammer to pull it up. Then he's going to have to hammer and dolly it because the metal will have stretched. Shrinking metal is an art ... today, almost a lost art. Your local auto collision place won't have a quarter of the expertise to do the job right. Odds are they'll try and pop it back, get it close and then use body filler to hide it. Frankly .. you can do that much yourself.

Be careful trying to push it out from inside ... most people wind up doing more damage (stretching metal) that way. Then you wind up with an oil can. There is a method using heat and quenching to shrink the metal, but that's also a high level skill. Somewhat lower is using something called a shrinking disk. You can look that up on MetalMeet.

Personally, I'd go for it .. but I've got the stud gun, slide hammer, body hammers and dollies and all that rubbish already taking up space in the shed. One other possibility is The Dominator. http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/domi...m-p-14867.aspx I have no experience with this tool .. but I'd love to give one a shot. The videos are pretty impressive.

gs72

There are people out there that do paintless dent repairs. I would consult a few of them before I took a grinder to it.

oldcutlass

That is not a dent that can be cured with a PDR guy. You can drop the fuel tank (which is a PAI), stick a 2x4 in the slot and pry it back out, but to look right it will require some body work and paint.

Allan R

It looks like you also have rust perforation on the wheel lip, which usually goes through to the inner liner as well. IMO, this is one of those feared 'bite the bullet' moments you dread. Body shop time, there's unseen damage on the inside of the bottom quarter. Not all body shops are equal, so search for a good one in your area.

FYI, my brother did this to my 72 years ago, and I was surprised at how much more extensive the damage is than it looks. How's the rest of the car for rust?

droptopron

Doesn't hurt to show it to them. I had a pretty sizable dent in the front fender of my CTS and they were able to work wonders.
If you aren't ready to paint it yet don't let the perfect be the enemy of the good. It might not come out 100% but it may be able to be massaged to look a lot better than it does now.

Arrowstorm

I'm definitely going to take it to someone far more knowledgeable than I am on the matter before I even touch it. I know I should probably at least do that.

Like I said, I'm not ready to paint the car yet. I was on the verge of getting a new hood when this happened and if I can at least get this dent to look "okay" to the common eye, I'll be happy with that until I can get it into the body shop for actual prep and paint.

There's not much rust anywhere else on the car, really. I take it to cruise-ins all the time and aside from the vinyl woodgrain, it looks decent next to the other cars.

Professur

The CTS has sheetmetal thin enough to punch a knife straight through. My wife's Malibu is the same. All modern cars do. The only reason they don't crumple up under their own weight is clever support from folds and curves in the sheet. The metal on Arrow's car is much, much thicker. Hot glue and a lever won't do snot. I've tried. I've got a similar dent waiting my attention on my parisienne ... None of the paintless techniques I tried had the slightest effect. Worse, this one has a visible crease up the middle. That serves as a reinforcement... almost like having an I-beam run through the middle. When I make replacement floor pans, I use a bead roller to put a similar crease in the steel. A few small beads multiplies a flimsy sheet of metal to plate strength.

olwreckman

Here is what I think you have. When the wheel came off, it forced the wheel lip on the Quarter backward and outward causing the buckle to the rear. As a now retired auto body repairer (57 years) the rule of thumb is pull the dent the same way it went in..I could tell you how to fix it but you will need some special equipment. At $55 an hour I would have done it in primer in about 6 hours. Rates differ state to state.