Paintless Dent Repair DIY Tips

Finding a dent in a car is always unpleasant. Only in classic cars are traces of use valued and respected as “patina.” For everyday vehicles, on the other hand, every dent is always a loss of value. A complete external bodywork renovation in a professional body shop can be costly; it is worth trying at home. In this article, we will give you some tips on how to be able to remove dents from your car.

Paintless dent repair is easier than it seems. On many occasions, we go to the workshop to eliminate dents in the bumper, the area that suffers the most, or the sheet metal. Still, with the tricks that we tell you below, it will not be necessary to go through this procedure, and therefore we will save money.

The first thing you need to know is that the car’s dents are small cracks in the outer sheet. A layperson will not be able to fix accident damage or even a deformed frame. In principle, the smoother and rounder the dent’s outer edges are, the easier it is to repair. On the other hand, if the border is sharp and bent, home-made means may not work.

BOILING WATER

It is effortless to repair dents with boiling water. You only have to pour the water on the affected area and exert pressure on the back – if it is possible to access it – and in the opposite direction to the dent until it returns to its original place.

If it is impossible to exert pressure from the rear area, use a suction cup or a conventional plunger and pull it out. It is also possible to pour cold water just after the hot water so that the change of temperature contracts the sheet and facilitates its repair.

THE DRY ICE TRICK

As simple as putting a piece of dry ice in the center of the dent. The temperature difference will cause the print to shrink and return to its original shape. You can also use a suction cup or a plunger to help it pop out.

WITH A HAIR DRYER

We point the hairdryer in hot mode towards the blow. When the sheet gets hot, we apply cold air with the same hairdryer or a compressed air hose. With the sudden change of temperature, the sheet will recover its shape.

HOT-MELT GLUE

We go through some wooden dowels with a nail. We put hot melt glue on one of the dowels’ ends and place them where the bun is. When the glue cools, pull the dowel through the nail until the sheet metal returns to its place. To remove the dowels, turn them until they come off. With alcohol, we can remove the glue marks on the sheet metal.

THE VACUUM CLEANER AND THE BUCKET

To apply this trick, we need a powerful vacuum cleaner. In a plastic bucket, we make a hole of the diameter of the tube of the vacuum cleaner, and we introduce the same one. We seal with insulating or adhesive tape the box to the bucket. Then we have to stick the bucket to the blow area and fill it again. We turn on the vacuum cleaner so that it sucks up the ball.