My Mav' has a few slight dimples on the hood that I believe were caused by hail as well as on the roof line when it was stored outside at the previous owner's place. I'm not wanting to bring it to a body shop, but would prefer fixing it myself. I heard from a friend yesterday that I could place a wet rag on top of the "dimples" with the car in direct sunlight. Haven't tried to see if that would work, don't know how it would anyways. Do you guys have any suggestions as to how I would do this. I was thinking about lightly tapping from the underside of the hood lightly with a hammer.
I also agree on the PDR...just make sure it's somebody that's been doing it a while. You don't want a newbie learning on your car. Those guys can work wonders and never hurt your paint!
I also would try the PDR for hail damage. A friend of ours had a ton of hail damage inflicted on his Merc. Tracer this past summer. He took it to one of the places that use the Paintless Dent Repair system and today you would never tell how badly dinged up the car had been. For hail damage, PDR is the way to go.
ive seen people try the hot/cold trick. never seems to work out though going from one extream temp to the oppsite should cause some expanding and contracting, never see it enough to get a dent out.
I think that's what could be done with that rag I was told about. Like maybe having it soaked in a pot of boiling water, then placing it on til' it cools down??? Haven't tried anything yet, just getting possible avenues. But I'm leaning more on the do it yourself guide though . How much would it cost to bring it to a paintless dent remover, like for 10-15 or so hail dents?
Don't waste your time with the rag...it's useless. The PDR guys set their own prices. They usually have a set price ($40 or so) for 1st dent and go down with additional dents. Best thing to do is call around a few of them and price shop. If you can't find a number on any of them, contact the car dealerships...they use them a lot.
I've seen this work before, but not on anything old - only on newer thin sheetmetal. The type of dents it works on are those that could be pulled out with a suction cup or popped out from the back. If they are compound dents or cross a body line, it won't work.
