Tips/Suggestions on removing small dents

Hello-

Just wondering if anyone has any tips or suggestions on removing small dents on doors?
I have a couple small dents from other car doors hitting my explorer and was wondering what might be the best way to pull them out?
Any certain tool or material?

Thanks!!

 

[beavis195]

Best thing to do would be to take it to a paintless dent wizard place. It will be very hard for you to pound it out and make it look right.

 

[MONMIX]

Beavis hit the nail on the head. Those guys ( not all , but most ) do great work. Not always perfect but , one of those if you don't know it's there you don't see it , sort of thing. I would not try this process your self.

 

[james t]

i will third that suggestion. for less than $100, i had 2 small "other car door dings" and 1 bigger ding over rear quarter pulled out. door dings came out perfect, and the quarter panel one can only be seen in the right light/at the right angle. allmost got that one all of the way out. most of these places use a "giant suction cup" that works great on little stuff. dont bother tryin' it yourself, you could stretch it and make it worse.

 

[RichSport94]

Two Words:
DRY ICE

This is a old trade secret that I was told from guys who used to repair damaged cars from hail storms. Some small dents will pop out with an application of dry ice. The dry ice is so cold that the metal will contract enough to pull the dent out. It doesn't work all the time and it only works on metal. I am surprised no one has heard of this. Oh yeah, dry ice is not friendly to skin. Wear thick gloves. Dry ice is hard to find, I sometimes see it at camping/outdoor stores.

 

[ok89]

How do you apply the dry ice to the area in question? Do you just set it on the paint? Will it damage the paint or the clearcoat?

 

[james t]

oh yea, ive heard of it. i forgot all about that one. we can get it here at Superwal-mart. dont know if others sell it, though. never tried it, but it couldnt hurt anything.

 

[RichSport94]

I think you put the dry ice on until it pops out the dent. If it is taking awhile then it is prbably not going to pop it out. I don't think it would damage the paint or the clearcoat, it is like putting a really cold ice cube on the metal. There is no chemicals that could react with the paint. I am not 100% sure but I don't see what would damage the finish.

 

[duke16]

Probaly wouldn't work if the dent has had time to set in place. But a new dent....

And no, there are no chemicals or anything that could damage the car. It's just frozon air, great for drinks to if you don't have anything else to carbonate with.

 

[MONMIX]

Originally posted by RichSport94
Two Words:
DRY ICE

This is a old trade secret that I was told from guys who used to repair damaged cars from hail storms. Some small dents will pop out with an application of dry ice. The dry ice is so cold that the metal will contract enough to pull the dent out. It doesn't work all the time and it only works on metal. I am surprised no one has heard of this. Oh yeah, dry ice is not friendly to skin. Wear thick gloves. Dry ice is hard to find, I sometimes see it at camping/outdoor stores.

And if you lose a tooth in the process , you can put it under your pillow and in the the morning you'll find that the tooth ferry had left you a quarter !!!!!!

Nah , dry ice is an old wives tale. Think of the physics involved. I have worked in a collision repair shop for over 10 years , this " trick " does not work.

 

[diablo5969]

Freshmo55 -
I noticed you're from Atlanta; I work at the Sunshine Car Wash in Dunwoody, and every week we have a company called the Metal Magician come to work on the premises. It's just a paintless dent removal, like the other guys were talking about. If you want more details, feel free to ask