Club 80-90 Forums

Hi Guys,

Would it be possible for a panel beater to repair this dent or are they likely to just get a replacement door, respray and then swap back in all the hardware? And what would be a reasonable price you think?

https://goo.gl/photos/eYmzWvi9QBnNqxbZ7


Thanks,
Tim.

I had a worse dent (in so much as it broke the paint in a few places and creased across a fold line) on the opposite side and my bodyshop managed to pull it out (by welding a metal bar onto it!) and do an invisible repair. Not sure of the cost as it was part of a much larger programme of work and I'm in Lincoln where labour rates are rather lower! (I know this as I move from Lincoln to Reading in a few weeks and am still in shock at prices there!)

ETA picture (note the NCP yellow - conveniently their CCTV wasn't working that day....!)

timski wrote:Hi Guys,

Would it be possible for a panel beater to repair this dent or are they likely to just get a replacement door, respray and then swap back in all the hardware? And what would be a reasonable price you think?

https://goo.gl/photos/eYmzWvi9QBnNqxbZ7


Thanks,
Tim.

It could be repaired i reckon. The swage line has gone in, obviously and the panel will likely have stretched too. Try and find a shop with smart repair kit. Basically, the paint gets sanded back to bare metal, and a series of little nails get spot-welded to the lower crease next to the swage line and these get a controlled pull by using a bar-type thing with little grips on which attach to the nail heads. As the bar follows the contour of the dent, it all gets pulled out equally with little or no distortion. Then the nails get cut and sanded off to leave a good - hopefully - repair. Any stretched areas can be shrunk back with an electric shrinking tool that they should have too.

It will more than likely, need a little skim of plastic body filler to get it all 100% but theres not much you can do about that really.

Or of course, try and find a good second hand door though of course you'd still need to strip & refit it, paint it, etc so might not be that much in it. I think I'd try the repair route personally. The good thing is that these doors use decent gauge steel so aren't as prone to 'moving' around during a repair

Thanks guys.