Club 80-90 Forums

My wife's latest mod to the van was an intimate encounter with a metal bollard along the sliding door yesterday.  I can handle the paint scratches along the middle of the panel (cant really see all of  those in these pictures), but im aksing about the dent/groove along the bottom of the silder.  Do we think this can be pushed out from behind?  ive not taken the door card off yet, and cant recall if theres enough access to that area.  Otherwise the door is in very good condition.







any advice at all would be appreciated- ive not done much bodywork, and dont enjoy it in the least. Hoping to not have to get the expensive bodyshop involved if possible.  its used most days, so not a show pony- but i dont like dents and scratches, rust... all the bad stuff!

If i recall there should be space for you to get in there. But might be fiddly and how effective you could push it out may vary. Might have to block and hammer it.

Just fill it, trying to beat it out may cause high spots and it will need filler as well .

Access is not particularly good at that point even if you were a good ‘old school’ panel beater with the correct tools. As much as we dislike filler, I’m With Multisi… just fill it!

Filler and respray, you have a natural line/indentation in the panel above the damage so you should be able to repair and spray the area below that line blending it easier. In meantime as it looks like your daily drive, I would temporary repair/paint the area to prevent the elements getting to it.

Little bit fiddly, as you’ll need to sand and remove all of the stonechip from below the fold line before filling. It’ll be impossible to blend it without doing so.(apologies if I’m just stating the obvious)

Thanks everyone for the replies, I've put a bit of paint on the exposed metal, and will deal with it soon as time allows.

In the meantime, someone reversed into the side of our panda 4x4 today. Not having a good week