What can be repaired via Paintless Dent Removal?
PDR is an excellent choice to repair dents caused by other doors opening onto your vehicle, shopping trolleys, hail damage, and creases. We can also fix larger dents, ranging from those the size of a business card, up to and beyond the size of a dinner plate, which are assessed on a case by case basis.
Will Paintless Dent Removal damage my paintwork?
Modern factory paintwork is quite flexible and is much more durable than the paint systems of old, which along with thinner metals, allows us to perform the PDR technique as an option to panel beating.
There are a few constraints however; older vehicles (Pre 1990) with original paint, vehicles painted with Arcylic paint, or with poor quality repairs may be at risk of paint damage. If at any point throughout the enquiry process, if we feel that paint damage could be a possibility, we’ll advise of any risks and their potential likelihood in order to give you an informed decision whether or not to proceed with repairs.
What is your lead time?
Lead times vary on factors such as weather, season and economic factors currently in Melbourne, however in general our leads times are approximately 2 business days.
Can you repair dents that are on the line or crease of a panel?
Absolutely, with many modern cars now having many “crease” or “bodylines” on their panels, we often find that these protrude outwards the furthest, and are suspectible to being dented first. Dents that occur on these lines are naturally more difficult to repair, but in many cases are still a viable option for our methods.
Do you remove door trims to get to the dents?
For the vast majority of cars, we leave the door trims on, opting instead to access the dent thru the window opening, which is protected by a felt backed protective shield.
In some circumstances this isn’t a possibility, where cars have dents that are on the bottom half of the panel, or have a laminated or “double glazed” door glass. Such cars as the Jeep Grand Cherokee, Mazda CX-5/CX-9, Lexus RX, and the Mercedes S-Class all have laminated glass, which fragile and costly to replace. For these vehicles, the preference is to remove the door trim and avoid the risks of damaging the glass, unless the owner explicity requests to take on the risk.
Where can PDR be performed?
Because we don’t respray or use traditional panel beating methods, PDR is not limited to a fixed business location. This means we are mobile, and can restore your vehicle at a location of your convenience. Please note however, for the best results we need to work in a covered area out of sunny or raining weather conditions; this may mean a garage, carport, factory, or any other location that offers shade away from glare and sunlight.
Don’t you just suck / pop / tap the dents out?
Contrary to what many believe, dents are not “sucked” out with suction cups, “tapped” out with hammers, or “pop” out with force . Even though it’s tempting to do so, please avoid trying to repair part of the dents yourself, as re-repairing such dents are either most costly, or impossible with PDR methods as many people damage the paint during DIY attempts, leaving only a respray as the only option.
What about dry ice or hair dryers to repair the dent?
Again, we do not use dry ice, hairdryers or compressed air. While a small fraction of dents could be slightly improved with these methods, the extreme change in temperatures can cause the paint to crack or fracture.
None of the methods above can provide an accurate repair, in comparison to PDR.
What is push to paint?
For some dents that are damaged beyond a full PDR repair, or need to be resprayed, the panel is repaired with PDR, instead of normally replacing it. This is a preferred option for customers that wish to have little, or often no body filler used prior to re-spraying their cars, and is a popular option for those restoring classic vehicles.
What if the panel is double skinned?
If there is no access to reach the back of the dent, another solution exists called Glue Pulling: a convex attachment called a “Tab” is used on the exterior of the dent, attached by high quality hot melt glue. After being allowed to set, the dent is pulled inside out, then tapped back down to it’s original shape. This method is frequently used for hail damage, though we don’t recommend it for dents that have scratched paint or poor previous reapirs.
Can you fix dents that are creased?
Often there is a misconception out there can PDR cannot repair creases, or large dents that are “creased”. Rest assured we can certainly fix creases, or even larger dents that have a creased under the apex of the dent.
Do you repair scratches?
Sometimes we’ve found that sometimes a dent is scuffed or has paint transferred onto it, these can be polished out or removed with mild solvents, and generally we’re happy to do this as a courtesy to customers. Please note however, we cannot touch-up or respray paint damage, though depending on your area, we may be able to refer you to a local business that specializes in this.