I've been itching to do this for quite some time. Kevin (a Pelican) over at Automotive Innovations and Restoration whose work and reputation are stellar recommended a fellow named Rick Gebhard.
Rick owns his own company called Dent Tech in Van Nuys California. Kevin said that Rick would come to me and not to trust just anyone with my Carrera.
So in spite of being temporarily out of work I've undertaken a few projects on the old Carrera to keep myself busy!
I called Rick mid week and as luck would have it he was doing a job close by in Santa Monica and invited me to stop by so that he could put eyes on my dents.
The PO and original owner of my '85 911 took great care of the car but two things have bothered me since I bought it 1 1/2 years ago.
The hood had two basketball sized indentations that were caused I believe by the same ball bouncing once dead center near the top of the hood and again near the nose. Neither was particularly horrible but the indentations were there and in the right light VERY obvious.
The other involves a more common problem that I notice quite often on our cars. Little vertical creases in the aluminum deck lid over the engine. They look like careless dents caused by heavy hands closing the lid and appear near the latching area on the rear lip of my hood. Rick feels that they are caused by garbage that gets thrown up by the engine and collect in this area and careless deck lid closing.
Rick checked out both areas. What he told me was a little surprising. First, as I suspected, since the paint wasn't cracked and is original I was a good candidate for this service. Second he informed me that he'd be calling a friend and his original instructor in this process to help. Turns out that my dents were presenting quite a challenge!
Rick and I discussed price and settled on a figure that was less than what Rick initially estimated. I claimed poverty and volunteered to take the car Saturday morning to Ricks home shop. I think he took pity on me and relishes a challenge!
Enter Mark Ferrera retired Marine Corp drill Sargent. I arrived at 10am this morning and instantly recognized that I was dealing with a couple of perfectionists. Rick's other business is detailing and he and Mark attacked opposite ends of my Carrera.
What came next surprised the heck out of me. They both attached reflectors w/long arms attached to suction cups to areas near the dents and started
tapping with small hammers and plastic "chisels". I figured that they would commence to banging out underneath the dents. I mentioned that I'd considered doing some banging of my own. I'll not soon forget the looks of horror on both mens faces. Mark commented that had I done this that they'd probably been unable to repair the damage.
It turns out that there is quite an art to this process. Over the next 2 - 3 hours both men tapped on "crowns" and stress points in the skin of my hood and engine lid. They massaged, pried, tapped and levered until there was practically
nothing left of my dents! All along cracking wise with each other and yours truly. This was particularly important as one of the biggest stressed areas was me.
If you are anything like I am having a couple of guys poking prying and tapping on your baby can be stressful.
Rick's in red and Mark the Marine in gray. Rick trains in martial Arts and Mark was a Marine sharpshooter instructor
for the instructors! Needless to say I didn't piss either one of them off.
I'll do this again in a minute if I have another problem. It is cost effective though not cheap. I realized that you pay for the experience these guys bring. Both have constant repeat business and you'll have to call ahead for an appointment should you need their services.
My car has 24 year old two stage metallic paint that has spent allot of years in the sun. Bodywork and paint matching would not be an option for me. The impossible paint match would have made me more crazy than the dents.
If you decide to go this route get a recommendation from someone you trust. Both Mark and Rick lament that the business is so full of hacks now that it's giving the industry a bad name.
I'm going to plug Rick for paintless dent work and let him bring in Mark if needed!
RICK GEBHARD
DENT TECH
818-331-6070
rickyJ91352@yahoo.com
He's in Southern California. I love this process get a recommendation near you!
Thanks guys.
Scott
P.S. When I save up some more sheckles and get myself re-employed I'm going back to Rick for an interior/exterior detail. I'll report back. If his detailing is anything like his dent removal he'll have a loyal customer.