Paintless dent removal - 911 doors

[Loual]

I've inquired and been told that dings along both doors of my 1975 911S can't be removed by paintless dent removal tools because the door frame/beam structure under the door skin is very substantial and blocks access. But my experience on other cars is starting to tell me this is more art than science. Has anyone had dings successfully removed from their doors? Or tried and been unable to remove them? The car has original paint in excellent condition except for the dings; I'd hate to repaint the doors just to remove the dings.

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Lou Almerini
1975 911S

[Don Plumley]

I have an experience that might be similar, though (thankfully) not with my PCar.

My rather pristine Honda Accord Coupe (yes, it was a great commuter car) received a monstorous dent just behind the drivers door. Let's just say my then 6 year old daughter was really nice to me that night, then the next morning I knew why.

No access into this area as it is structural (A-Pillar, I think).

The paintless dent guy comes over, drills a small hole in the door jamb, then after heating the metal, inserts these medieval hooks and things into the body, and 15 minutes later, I can't find the dent. I mean seriously, I'm a picky guy and I can't find any evidence of the dent. He really had a great feel for the metal, how to stretch it back into shape, etc. What a lucky girlfriend he must have. Anyway, a plug goes into the door frame and it looks great.

The secret was finding a real pro in the paintless dent remval circus. Seems that anyone with a VCR and $100 to "Al's School of Paintless Dent Removal and Taxidermy" can say they are a dent removal specialist. I found my guy by calling the high-end car dealers around town (the Porsche and Mercedes crew) - they all recommended him. Seems that when a new 996 gets dinged, he undoes it for them.

If you are in Southern California, drop me a line and I'll pass his name/number to you.

Sorry for the long post, but I still can't get over what a great job he did.

Good luck!

Don

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don@plumley.org
Das Zoom - '87 Carrera

[Rod Walter]

Lou, while I personally haven't had my 911 repaired by the paintless method I have had my Toyota Land Cruiser repaired that way after a hail storm and it has a heavy gauge skin. And I've also seen more than one report of people having their 911's repaired this way very successfully.

Why don't you call a Porsche dealer or another high line dealer around you and see if there is someone in the area that they use for this kind of repair. I'm with you - I would hate to use the traditional method involving a hole, a puller and repainting if it isn't necessary. Good luck.

Oops - guess Don was faster at the keyboard tonight!

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Rod Walter
'88 911 coupe

[This message has been edited by Rod Walter (edited 08-09-2001).]

[Clark Griswald]

A skilled guy can work miracles. I am sure if the dent is on or near the door reinforcement it makes it tougher and the result quality will be reduced accordingly.

The guys who know what they are doing will tell you they can't make it perfect because the metal is stretched, they can only improve it. But they sure can improve it.

I had a dent, not a ding, a dent about 8 inches by 6 inches pushed in about 1 inch and visible fold in the metal. A couple of shops told me it couldn't be fixed with paintless techniques. I found someone really good. The guy spent about 3-4 hours on it and it is close to perfect. Cost me about $500 but he also went around the car and cleaned up a few other minor items.

I know $500 is a lot, but consider the cost of the alternatives. And alternatives would have risked mismatched paint and a poor fitting door. I think I made the right decision.

Little door dings are trivial for someone good.

Chuck Moreland '86 Cab - "Sparky", '77 Targa - "Sweet Pea"

[la86targa]

Hi Don,
Do you have the name/number of the guy you used? Paintless sounds a lot more appealing than a repaint.

Thanks.

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Tai

[ChrisL]

This week I had a fairly substantial ding removed from the driver's door on my 86 Carrera. It was about five inches from the front edge of the door and about two-thirds from the bottom. After $150 I can't even see where it was. They offered to do it for $100 if they could drill through the door jamb instead of taking off the interior panel.

I agree that you need to find someone who really knows what they're doing. They can work miracles.

Chris.

[motion]

Ouch Chuck. $500? Where do you live, Monaco?

I had great luck with a couple of dents in my Suburban, due to the thin, recycled-beer can nature of the metal. On my 911, though, the guy gave up after about an hour and said the door metal was just too heavy. the dent was in the middle of the door up near the top in the curve.

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-Richard
'84 Carrera Cabriolet
'74 911 Widebody 3.6 Project

[Drew_K]

Drilling holes? Taking apart door panels?

I used the same service used by the local high end car dealerships to remove 4 door dings. He didn't have to drill holes or take anything apart. He had a long tool that fit into a slot at the bottom of the door. He said the tool was specifically made for Porsches. Perhaps there's someone in your area that has experience with Porsches and can remove the dings without surgery.

[jlex]

The prior owner of my car tried to fit a computer into the front trunk, then slammed the thing shut before checking for proper clearance. Left a smallish outward ding on the front hood about the diameter of a pen tip. Asked them at the body shop to have the roving paintless dent removal guy massage it back in... thought it'd be an easy job since there were no structural supports, insulation or anthing under the hood, but all he could manage was to scratch the clearcoat... I'm sure he got his training by videotape. Looked to me like the simplest job in the world.
regards,
jlex.

[IceBlueSC]

Originally posted by Don Plumley:
If you are in Southern California, drop me a line and I'll pass his name/number to you.
Good luck!

Don

Don,

I am also looking for a good dent removal guy. I am located in Costa Mesa, can you please email me his name and number (mflorendo@hotmail.com).

Cheers,



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Mike Florendo
'81 Ice Blue SC Coupe
Pelican Page
Porsche Owners Gallery Page

[R22tech]

I'm with Drew. I had several dings removed by an excellent paintless dent removal company, no holes were drilled, tools were "porsche specific", all dings are gone and it looks perfect. My car is an 85 carrera.

[Don Plumley]

I've had a bunch of people ask me for the dent guy I used. His name is Chris, company is Dentcrafters, Tel is 714-612-6580. Newport Auto Center (the Porsche dealer on Coast Highway) has used him for 10 years and I'd trust my PCar to him. Tell him Don sent ya.

Don

[Don Plumley]

Wanted to make a note on the hole drilling - Of course where you can remove panels or access through existing holes is ideal. Some lazy guys want to drill a hole (see my quote above about Al and the VCR).

In my specific case, the dent was in a box member, so there was no alternative. But a nearly invisble plug in the door jamb is way better than bondo and mis-matched paint.

[ZE911]

"Dentmaster" or "DentPro" have offices all around the country. I had 3 small dents/dings removed from my 84 Carrera. Right door, left door, and top of front fender. The guy is a miracle worker. Forty-five minutes and $180 later the P-Car was blemish free. Made an appointment and the guy came my house. The dealers use these type of dent repair people all the time.

[Loual]

Thanks, everyone, all for your quick and helpful replies. It sounds like my suspicions are confirmed... I just need to find a good tech with the right Porsche specific tools. I'm on the East coast - New Jersey Shore, so if anyone knows of a good paintless tech in the area, let me know. Bodymotion in Ocean Township offers paintless dent removal; I'll check there, since I'm having them replace my tires in a couple of weeks. Schnieder Nelson in West Long Branch is the closest dealer.

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Lou Almerini
1975 911S

[Loual]

Update - paintless tech with Porsche tools was unable to get my doors dings out, since they are behind the eight inch wide horizontal door reinforcing beam, and my car came from the factory with a thick inner undercoat layer, leaving no room for the tools to get through. Bummer. This particular tech did not want to drill the doorjambs for access, since he did not feel confident that he extra access would help him much. I was hesitant to get both doors resprayed since the car's paint (Sahara Beige) is otherwise original (except for front and rear lower valances). Oh well.

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Lou Almerini
1975 911S