What would you do about a massive dent...

Wed May 30, 2012 6:41 pm

...in your door? Get the tools required to fix it yourself, meet up with some guy who's handy at that kind of thing from the e30 zone, buy a new door or take it to an outsider?

If I can get my phone working I'll put a picture up, it's on the rear door on a white 4 dr.

Wed May 30, 2012 6:56 pm

Look for a cheap door in your colour, and compare the price of having it done at a body shop/dent removal.
Personally I'd prefer to keep my original door but if the dent is that bad and cost of repair is that much then new door it is.

By the way I had lots of small dents taking out of my car for £60 total, worth getting a price for paint less dent removal first, the results are flawless if they are good at their job.

Wed May 30, 2012 7:03 pm

you the price to paint a new door?

Wed May 30, 2012 7:05 pm

If you have not done this sort of thing before DO NOT touch it, you will undoubtably make it so that a pro cannot fix it. Post a pic and we can give you a better idea what can be done but sharp creases and cracked paint mean the party is over.
I have an excellent white rear door for £30 . You will need to collect it as I don't get involved in sending panels.

Wed May 30, 2012 7:05 pm

Photo would help, has the paint been damaged?

I had a huge dent in my cabby rear quarter, so not expecting much i had a go at removing it, a big dent is quite easy i simply heated it up until about 60-70C then pushed it out from the inside. It worked a treat. Your problem is with small dents or creases, they are hard to remove.

Wed May 30, 2012 7:20 pm

pacerpete wrote:If you have not done this sort of thing before DO NOT touch it, you will undoubtably make it so that a pro cannot fix it. Post a pic and we can give you a better idea what can be done but sharp creases and cracked paint mean the party is over.
I have an excellent white rear door for £30 . You will need to collect it as I don't get involved in sending panels.

Thanks, what side door? where are you?

I've taken the door card off to have a look but that's all so far.

Wed May 30, 2012 7:36 pm

Captain_Birdseye wrote:
pacerpete wrote:If you have not done this sort of thing before DO NOT touch it, you will undoubtably make it so that a pro cannot fix it. Post a pic and we can give you a better idea what can be done but sharp creases and cracked paint mean the party is over.
I have an excellent white rear door for £30 . You will need to collect it as I don't get involved in sending panels.
Thanks, what side door? where are you?

I've taken the door card off to have a look but that's all so far.

I have both, I'll do you a deal on the two !

Wed May 30, 2012 7:38 pm

mrLEE30 wrote:i simply heated it up until about 60-70C

I know this isn't the tech help section, but how'd you do that?

Oh, and the paint's not damaged, well - it is on the wheel arch but that was a bit shit from the rust there already, touch up pen thing for that I reckon.

Wed May 30, 2012 7:57 pm

carefully with a heat gun from the inside, monitoring temp with an infra red gun thing - sub £10 on ebay, or pour half boiled water on the outside, just thoughts though..

Wed May 30, 2012 8:47 pm

i would get an estimate from a dent guy in the first instance, they are usually pretty handy. if they can't fix it then you probably cant either and TBH if they can you still probably cant without lots of experience.....if it's a no-no, then new door is probably the next cheapest option.

Wed May 30, 2012 10:34 pm

pacerpete wrote:
Captain_Birdseye wrote:
pacerpete wrote:If you have not done this sort of thing before DO NOT touch it, you will undoubtably make it so that a pro cannot fix it. Post a pic and we can give you a better idea what can be done but sharp creases and cracked paint mean the party is over.
I have an excellent white rear door for £30 . You will need to collect it as I don't get involved in sending panels.
Thanks, what side door? where are you?

I've taken the door card off to have a look but that's all so far.

I have both, I'll do you a deal on the two !

might take you up on that, I'll see what the dent people say, quite a few miles to you.

Thanks for advice all.

Wed May 30, 2012 11:03 pm

go see a dent man first
if not find a minty second hand door get it painted up and pop it on
i think its better to find a good door than mess with a bad dent and lots of filler

Thu May 31, 2012 4:45 am

Captain_Birdseye wrote:
mrLEE30 wrote:i simply heated it up until about 60-70C
I know this isn't the tech help section, but how'd you do that?

Oh, and the paint's not damaged, well - it is on the wheel arch

As above i used a hot air gun, but a good hair drier would suit, and i had access to the inside.

The temp was a guess as here we see 50C air temp and surfaces reach 60C easy in the sun, so i heated it until i could just touch it - about 60-70C i reckon.

My dent was huge and not creased, if yours on the wheel arch i dont hold much hope for you trying at home.

You can see mine is large and the body folds were not affected, i just removed the inner panel, heated it and pushed it out.

Thu May 31, 2012 11:49 am

Thanks mate. Sorry, my blackberry just hangs when I go to send the photos to my hotmail.

My dent is worse than that - a bit taller, deeper, lower - ie the plastic door trim is bent in with the dent, it has a nasty square creased look all around. A bit is on the wheel arch, although 95% of it is on the door and a fraction on the arch.

The arch has a nasty flaky rust behind the arch. After looking at the services of most of the people online, I fear it may be a new door, I am going to go down the route of asking for a quote on a repair, been speaking to a mate at work and he has a cheap contact, did a good job on his Golf, so fingers crossed.

Thanks again for everyone's continous help on this site with my problems