BLOG – UNDER THE HOOD

Whether it’s a brand new, sleek looking car or a reliable vehicle that’s gotten you to and from places for many years, no doubt you want the exterior of your car to be clean, presentable, and attractive. But when you get into a wreck or even a minor fender bender, oftentimes you’ll have to decide what to do about those unsightly dents left behind on your car’s body — that’s where dent repair comes in!

The good news is, there are many options for fixing dings and dents on your car. Some of these dent repairs you can perform yourself; for others, you’ll need to enlist the help of an experienced professional.

Here are 6 options for dent repair that will get your car’s body back to its original, eye-pleasing condition!

Simple Dent Repair: The Suction Method

For minor dents, you may not have to look very far at all for the necessary equipment to fix the problem. Sometimes a common toilet plunger will be all you’ll need to straighten out a small dent in your car’s body.

Simply wet the end of the plunger, attach it to the dent, and gently pull. The suction force of the plunger will often cause the affected area to recoil into its original position.

If the plunger doesn’t have an adequate amount of suction force to be effective, you could buy a dent puller from a local car parts store. This little DIY tool operates on the same principle as the plunger but may have multiple heads for maximum suction.

A Do-It-Yourself Repair Kit

There are many DIY repair kits out there that operate on a similar premise to the “plunger method.” The main difference is that these repair kits make use of an adhesive to attach the pulling instrument to the affected area on the body. Once the adhesive and the tool are in place, there is often a twisting mechanism that starts the pulling action.

DIY Science

For smaller dents, some car owners and DIY-ers have found that manipulating heat and coldness levels at the dent’s location can solve the issue.

For this dent repair procedure, take a hair dryer or some other portable heat source (but not a heat gun, which will damage the paint) and apply the heat onto the affected area. Then, take a can of compressed air and apply it to the same area. Minor dents will often correct themselves then and there.

The scientific principle behind this process is that metal expands and contracts according to extreme changes in temperature. The reasoning is that for small dents, this sudden expansion and contraction will cause the metal to “snap back” into its original, undamaged position. This process is known to work better on dents found in the hood, trunk, fender, or other flat stretches of metal on the car’s body.

Paint Repairs

Of course, sometimes your paint has been damaged, dinged, chipped, or scratched. What are some repair options available to you then?

One option is an all-in-one scratch-repair product, or scratch removal system. If the dent or ding is not very deep, this could be an affordable and time-saving alternative. This type of product is designed to hide the scratch and blend the affected area in with the surrounding surface.

However, if you are facing a deeper ding to your paint, you may have to purchase some specialized restoration materials and perform a series of steps to completely eliminate the unsightly scratch. A typical multistage treatment could include:

• Abrasion, or sanding down the scratched area to the bare metal.
• Applying a coat of primer to the affected area.
• Re-painting the area with the appropriate top coat.

Multistage treatments like this can be time-consuming. However, if done right, DIY paint repairs can yield impressive results.

Removal and Replacement

So far we’ve been talking about dents and dings that can generally be fixed with do-it-yourself repairs. However, some collisions cause dents so massive that the entire affected section of the body needs to be replaced for complete restoration.

Most auto body shops specialize in frame repair to, first of all, ensure that your car is safe to drive after a major accident. Even if an entire overhaul is not necessary, you may need to bring your car into a shop to replace your fender or another section of the body.

Once the replacement part has been installed onto the car, the auto body technician can apply paint as needed to eliminate any discrepancies between the new section and the surrounding surfaces. This is definitely a job that you want to leave to the professionals!

Paintless Dent Repair

While certain major dents may require removal and replacement, paintless dent repair can often get the job done in less time, and at a reduced cost.

What is paintless dent repair? Paintless dent repair, or removal, is an innovative solution to the problem of fixing deep, structural dents. Paintless dent repair technicians focus on removing the dent from the interior of the car, instead of the exterior. These technicians will work at pushing, instead of pulling, the dent back into place. Since this procedure takes place underneath the dent, the exterior appearance of your car remains intact.

As the name implies, no additional coat of paint is necessary for paintless dent repair. The repair process simply involves a restructuring of the current piece of your car’s body. Some common benefits that come from paintless dent repair include:

• Quick turnaround times
• Reduced costs
• Avoidance of incidental paint damage
• No impact on a car’s resale value
• Restoration of car’s original appearance

Dent Repair from The Pros: Excellent Service, Caring Technicians

At CSN JD Collision, we view each one of our customers as members of our extended family. And since our customers are like family, our collision repair technicians take great care to ensure that they receive the highest level of service, and the highest quality work.

If your car is in need of paintless dent repair, contact us today to book an appointment. Slots are limited, and fill up fast! Let us help you get rid of those dings and dents, and get your vehicle body back to its original, attractive condition.