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I have the worst luck...

3K views 19 replies 10 participants last post by  R3TRO 
#1 ·
I just finished replacing my front chin splitter after running over a bumper on the 5North in the LA area. Now a few days later this happens! WTF....

So a car in front of me kicked up some big piece of rubber which bounced onto my hood, hit my windshield, then hit the car behind me. I'm so pi$$ed right now. Same damn freeway too! So looking at the pic below, can this be fixed by a body shop or do I need a new hood? Those are groves/dents. Doesn't look like it broke the paint. Thanks for any input.

 
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#4 ·
I had one long trough like that on the rear drivers side of my Chocolate Covered PT Cruiser convertible. Looked like someone had dragged me with their bumper cutting into a parking slot.
PDR....dent removal and $80...and it looked like new!:thumbsup:
 
#3 ·
the hood is aluminum, don't know how workable or forgiving that metal would be compared to steel - from a PDR perspective.

its worth a try to ask and see what someone trained it that could do.
 
#6 ·
Aluminum hoods can be repaired, by a properly trained tech, using the paintless dent repair process. Repairing dents in aluminum, however, is considered a more advanced procedure. It takes twice as long and, for this reason, there is between a 25-50% mark-up per panel.

Unlike steel sheet metal, which wants to return to its original pre-dent shape, aluminum has no memory. Aluminum requires more pressure for each push and does not stay where it is pushed. It acts like a spring. In most cases, aluminum needs to be pre-loaded when removing crowns and kinks. When pushing, a tech needs to hold his push longer to give more time for the aluminum to react. Also, heavier hammers must be used to give more of a forceful and smoother transfer of energy instead of giving a bouncing action.

When a tech is working on anything other than a small soft ding, like a large hood dent, he has to use heat to make the aluminum expand in order to make it easier to push.
 
#12 ·
Well... here's a quote/reply from a high rated local shop.

"Thank you for the photo. The dents to your hood are sharp and the metal is slightly stretched. If we move forward, this would only be an improvement job. I could repair the damage to about 75%-85%. The price would be $250."

Not sure what to do here... not sure what an "improvement job" is. :(
 
#18 ·
If a paintless guy can't remove it, I would fight for a new hood. The reason is hoods tend to have to bend a lot and any amount of filler has a chance of cracking over time.

BTW, are we sure the RT's hood is aluminum?
 
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