Tslick

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I had the bad experience last week getting a 2-inch crease from a rouge SUV vs. a normal door dent in my passenger door. I remembered reading in European Car Magazine an article about the subject, so I spent a few minutes leafing through the back issues. When I found and re-read the article, I was pleased the business was less than ten minutes from work. Yesterday, I stopped by for an estimate thinking it could not be repaired by that method, but they said they could and they could do the job immediately. Mark quoted $200 ( ~ 1 hour labor ) for it and another 1/2 inch ding on the right front fender. I had him do the jobs.

The process made sense, Use an butterfly shaped tool(s) on the inside of the sheet metal to massage the metal at the dent (or crease) and tapping the metal with a nylon awl (rod) to relive the stress from the painted side. Leveraging with the butterfly tool(s) without inducing excess force is critical.

Mark, who fixed the dents, was having a good time. It took 2-1/2 hours to complete the job but I was in no hurry, with him taking phone calls and other customers coming in for quotes. His brother was out fixing a Ferrari in Palos Verdes.

During the process he explained what he was doing while fixing around (lost count) 5 or more other small door dings on the passenger side while fixing the crease. Showing off his set of tools…. The crease was a challenge so he stopped to think about it many times.

He turned away two customers because one had a gouge that penetrated the sheet metal and the other because the flange (where you roll) on the fender was damaged.

I recommend Beach Cities PDR (Huntington Beach) for ding repair. Ref: European Car, Oct 2007

reallife

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I had a little dent taken out last year. They came by work and fixed the dent while my car sat in the parking lot behind the hospital. Great job and it cast me about $125 or so. FYI, it is best to get these little dings fixed ASAP while the metal memory is still in your favor. Wait too long and the metal takes on a new memory of the ding.

alroumi

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I also have done this route, after the doors of a Escalade smashed into my passengers door and created a small ding. It took around an hours time to remove and only costed in the range of 50 dollars.

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Ikarus

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I'm not sure I would practice these methods on my SLK, but they look like they could actually work:

http://www.metacafe.com/watch/963248...ith_a_lighter/
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/494805...w_mastrik_com/
http://www.metacafe.com/watch/501379...ith_airduster/

snowboardguy989

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My brother used to do this. He has switched to painting now but when you decide to get this done make sure the guy is in practice.

Tslick

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It does help when they have a place of business.