Saturday 23 April 2011

Dent Removal on the Cheap - Macgyver Style

Ever had a big dent from someone leaning on your car or doing something stupid and causing a big dent? I had this problem a few years ago on my old 1994 Toyota Corolla. I didn't have auto insurance, had way to much debt and I was too cheap to get it repaired by a proper workshop. Since I still wanted to woo the ladies,  I "borrowed" the IT guy's compressed air can, got my room mates hair dryer and followed a similar technique to the following you tube clip, to get my car back to its former glory.

Method :

1. Heat up the dented area with the hair dryer for at least a minute on a high setting, Usually your paint can withstand the heat from the hair dryer. This should get the metal soft for the next bit.

2. Now turn the compressed air can upside down and spray the area of the dent from the center outwards in a circular motion. You should hear a pop and hopefully the dent will be restored to its former glory.

This worked for me however I tried it on a friends car who had a dent with a crease in it. This didn't work. Also smaller dents don't work either.

This method works on large shallow dents, anything smaller than a baseball or shallower that 1/4" wont pop so easily. It is the ratio of metal thickness to surface area that is critical and also what's behind the dent as insulation material or stiffeners may also stop this working.  So try this method and if it doesn't work get your insurance to cover it or take it to a cheap PDR place and get them to knock it out. 



56 comments:

  1. Great post,
    Ill give you a cheezburger friend.
    Hope everyone supports this blog as well.

    Jake

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  2. Wow! good to know this, surely will be useful someday.

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  3. Bought a used accord a few years back, the second night I owned it, someone jumped onto my hood in the middle of the night, left 4 shallow depressions.

    Talk about depression! Wish I would have known about this trick, I spent the next day with a hammer and towel hammering them out. Still can see them if you're looking.

    Really wish I knew about this!

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  4. That was awesome! I almost want to dent my car just so I can try it haha!

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  5. Good post, I'll make sure to do that if it ever happens to me.

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  6. That's going to come in really handy with the way I drive :)

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  7. Damn thats amazing technology, could use one of these badboys ;D

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  8. @Mike
    hahaha I wanted to say that aswell!

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  9. I hope I will never need to remove dents :P But if it happen I will try this definitely.

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  10. Humm, I might actually try that on my old car :)

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  11. My grandfather took the dent out of the roof of a rolled car doing something similar only he used a blowtorch

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  12. Sweet! I really am going to do this on one I have

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  13. I'll show my father this, good tip.

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  14. That's a pretty good idea. I have a dent in my car that I don't mind so much but its too small to use this on, shame.

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  15. Molecular expension physics at its finest. Nicely done. Was that you in the vid too?

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  16. i did this once on my car, unfortunatly the dent was too small and wouldn't pop out. put still useful +1 follower

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  17. dont have a car but LOVE mcguyver...

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  18. i wrote this down so i dont forget.

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  19. The Greener Side -> No that wasn't me, i was skeptical when it was the first time i tried so didnt try record it. The second time with the crease however we were all prepped, polished the car etc.. however it failed :P
    Found this off a search on youtube.

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  20. there's a big shallow dent that's been on my car since i bought it. if i can overcome my laziness enough to try this i will.
    +followed

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  21. Will have to try this next time some jagoff dings my car.

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  22. thanks for the tip ill have to remember this

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  23. The greatness of the power of information that internet provides at it's finest!

    Glad i stumbled on ya!

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  24. Think I might just go dent my car to try this out!

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  25. Tbh, I can't help but be a bit of a skeptic. Does the hair dryer really "soften the metal"? I'd be amazed if it really had any effect. Could be solid otherwise though, and it sounds like it worked well for you. I'm probably just pragmatic.

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  26. Dude, I want more MacGyver tricks for my car!

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  27. Used this technique only the other day after seeing this !!! awesome video man +kudos

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  28. this could've saved me a lot of money. well... better that i know now than never.

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  29. I love an easy cheap fix. kinda fun to do too!

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  30. This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.

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  31. These are some useful advice. Will see if i will ever need this.

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  32. That looks so sketchy lol MacGyver Style lol

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  33. This is awesome! Seriously fkin smart

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  34. my auto body teacher would do this with out co2 instead he would use a damp towel co2 will kill the clear coat if you over do it

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