Hit and run!!
08-18-2004, 09:12 AM
#1
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Join Date: Jul 2004
Posts: 731
Hit and run!!
So I was at work doing inventory (blockbuster) until 3am the other night, and left and went home.
I didnt wake up until about noontime, and went out to go to the ATM only to discover someone hit my baby overnight! I live in a "village" (a subdivision of the town, really the same town with a different name) which is a very big tourist area; and that morning happened to be the biggest festival of the summer aside from the fireworks (cape verde festival.)
So, needless to say there was no note and no one called my insurance company to put in a claim; I mean... why would someone take responsibility, right?
It looks like someone turned out of a side street too late and it hit my car from the corner of the rear bumper (driver side) and scraped along side the car up to just behind the rear wheel along the quarter panel.
It definitely hit the bumper hard, some large scratches and actually a small flap got punched all the way through! Though it kept its shaped, and I could take car of it with some slight bondo and paint...
But the quarter panel, my precious quarter panel
It's got some decent sized scratches in the center of about a 10-12" round dent. Luckily there is no crease in the sheet metal, so I'm praying I might be able to get this straightened out on my own.
ANY SUGGESTIONS would be greatly appreciated!
If I could get behind the quarter panel to the outside body panel I could very easily restore the shape... But upon looking underneath the car It would appear there are quite a few things (most of which I don't know what they are) that I would have to remove. And, I'm not sure because its pretty difficult to see whats up against the side, but I dont think even taking everything out will do the trick. It seems as though there might be some more sheet metal folded out away from the outside piece, leaving a gap inbetween?
So.. that said, a mechanic I know suggested an old "street trick" for my specific type of dent. That I should go buy a new plunger (red flexible rubber kind) and get some tranny fluid (apparently it wont harm the clear cote?) and put the fluid around the ring of the plunger. Unthread the handle from the plunger, compress the cone, and put it onto the car in that shape, make sure all the edges are sealed against the car and thread the handle back in (maybe with pipe tape) to create suction and try to pull the dent back out with my makeshift dent repair tool.
Thoughts on this?
I didnt wake up until about noontime, and went out to go to the ATM only to discover someone hit my baby overnight! I live in a "village" (a subdivision of the town, really the same town with a different name) which is a very big tourist area; and that morning happened to be the biggest festival of the summer aside from the fireworks (cape verde festival.)
So, needless to say there was no note and no one called my insurance company to put in a claim; I mean... why would someone take responsibility, right?
It looks like someone turned out of a side street too late and it hit my car from the corner of the rear bumper (driver side) and scraped along side the car up to just behind the rear wheel along the quarter panel.
It definitely hit the bumper hard, some large scratches and actually a small flap got punched all the way through! Though it kept its shaped, and I could take car of it with some slight bondo and paint...
But the quarter panel, my precious quarter panel
It's got some decent sized scratches in the center of about a 10-12" round dent. Luckily there is no crease in the sheet metal, so I'm praying I might be able to get this straightened out on my own.
ANY SUGGESTIONS would be greatly appreciated!
If I could get behind the quarter panel to the outside body panel I could very easily restore the shape... But upon looking underneath the car It would appear there are quite a few things (most of which I don't know what they are) that I would have to remove. And, I'm not sure because its pretty difficult to see whats up against the side, but I dont think even taking everything out will do the trick. It seems as though there might be some more sheet metal folded out away from the outside piece, leaving a gap inbetween?
So.. that said, a mechanic I know suggested an old "street trick" for my specific type of dent. That I should go buy a new plunger (red flexible rubber kind) and get some tranny fluid (apparently it wont harm the clear cote?) and put the fluid around the ring of the plunger. Unthread the handle from the plunger, compress the cone, and put it onto the car in that shape, make sure all the edges are sealed against the car and thread the handle back in (maybe with pipe tape) to create suction and try to pull the dent back out with my makeshift dent repair tool.
Thoughts on this?
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