This thread was supposed to show people considering this kind of repair what gets left behind. I took the pictures in any angle that showed the remaining damage, in the correct light. This managed only to make it look as if there was no repair done at all, when this is not the case. The car actually does look a lot better than it used to, and I do not regret having it done. This obviously shows that these pictures are greatly misleading, and for that reason, I am removing them. Appreciate all your comments.

**EDIT**

I will leave in two that I think portray the repair in it's worst light for those still considering it. You can see that the dent on the before picture extendes all the way back beyond the door handle, and almost as high as it. In the after picture, you can see the remaining portion of the dent extends no where near the door handle either in length or width. It also worth mentioning that in most lights and angles, the after dent is virtually invisible to the unsuspecting eye. Do with that what you will. Hopefully this will help something.

 

 

Are those the after pics?

 

heh, yeah. It does look better in person, but not much. Like I said, temp fix.

 

Why didn't you just pull the door panel off and push it out with your fist? Probably would have come out better than a $150 PDR bill.

 

Or maybe try this? http://www.metacafe.com/watch/501379...ith_airduster/

 

LOL. That's pretty cool.
Jae

 

Where are your after pics ??

 

The Dent was creased guys, pushing would have done nothing, it would have folded right back in. I've never seen the hairdryer method, but I doubt it would work on a dent this size.

 

Yeah, I know, the worst part of the dent remains, and I took pictures of the light in which you could still see it. However, the point is, The dent doesn't jump out at you anymore. If you're passing by, you'd never notice it, where as before the whole dang door was caved in.


Maybe you guys missed the point of this post. I'm not bragging about the repair here, hence why this thread is titled "Cheap Body Work". I'm well aware that this wasn't going to be a perfect door repair, and it was never intended to be. It was a cheap alternative because I don't have 600 bucks right now to spend on a full repair. I plan to do that in the future, this was temporary. I only posted this so that others who are considering the PDR route would know what kind of results to expect.

Although I do appreciate the snide sarcastic replies, thanks. Please, by all means, keep them coming. Although I'm sure you guys can do better than "where's teh after pics?".

Other comments I received...

"Man, that sucks! Someone dented your door AGAIN!"
"I'm glad to see you got it removed, but why the hell did you put it back?"
"The Germans did a better job of winning WWII man."

These at least made me laugh...

 

Dent looks the same to me. I think you wasted your $$ on the PDR, especially if your going to eventually have it fixed the right way at some point in the furutre.

 

Dont listen to them Rydicule, they just like to ridicule other peoples rides.

 

I think it was money well spent. The dent is a lot smaller than it was, you can see in the original pictures the dent extended all the way to underneath the door handle, and in the after pictures it hardly reaches the half door mark. Nobody notices it anymore, whereas before everybody was asking about it. Hell, most people don't even know there still is one, only when I show it to them in the same light I took the pictures. To me, that alone is worth the stupid 150 bucks it cost when it could take me a year to be ready to blow 500-600 dollars on car door.


However, if you are in need of a perfect repair on damage such as this, apparently PDR is NOT the way to go. I, however, would do it again.

 

I've got just the perfect car to try this on. My buddies '93 Civic EX

Unless the "after" pics are extremely misleading, I could have done a better job with my fist and a rubber mallot. Even with the crease at the bottom, the center of the door and door trim should not still be buckling inward.

I woulda demanded a refund, unless they specifically said, we'll do our best but no guarantees.

 

I think it would have looked about the same or better if you had just taken the door panel off and pushed the door sheetmetal out by hand.

 

Before and after do not look the same. I would still try to get a new door.

 

wheres the before pics? i dont see anything different.

 

those look like the before pics bro

 

I had a good PDR guy work on a medium-sized dent on my rear quarter panel a couple of years ago. I already had him taking out dings so it was only a little extra to have him work on it. He said he spent a long time on it and was only able to fix it "85%" but it's MUCH improved. You can only see from a few angles. It doesn't bother me and I am a perfectionist so I think that's pretty good. I think he fixed it much better than I could have just wacking from the back. It's called experience.

These are the best shots I have. The dent is right below the antenna.

BEFORE:


AFTER:

 

Nice bro, that's pretty much how mine came out. 85% works for me, The pictures I took were meant to show exactly in what light the dent still shows, so I got a bunch of "WheRE da AftER PICS LOL!!!!"

Actually, I'm super satisfied, 150 bucks makes the thing virtually invisible, unless of course you're inspecting looking for it, as opposed to my $690 and even $1,600 repair quotes. Either way, car looks good bro!

 

i dont get what you're trying to say. is it that you're unhappy with a 150 fix?
or is it
although it could have cost alot more, for 150 they fixed it pretty good?

pdr isnt for real dents or creases, its for dings, dents without creases, anything where there isnt a body line that was damaged or paint that cracked. i cant see much from either pic, although the before looked to me like pdr wouldnt have worked.

 

It looks improved and now somewhat bearable until you get it fully fixed.

 

Yeah, confusing, sorry.

I was saying that I'm actually pretty pleased with how it turned out. A full repair was quoted at 1600 bucks, so 150 for what I got was great. The pictures actually show the dent a lot better than it can be seen in person. Nobody even notices it anymore.

 

Compared to the b4 photos I think your car looks good, 150 wasnt too much to pay 4a little piece of mind.

 

it looks pretty good compared to b4

 

Found this old thread I had made, and I thought I would update it. I'm not sure, but it seems that the repair has actually set in over the last 4 months. So those of us that may consider this type of cheaper repair may like to see the results 4 months after the fact.