This past weekend my 02 cavalier was in a hail storm. Pretty much every metal body part has at least one dent in it, the hood and roof have alot. I was wondering if I would be better off fixing the car and have it repainted, or buying another car with the money i could get from selling my current car along with the money I would spend fixing the hail. The car is an 02 cavalier coupe with the 2200 and 91k miles.

there was a guy in the wrecked forum who had the same problem. said his car pretty much looked like a golf ball. i reported it to insurance and they ended up totalling the car. the labor time it was going to take to pop all the dents all over the place exceeded the value of the car.

i know that probably doesn't help you, but you at least have some point of reference when considering what to do.

i got hailed on today. no dents the i noticed, but there's a dozen or so chips of paint missing on my hood, roof.

sucks




GO PATS!!!

The Redneck wrote:There was a guy in the wrecked forum who had the same problem. Said his car pretty much looked like a golf ball. I reported it to insurance and they ended up totalling the car. The labor time it was going to take to pop all the dents all over the place exceeded the value of the car.

^^What he said. If it's that bad, it might be easiest if you just report it to insurance, take the money and move on to your next project. Just my opinion though.

take pictures so we can see how bad it is



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If it's bad and insurance wants to total it you might consider bondo. I know most people really don't like it, but it's a hell of a lot easier than trying to pop all those dents back out. Just an idea.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^ thats a good idea, but i suggest using "flexible polymer filler" many of the GM body shops around here use it, they claim it wont crack or shrink. my 1/4 panel was repaired with it and still looks fine.

just my 2 cents.


http://registry.gmenthusiast.com/images/my2005cav/my%20car%20the%20bash.jpg

Depending on your budget, paintless dent removal might be an option.

warm the car in the sun or carefully with a heater or somethin
set dry ice on dent

it should pop um out
so i've heard

-Seth

^^damn, i never heard of that before. how would that work?




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dry ice works

The Redneck wrote:^^damn, i never heard of that before. how would that work?

I forget how exactly it works. Our physics teacher was talking about it a couple a days ago though. It seems to work for some people and not for others.

-Seth

do you set the dry ice on the paint directly or on a rag or something?

i'm interested in the because i deal with dry ice often at work and it wouldn't be hard to get ahold of some.




GO PATS!!!

The Redneck wrote:do you set the dry ice on the paint directly or on a rag or something?

i'm interested in the because i deal with dry ice often at work and it wouldn't be hard to get ahold of some.

I'm not sure.
I would try a thin rag or something first cause i'm not sure if direct would hurt the paint.

-Seth

Use the dry ice from the inside of the dent. NOT on the paint. It causes the metal to shrink and sometimes pops the dent out.

There is a good article on how to remove dents with dry ice on this dry ice website. You may have to do it a few times to get it to work, but for a couple bucks you can get rid of your dents (as long as they are massive). Good luck!

It also works very well when you use a can of compressed air, hold it upside.
First heat the area with a hair dyer/any heat source
Then hold can of compressed air upside down, and spray directly over the heated area. If done right it will pop the dent out

wtf are you two doing? this thread is ancient.

lol