Date:         Wed, 17 Mar 2004 15:05:11 -0500
Reply-To:     David Brodbeck <gull@GULL.US>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         David Brodbeck <gull@GULL.US>
Subject:      Re: ARRGHH! PARKING STUPIDITY! (DENT!!)
Comments: To: Wesley Alden Pegden <wes@CS.UCHICAGO.EDU>
In-Reply-To:  <Pine.LNX.4.58.0403171119260.23103@the-400.cs.uchicago.edu>
Content-Type: TEXT/PLAIN; charset=US-ASCII

On Wed, 17 Mar 2004, Wesley Alden Pegden wrote:

> Anyways, I'm looking for tips.  I'm assuming hammering out the dent won't
> yield very good results (I'm good at repainting, though).

Is it a "soft dent", or is there a crease?

If it's a "soft dent", you can probably take out the door panel and pop it
out from the inside.  No hammering necessary, just give it a good kick.
If there's a crease this may not work, since the crease actually holds
stress in the metal.

I had one like that on my '75 bus, from a front end collision.  I could
kick out the big dent from the inside, but the creases had predisposed the
metal to fold that way, and eventually the weight of the front-mounted
spare would pull it in again.


David Brodbeck, N8SRE
'82 Volkswagen Diesel Westfalia
'86 Volvo 240DL wagon