Capt Squid Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 I have been asked to post a method of dent removal that I came up with. I had a dent in the rear quarter panel below the running light. I took a basket ball, deflated it, jammed it in the well and inflated it. The dent popped out and looked almost perfect. I have passed this idea on to several of the SoCal racers and all who have tried it have had positive results. Tim used a soccer ball which he said worked fine. He did his rear quarter panel and door. He backed the ball up on the door with 2x4s. Last weekend at Autoclub Speedway I was driving a loaned car which was wacked around a bit. I jammed the basket ball in the speaker hole behind the door, inflated it and the dent was gone. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JerryW Posted August 5, 2011 Share Posted August 5, 2011 Great tip - thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sterling Doc Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 Jim, this is a great idea. I'll have to add a basketball to the race trailer! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cbuzz Posted August 6, 2011 Share Posted August 6, 2011 dont forget the hand pump and ball needle!!! Maybe even a multitude of different sized balls for every occasion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Big Dog Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 Does that mean a separate "Ball Trailer" to carry all of that extra gear? Big Dog Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Capt Squid Posted August 7, 2011 Author Share Posted August 7, 2011 Not sure about a hand pump. From my limited experience, you really need a compressor as it takes some pretty high pressure to pop out the dents. Uusually there is a tire guy at the track with air. Yes, to a number of sizes and thickness on the balls. The basketball I am using does not get into the tight spots. I am off to the clearance bin at the toy store next week to see what is available. Great idea from Big Dog about a ball trailer. We expect to see him towing one in the near future. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ninetyfourintegra Posted August 7, 2011 Share Posted August 7, 2011 I just wanted to say thanks! I saw this late last week and yesterday I was working on the car and needed to pop out a front fender. We had a soccer ball that the dog got a hold of and doesn't hold air, finally found a use for it. Shoved it up in there pulled the trigger and watched the dent just come right out. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Members Al F. Posted August 8, 2011 Members Share Posted August 8, 2011 Hilarious. I gotta get some balls!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim Comeau Posted August 11, 2011 Share Posted August 11, 2011 This technique really does work well! Here's what we learned: 1. Soccer balls come in different sizes for different age kids. So far, we've only used the regular sized ball- you just deflate it more to get into smaller spaces, but I have my young daughters smaller ball, too. I like the soccer balls because they're carcass is not so stiff like a basketball. As such, it conforms and presses outward uniformly, and over a larger area. No more hammer dents going outward. 2. We use a $12 bicycle pump- the scissor kind you work with your foot. We can control the pressure that way and use it anywhere. 3. In the rear quarters, a soccer ball isn't big enough so we put boards in first to stand it off from the longitudinal. 4. The doors are skinned anyway so we just use our feet and a board to push out dents there. 5. If you get a dent in one of the factory body creases, you're going to have to follow up the dent removal with another tool shaped like a chisel in order to restore the crease. Using this technique, we got the 924S back to 90-95% with no body panel replacement- though we did have to patch up the blue vinyl a bit. Thanks to Jim Richmond! The money I saved repairing my car can now be spent on entry fees! CHEERS! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Pantera1889 Posted August 12, 2011 Share Posted August 12, 2011 I've got a better idea.....STOP HITTING STUFF!!!!!! Ron Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
alannmoris Posted March 31, 2013 Share Posted March 31, 2013 Great tips indeed. We can now same some $ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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