Hail damage?

[Hokie]

How many people have had hail damage to your DeLorean? How bad was it? How does how damage to the stainless compare to other cars? How did you repair it? Thanks.

[DMC5180]

Hail dent repair would be the same as any minor ding repairs in the stainless. But it also must be in an area that can be accessed from the back side. Although sometimes a stud gun will be used in difficult spots.The difference between stainless dent removal and paintless dent removal is the need for re-graining and blending. To really have it done right, you need to take it to a DMC servicing business. The other factor is whether it can be covered under an insurance claim. If you bought a car with hail damage its at your expense. With the tools in the hands of the right person they can typically work out a single minor dent in 15-20 minutes per dent. However, each car will have its own unique set of issues.

Major hail damage (golf ball and larger) may not be completely fixable.

[Soundkillr]

I own a paintless dent repair company, and can tell you from experience, stainless works very differently that steel or aluminum. I have repaired several deloreans with pretty bad damage, including fenders almost folded in on themselves. I would not let any paintless dent repair company work on your car, unless they are very experienced with stainless repair. I'm good at it, but only because I'm an owner, and had access to practice panels as well as several owners cars. Stainless takes more time to work, and since reflections on the steel are weak you either need to oil the panels or use a shade lamp. The average hail job runs 2500 to 4000 on a normal car, and would be more expensive for a delorean. That said, I would find a vendor, as finding a pdr guy around you, experienced with stainless is going to be tough. You will probably need to go through insurance unless the dings are minor. You would be very surprised how well the stainless will repair, IF you know what you're doing. Like I said, I have fixed some DEEP dents and creases, that on a normal car would have been to stretched for repair, but on the delorean, could be repaired.

[Soundkillr]

just an fyi, here is a photo of a repair I did. On a normal car, this would have been way to streched, and oil canned. On the Stainless however, its another story. Wish I had an after VERY close up, but cant find it. I also included a simple door ding, with a deep scratch. The door ding was a 10 minute job, the 1/4 panel was about 3 hours....36307363083630936310

[DMC5180]

Looking at that 1/4 panel makes a person wonder what would cause damage like that. Although it kinda looks like someone attempted to work it out.

[Ron]

Looking at that 1/4 panel makes a person wonder what would cause damage like that.
A cement block for a garage door stop + a kid + weeds + a Bush Hog. Ask me how I know.:banghead:


Although it kinda looks like someone attempted to work it out.
No. that pic is as was... One might as well take a close up pic of a new 1/4 to see the after -- Excellent job Ben, thanks again!

[DMC5180]

Your car?

[andy blackmon]

Great work on the stainless. ! was hit on the left front fender by a deer once with major damage. I sent the car to DMCH and they repaired the damage and it looks good as new. Yes in the hands of a pro stainless can be repaired. Andy B

[Ron]

Yeah...going on 2 years ago (not my kid tho lol).

Another after:
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=36311&stc=1

[DMC5180]

Excellent work. It looks like there was some other damage at the bottom of the wheel arch. Did that get fixed too? Or am I just seeing shadows.

[Ron]

Must be shadows. ..It was flawless when I got it back.

[ssdelorean]

How many people have had hail damage to your DeLorean? How bad was it? How does how damage to the stainless compare to other cars? How did you repair it? Thanks.

I have had hail damage. Caught it a storm while visiting Wind Cave Nat. Park, SD. It sounded horrible in a A frame building when coming down but not that bad. The hail was just under golf ball size. I had a big dent on the hood and a few smaller ones on the roof and quarter panels. The other cars around me in the parking lot had deeper dents. Being a long long way from home, I was very thankful my windshield was unharmed.

Back home in Ohio I contacted a few places but did not take it anywhere in fear of them not knowing what they were doing since they did not have stainless experience. There was one company 3 hours away who had one guy who did but he only worked 3 days a week from 9am - 3pm. The hood was the worst. The other ones are not that noticeable unless you are looking. While working on my suspension one day at a tech session, Ken Koncelik worked on the hood dent for me. I believe he used a stud gun and/or slide to weld a stick on the hood and hammer it up and out. You can still see tiny remnants from where it was. All I need is a good regrain to fully fix. I never can get Chris N. to work his magic because the powers that be who bring him over only do so in the middle of winter & I'm not driving a few hours in the salt to fix a few dents. Not top on the priority list right now. I call it a battle scar of a daily driver.

[Dangermouse]

Yeah...going on 2 years ago (not my kid tho lol).

Another after:
http://dmctalk.org/attachment.php?attachmentid=36311&stc=1



Looks like a bumper crop of fenders this year.

[steve6864]

I also work on Stainless Dent repair,as unfortunately,I backed my own car into the corner of my house wrinkling the right rear fender.Taught myself,but,I had body work experience with regular cars beforehand. Critical that you be able to get to the backside of the dent. In my experience,stainless doesn`t have a memory like steel,so it usually won`t "pop" out. That being said,if you are in my area(Asheville,NC) and have a dent,come by or ship your fender,etc. to me and I will help you out. I`m pretty cheap.Thanks,Steve6864.

[BigBenb84]

This thread gives me hope about DMC Houston being able to fix my door ding. I already emailed back and forth pics with them and I'm driving the car over there in two weeks. 7.5 hours from Pensacola to Houston for a door ding lol, I'm getting the rims refinished too just to really make it worth it. My door ding looks a lot like the little ding above the key hole a few posts ago. I do all the work on my car myself but I can't do this and I don't want to waste time trying to find a repairer locally that "thinks" he can do it.

40178

[Kenny_Z]

Ouch, how did you get that ding, Ben?

[BigBenb84]

I was moving a motorcycle in the garage. I went to put it back in the kickstand but whoops, it wasn't down. I caught the bike once it got to 45 degrees but the handle bar's mirror just kissed the door and left that.

[BigBenb84]

I went to DMC Houston and they fixed my door ding. Here is before and after. It turned out better then I thought. I cannot even tell where they ding was. I figured the blending would stand out in that area but they did a great job of matching it.

40919

[JRNY13]

I went to DMC Houston and they fixed my door ding. Here is before and after. It turned out better then I thought. I cannot even tell where they ding was. I figured the blending would stand out in that area but they did a great job of matching it.

40919

Did they regrain adjacent panels?

[BigBenb84]

Did they regrain adjacent panels?

Not that I can tell. It really does blend in. I did Barkeeper's Friend the car with a blending pad* before going there. So that might have helped the transitions.

*pad that came with the Keep Your DeLorean beautiful box kit they sell.

[DMCMW Dave]

The most important thing to getting a good repair is DON'T try and fix it yourself first, and then take it to an expert. You will invariably stretch the metal in the wrong direction and make the repair harder to do. And take longer ($).