Small Door Dent in Kirkham

[TimG427]

I have a small dent on my Kirkham #561 just in front of the drivers’ door. I purchased the car with this dent, it is pretty insignificant. I can access the area from behind the dash, but I've been hesitant to try to do anything for fear of making it worse. Does this appear repairable by a novice like me?

[Mike_I]

Originally Posted by TimG427

I have a small dent on my Kirkham #561 just in front of the drivers’ door. I purchased the car with this dent, it is pretty insignificant. I can access the area from behind the dash, but I've been hesitant to try to do anything for fear of making it worse. Does this appear repairable by a novice like me?

If it were me I would check locally for a "good" paintless dent removal guy and let him do it. Keep in mind, paintless dent removal is only as good as the guy doing the work. A skilled guy can remove that very easily as they are used to doing it on steel panels and the aluminum should be easier to work with. If you want to try it yourself, I would call Kirkham and ask for some pointers.

Good Luck with it!

[TimG427]

A paintless fellow that has worked on my painted aluminum car was thrown by the no paint, he said he uses the shine of the paint to guide him. My car is brushed. He moved it a bit, but left an outward dimple and he didn't want to proceed.

[rodneym]

Tim,
You need to find the right guy. There's couple pretty good guys who work mobile in SoCal. So you can ship her to me and I'll have it done gratis
My guy already had experience with Kirkhams so I guess I'm lucky. How about asking your local Ferrari dealership or car musuem for a recommendation?

[TimG427]

Good options. Or I may send it to SoCal........

[ACademic]

Or for those more involved dents, here's an education.

[ame]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9moYO-WWhaQ[/ame]

[slider701]

Call out to Provo and ask how much to fly Sandwich to Austin for the weekend

[patrickt]

Unbolt the door and ship it, alone, to Utah. Do it over the winter.

[rodneym]

Originally Posted by ACademic

Or for those more involved dents, here's an education.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9moYO-WWhaQ

What a skill!
I'd love to be able to just remove little dings.

[RodKnock]

Originally Posted by patrickt

Unbolt the door and ship it, alone, to Utah. Do it over the winter.

Uh, it's just in front of the door, but not on the door itself.

[DanEC]

I don't think aluminum sheetmetal has any memory like high strength steel so working one out may be a bit different for most of the PDR guys. If you can get to the back side with a blunted end rod like a punch and tap it with a hammer - you can start at the outside of the ding and start pecking it out, working in a spiral pattern towards the center. This is how dings are removed in stainless steel trim during restoration. Keep checking with a straightedge as you go to make sure it's not be stretched too much outward - but it has to go out to flush or very slightly higher. At this point there will be a bunch of small dimples slightly above profile and they have to be filed down flat and then the filed surface worked with increasingly finer grades of sandpaper on a hard surface sanding block, until it's down to the finish of the rest of the body.

A lot easier to describe than to do but this is how I've restored a number of stainless trim items and they come out flawless. However, I suspect getting enough access behind the dent to tap it out may be a problem.

[Austin_Snake]

Tim,
You should try Colvin's. I'd bet they could take care of it easily.
-Colvin Automotive-: Home

Later,
Richard

[TimG427]

I know Colvins has a Kirkham with a motor from a Ford GT (I think) in it. I may run by and ask them if they do this type of thing or if they can refer someone. I figure if repair of the damage in the Kirkham video is possible, my small ding is a breeze for someone.

[Igofastr]

If its a small dent, do it your self. It really is not difficult. Really. It is not difficult.

Go to Harbor Freight and buy your self a cheap (set?) of body hammers and a dolly. What you need are tools that have a crown that is fairly close to the crown (curvature) of the metal you'll be working.

You'll want to work "off" dolly to avoid streatching the aluminum. Look it up on YouTube to get an idea. Aluminum is fairly soft, and it won't take much. Once the dent is fixed, you can touch up the (I assume brushed?) finish as usual.

Yes, I did this on my Kirkham, and you could never tell where the work was done. I've done only a bit of body work in the past, so I certainly am not an expert, but wouldn't hesitate to do this...and nor should you.

BTW, the Kirkhams pounded out a BIG dent on my car during the 2007 WSCB as I watched. So... I can say that I've seen them do it, and it really is just basic metal-working.

If you'd like me to talk you through the whole process, I'd be happy to. Just shoot me a PM.

[TimG427]

Ron, thank you for the advice. I'm going to attempt it this weekend. You Tube has great instructional videos to watch. My Kirkham is brushed aluminum.