Aluminum Panel Repair

[miniwarmth]

Has anyone here had repair work done on their aluminum parts(doors, hood, trunk)?   If so, can you relate your experience?  Cost?

Prior to leaving for Blacklick, someone(name not mentioned -for now), left a tool in my engine bay and then proceeded to shut the hood.  You can imagine the result.  Thankfully it was out of view from the drivers seat and I tried not to look at it the whole trip.  Now that I'm back in Boston, I need to get it addressed.  What I'm finding is that the body shops like the "replace and repaint" method.  Certainly not what I would prefer.

tia,


Nik
'65 230SL

[ja17]

Hello Nik,

This "inside out" dent usually stretches the metal. Hammering the metal back down just makes a dent the other way since the metal is stretched now.  Most production shops will just replace the hood or beat the metal down and fillthe divit with putty.

A quality metal craftsman or a good restoration shop will shrink the metal so it is flat again. A really good craftsman can re-work the metal to a point where no filler at all is required.

Shrinking the metal can be done by the "heat / quench" method or by a number of mechanical methods like a shrinking hammer on a shot bag or a shrinking wheel on a grinder. You can probably research this a little more on the Eastwood website.

Good metal craftsmen are expensive and hard to find in most bodyshops these days but there is a revival of these techniques going on in the hot rod industy. Good restoration shops do some of this work also.

Hope your return trip went well, how many miles logged during the trip?



Joe Alexander
Blacklick, Ohio

[Shvegel]

Assuming everything is original the hood was actually hand fit to the fenders then stamped with the chassis number so replacement would not be the best route.

The alloys in our car are much softer than those currently in use for aluminum body panels and are more forgiving so a succesfull repair is more likely. Even if the paint is broken I would highly recommend you seek out whomever does paintless dent repair for the local Mercedes dealer. a good paintless dent repairman is truly an amazing thing to watch. They are very good at moving metal around without the aid of filler which given your dents location would be the goal. They are much more patient than a traditional bodyman and are willing do make the effort to do the job to the best of their ability. After they are done then you could take it to a bodyshop for respray.

The one thing I have learned in my neary 30 years as a mechanic is accidents happen. Having been a mechanic most of my life I have seen cars dropped off lifts, set on fire and even heard of a new BMW M3 that ended up six feet up a tree in downtown Indianapolis on a Demonstration drive while being driven by the salesman. No one is immune.

[glcg123]

I have had a large vertical door crease removed by Dr. Dent/ Dentworx. The door is aluminum and he did a great job. I would at least speak to one of these paintless dent removal guys first. He may or may not be able to repair it but at least you will know.

George

1965 230SL

[rwmastel]

So, is there paint damage or just a hump in the metal?

Rodd
Powell, Ohio, USA
1966 230SL, Euro, Auto, Leather, both  tops
1994 E420

[miniwarmth]

Thanks for all the feedback.

Rodd - There is a paint crack at the center of the dent.

Joe - Thanks for the insight into the different repair processes for aluminum.  Now I just need to find one of those aluminum artisans in New England.  During my trip back, I met a person who fits that description in Ontario(during one the adventures with Dan Caron) - a bit far from me, but I suspect that he might point me in the right direct.  Also, I just finished catching up on real wold stuff and finally made my trip tally.  I'll post it in active thread under events.

George - Good though on the paint-less dent repair. I had not considered them for my this type of repair, but will certainly make some inquires.

Shvegal - I agree with you that mistakes can happen.  I would have like to have seen that car in the tree.  I'll investigate further on the dentless repair. I had it done a few years ago on another vehicle and was quite happy. Just hadn't considered it for the 113.





Nik
'65 230SL