What have you done to your Tacoma today? 1st Gen Edition

Thanks Monte. TW needs more of this.

And I need more of this.

 

Today I had a Paintless Dent Repair (PDR) guy show up and he fixed both of my big dents for a whole $300. Amazing job, the dents are completely gone!

Fender before:



Fender after:



Bed before:



Bed after:



I'm a PDR believer!

In the Portland area:

The Ding Bat
Paintless Dent Removal
Mobile Service – they come to you
www.thedingbat.net
503.554.0241
503.519.7823 cell

1400 E. 1st Street
Newberg, OR 97132

 

Id love to see some current pics of your truck! Got a build or something?

 

very nice job on the dent removal! I have 3 about that same size on mine (from previous owner) I need to call a PDR guy out.

 

Thats funny, the dent in the bed matches mine. But dddaayyyuuumm, $300. Looks good though

 

dddaayyyuuumm it was going to be $1900 from a local reputable collision repair place.

I'll take the $300 and no insurance claims, thank you very much!

 

hmm thats interesting, how excactly did they do it? did you watch his method?

I was watching on "Fast n Loud" the other day an old school method using a torch to get out minor dents which was pretty cool

http://www.thedingbat.net/ FYI

 

I've seen people turn compressed air cans upside down and use it to remove small dents,

 

I had one large dent removed from the rear driver side corner of the roof a previous owner put there. The guy just gently tapped it out. He used 2 mirrors to see it from different angles. When all was said and done, it was like there was never a dent there before.. great workmanship.

 

Whoops! You sir are correct!

.net

He did it in the parking lot at my work while I was inside...working. I took a peek and he was using long rods, a hammer, and a light. Would have loved to watch the process, but my boss told me I take today off as vacation or work. So...

I saw that F & L too and thought it was really interesting! Tom for president!

 

This I just took about 5 minutes ago. I had a build thread started a while back, but to be honest I have tons of pictures, but never the free time to really go back in and finish the thread properly. One of these days!

There is a bit more to that. I have done it a couple of times for really small dents. You take a hair dryer, or a hot air gun and CAREFULLY heat the dent, and the area around it. Carefully because you don't want to get it so hot that it blisters the paint or clear coat. You want it hot to the touch, but not searing hot. Then when you take the heat away, take the can of compressed air, turn it upside down, and spray the entire dent and about 2 inches around it. The sudden cooling of the metal causes it to rapidly contract, which smooths out the dent. It takes a lot of practice, but it does actually work. Mostly for like small amounts of hail damage. Bigger dents are less cooperative with this method. The largest I have ever seen work was a dent that was less than a quarter inch depressed, and about 3 inches in total round.

 

seen dry ice work too for dents.

 

think the heat/cool method would work for a tree dent on my bedside? like this:

 

That one looks pretty big. I would suggest start from the outside and work your way inward if you choose to try it. The deepest parts of the dent are where the most distention is located, so that is the best place to start.

 

Oh, well during the Summer in Texas we didn't need a hair dryer haha

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7wm7WPlEyFc

What's this guy mean at the end of his video then? He says the sun's heat is gonna eventually make that dent reappear.

 

Working on the new motor mounts

 

Well I just moved to Corona, Ca yesterday... Up from San Diego. So I was doin a little exploring getting to kno the area and came across this little trail and went as far as my prerunner on street tires would take me! Lol here's a pic

 

Did you replace with an OEM LCA or and aftermarket?

If my parts ever arrive, i'm doing the bushings/cams/LBJ's and steering rack...

 

Installed my CB (510xl) ash tray location, and finally got my topper hanging in the garage.