bkw

Last night in our RL a small tree branch broke and landed on our hood while we were stopped at a red light.

It left a nice little knot, about the size of a quarter, on the hood. It's right in the center where the hood forms a crease and there is very slight crack in the paint.

I opened the hood to see if I could get at the back of it, but it's right under a support brace and I cannot reach it. It looks like the only way to get at it would be to cut a small hole in the support and work from there.

To all PDR experts: what are my options? Is it worth going to my PDR guy and seeing if he can do it? The shop I use is about an hour from here and I'd like to go in knowing my options instead of going in dumbfounded.

To recap:
Quarter sized ding
In the center of the hood where the hood makes a natural crease( what is normally a /\ is now /U\ ).
There is a slight crack in the paint - I'm sure I can use touch up once the dent is gone.
To access the underside of the dent will be very hard if not impossible without cutting.

Thanks!

wanabe

the location and paint crack tell me that this is a body shop fix unfortunately...

moonsurfer

However, if you were to try it yourself, you could drill a small hole through the brace, and try pushing the dent out by pushing through the hole, but you risk cracking the paint even more. If the PDR guy does it, he will end up pushing up to pop the dent out too, and risk cracking the paint also.
Personally, I would try the PDR guy first. Let him assess the situation. He may be able to pop out the dent without cracking the paint even more, and besides, the hood is very critical area if you accidently pop the dent out too far and get a nice pucker in the metal. If he is licensed and bonded, and doesn't say anything and makes the hood worst, you can always complain and get it fixed on him.

bkw

ive got an appt today @ 430 w/ dent wizards.

hopefully he'll be able to work it out. I dont mind the crack as much as i mind seeing the dent! i'll clear coat it after he's done to hopefully avoid any future cracking.