I've got a crease dent that runs parallel to the passenger door hinge.

Maybe 3" from where the door swings open.

Imagine someone opening the door and pulling it past its natural stop point.

What's the best way to get access?

It's been dented for over 15 years and I think it's time to repair it.

The crease runs from the mid door molding down to almost the lower molding.

I'm not sure if taking the interior panel off will give adequate access.

This will be done by a body shop but I'd like to allow as much access as possible.

No plans to repaint or remove door

Same thing happened to my '82 in February. Someone hit it while I left it parked the whole day and didn't leave a note. I ended up Diying it, which turned out really good. But as some have mentioned, I made a few mistakes in terms of proper procedure. I wouldn't follow this as a guide, but this is what I did: Hit and run while parked - Mercedes-Benz Forum

Anyways, to gain access behind the dent is pretty difficult. Even if you remove the door panel, there is not so much room to work with. I ended up using a stud gun welder.

Can you give us a pic? It sounds like the body shop would likely use a pick thru the jamb. However, depending on the crease they may need to pull it from the outside with pins and a slide hammer (see above) and then it'll need refinished.

Dan

I will post pics this morning

Only visible in certain angles so pretty shallow

But still bugs me every time

Oh well maybe a paintless dent guy can do the job. You can always send them a picture for the quote.

The method you use is going to depend on how much the metal has stretched.

Do a google image search for dent removal tools and you will see various types.

There is paintless dent removal tooks that consist of a set of heat treated rods of various shapes with handles on them that you use to push the dent out from the inside. They are sold from like 4 tools to an extensive set.

The tools need to push from the opposite side of the dent and the tools have some ability to go around obsticles.

The bugger here is that the inside of the Doors (I cannot remember for sure) is coated and the coating is not smooth which makes it hard to use one off those paintless rod type tools.

I had a dent above the rear wheel well extanding back to the tail lignt. It was easy to access that through the trunk and get behind it and I pushed out th bulk of the dent but because of the coating I was not able to do a more detail repair.
The coating is difficult to scrape off nnd I have never gotten around to dealing with it.

There are verious tools that don't poke holes in the body that use vacuum or glue to attach the business end of the tool to the dented area and then you turn a screw or pull on a T handle and it pulls out the dent. I think there is some chance the paint is going to be damged doing that. Especially if the Car has been repainted.
I have never used one. But again no need to poke holes.

The old school way was to poke or drill holes through the body screw into it and use a slide hammer to pull the dents. Wich means using Body Filler.

In the old days the typical Bondo type body filler was not a good item to use on Doors as it eventually breakds loose due to stuff like the door being slameed.

The picture is off the interor coating which in this case is in front of the rear wheel well inside of the trunk. The coating is somewhat rubbery and and it can be rougher in some areas then on others.

Attached Thumbnails

 

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84 300D, 82 Volvo 244Gl Diesel

IMG_1073 by jabstick, on Flickr

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1983 300CD Turbodiesel

heres a pic that shows the crease fairly well. pretty shallow but long

the door still closes nicely, and the check strap still functions.

I'm thinking access through the door panel, and a little through the hole that has the vacuum and electrical lines

maybe some access from top if the scrapers are removed.

the body shop quoted about $450 last year. probably more now

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1983 300CD Turbodiesel

theres a dent above the wheel well also, but that's easy access with the wheel off.

hopefully this doesn't sourcing a new door

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1983 300CD Turbodiesel

Shallow? Might be just a fill situation. Or if a little too deep an external pull situation. Usually some fill will be needed either way. Body shop rates around here are high. So I would do it myself or find another door. I was quoted 400.00 for a small fender dent and paint. Through insurance 675.00 reciently. If there is a crease usually means it will not respond well totally to alternative methods.


Make it clear to the shop that insurance is not involved. Usually cheaper that way as well.

before committing to a repair, I'd like to get ideas on how to best access and let the repair guy know the best approach.

ideally I'd like to pull/push the dent.

filling/sanding/painting would make me consider just leaving the dent.

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1983 300CD Turbodiesel

Remove the door card and you should be able to get to the skin from behind. With a dent like that, a sharp blow from your fist may pop it out. Otherwise, not a big deal for a body shop.

I was planning to take it to a shop, but I wonder if it could be a DIY...

I've never done body work, of any extent

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1983 300CD Turbodiesel

I've seen many similar dents, without a line-crease, pulled with dry ice. There are many You Tube videos showing how. It will take some time there is nothing to lose if it doesn't work out.

(Be a little smarter than some in the videos. Wear Gloves! If you accidently drop it, the first instinct is to try and catch it, resulting in a nasty freeze burn.)

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Sam

84 300SD 350K+ miles ( Blue Belle )