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Hi Everyone,
I did a stupid thing this morning and put a big dent in the forward part of my driver side fender. While backing into a parking spot at a car show, I didn't see a pole to my left alongside the roadway I was on and, as I was backing to the right, the front of the car swung left and hit that pole. I've included a couple of pictures of the damage. I'm pretty sure the bumper is fine and the stainless trim at the fender peak also looks fine. What I'm looking for input on is, how will the repair be done, how much it will cost, and so forth.
I have no idea what the body work and paint will entail. Can this job be effected with the fender on the car or will the fender have to come off (which means the hood will also have to come off)? And, is this the sort of thing that can be blended in or will the entire fender have to be painted again? How successful are painters in matching the color on the car? If the entire fender has to be painted, it would be best that the fender come off so the stainless trim and numbers can also be removed. The paint is three coats of PPG two-part K36 urethane primer, followed by three coats of PPG color (in the original color of provincial white) and three coats of clear.
I'm still kicking myself for committing such a stupid error. And this is one time I'm glad my dad is not alive anymore. This was his favorite car of his entire life and if he saw what I did he would probably take the car away from me!
Most of that will pop out with hand pressure from the backside, I'll bet. Smooth dents are the easiest to repair. Non-metallic white is also easy to match. Sorry I can't help with cost, since I do this myself. Is that lacquer, enamel, or BC/CC paint?
Just be sure the put the stripe back in the right place!
Been there, done that...took my '72 Supreme to the Endless Summer Cruise in Ocean City, MD last year and did this the second day I was there.
I was so bummed... but, the next day I called my insurance company and got all lined up with a body shop. Dropped it off that next Wednesday, and a week later it was done. 1300 bones total with my 500 dollar deductible...I was more than happy with the repairs!
So my advice is to call your insurance company and let them handle it...just make sure the body shop knows how to work vintage sheet metal.
Hi Joe and Dave,
The paint is a urethane primer and PPC finish color in the provincial white color with clear coat, I believe what you referred to as BC/CC. I'm just concerned that the repair is done properly so that cracks or a slightly different color emerging doesn't happen. I haven't even looked at my insurance papers so I'll see what they say. Insurance crossed my mind earlier but this was my mistake and not someone else hitting it so I just thought that insurance wouldn't agree to pay for something stupid I did myself!
Randy C.
PS: Fortunately for my car it came with the W36 stripe so I shouldn't have to worry about it being moved if the entire fender has to be re-painted!
Last edited by rcorrigan5; August 24th, 2019 at 04:18 PM.
Reason: add PS
As Joe said a lot of that will push out from behind. You might have a paintless dent repair guy/shop have a look at it first. They did a fantastic job on one of my cars. I was quoted over a grand by the local body shop and the dent repair guy did it for $200 bucks. I didn't need paint though..... Tedd
Got some great recommendations from members of our local car club. I'm taking the car in on Monday. Looks like it will take about $2700 to fix. I never realized it until now because I've never used it until now, but I have full coverage on my collector car insurance - no deductible! I've seen some of the work the repair shop has done (it's actually a restoration and repair shop) and I have high hopes. People in my car club say I won't be able to tell the difference!
Any good body shop should be able to repair damage like that all day long.
The '73 Custom Cruiser I sold back in 2014 was hit in the left rear while minding its own business in the parking of a local museum. The guy who hit it was driving a pickup truck so large he couldn't see one end of it from the other. The guy did own up to it and leave a note.
I was worried that the damage was extensive enough that any shop would have to try to find a replacement fender and perhaps other parts.
Fender is fixed. The body/paint man did a great job. I'll keep my eye out for light posts from now on! Thanks to all for your input, and particularly to Ben for having the paint code at his fingertips! Randy C.
Back in the 80's I went to look at a 54 Ford pickup truck that was for sale on the other side of my apartment complex that provided covered parking for the tenants. When I went for a test drive, I was used to the pole being on the opposite side where I parked my car and started to wheel out of the space and clipped the pole. Needless to say I felt really stupid, quite embarrassed, and wound up with a new to me Ford truck with a similar dent in the front fender as yours. Lucky for me he only wanted $300 for it.
August 24th, 2019, 01:50 PM
