inaccessable rear quarter advice 2010 Ridgeline

C

cstrom72

A good buddy of mine is paying me to fix his 2010 Honda Ridgeline after hitting a deer a few weeks ago. He saw how my Bronco turned out and offered me some cash I couldnt refuse. I have already bolted on a new front fender and headlight, the front passenger door has a small dent still in the bottom corner which I can easily handle but the rear quarter is a different story somehow the deer completely missed the rear pass side door and crunched in the bottom of the quarter in front of the wheel. (pic) The rear quarter is integrated with the body/roof so its obviously not a bolt on piece. I have some patch panel expierence but I cant find find an aftermarket fender anywhere. Id like to cut out the damaged area and weld in new, but I dont think this is going to happen. I started with my stud gun and have been working at it slowly but I think the damage is too far for me to bring it back this way. I cant get to the back side is my biggest problem. I have thought about cutting out a 3'' x 4'' tall hole on the inside of the wheelwell so that I could get a dolly back there, then just weld the piece back in when im done. Im very new at major dent/damage repair like this so I thought id ask some of you for advice. I have also thought about trying to make a patch panel out of sheetmetal so that i could have an even surface to work with. Its just a daily driver but i dont want to just pack it full of filler and spray it. I like to do things right:) Ideas? ridge1.jpg

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Heres a few pics of the jamb, it buckled a little door still shuts and seals up fine. Problem is is right where I have the pull pins its a little "deep"ridge4.jpg

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You might be able to do a lot of cutting and patching but I think your best bet is to enlist the help of a shop to do a pull on that. It will take a steady pulling force while working the kinks out of the jam area. The stud gun used in the way you are doing will never get it done. JMO
 
A tool something like this would come in handy. HS-DK1000.jpg

something to pull the dent while you tap the inside of the door jamb. It's going to need steady pressure on the dent or you are just fighting a loosing battle.

Here is a link to Tool Warehouse for a full description. Shop around there are many tools that will do about the same job. This is only for reference.


http://www.google.com/imgres?hl=en&client=firefox&hs=8A9&sa=X&tbo=d&rls=com.yahoo:en-US:eek:fficial&biw=1280&bih=603&tbm=isch&tbnid=XfqpP6AZPoBrXM:&imgrefurl=http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/p-19849-h-s-autoshot-dk1000.aspx&docid=5Bzs_YEwHMmUGM&imgurl=http://www.thetoolwarehouse.net/images/Product/medium/HS-DK1000.jpg&w=281&h=300&ei=fpKgUMDtLYS89gS5joGgDA&zoom=1&iact=rc&dur=439&sig=114611307666699181522&page=2&tbnh=143&tbnw=122&start=14&ndsp=30&ved=1t:429,r:10,s:20,i:201&tx=84&ty=72
 
That tool would be very handy in some circumstances because it gives a measured pull, but I think the force needs to be spread out more for this job. And leveraging is likely to cause some damage due to the amount of force necessary.
 
Cut yourself some 16 or 18 guage steel to weld along the edge of the door opening and attach a chain or cable to it then use anything available to pull the damage out and then cut the tab off and remove the welds. The damage in the jamb is what's fighting your attempts. Some of these newer models have high strength steel quarters and you really shouldn't just cut and splice anywhere-you should research that to know what your options are.
 
Bob Hollinshead;25403 said:
Cut yourself some 16 or 18 guage steel to weld along the edge of the door opening and attach a chain or cable to it then use anything available to pull the damage out and then cut the tab off and remove the welds. The damage in the jamb is what's fighting your attempts. Some of these newer models have high strength steel quarters and you really shouldn't just cut and splice anywhere-you should research that to know what your options are.
Click to expand...

I tried doing some searching, couldnt find much on if its High Strength Steel or not, Bob- im having a hard time picturing what you mean buy the 16-18 gauge steel for pulling..

Another thing I was thinking was to cut a 3'' x 3'' square out of the wheel well in front of the rear tire, so I can get to the back side of the damage with a hammer and dolly. But like mentioned id like to get the main damage pulled out first...
 
tool.jpg

heres what im thinking you ment bob- Something like this (pic) to weld to the edge and use a come a long to put steady pressure on the area while i work it with a hammer..
 
Yes that would work fine, make it as large as needed for the size of the area.
 
You will need to pull the metal with a pulling post. It is not going to happen with a unispotter. Any bodyshop with frame equipment can help you. You might want to look at investing in a pogo stick with a pull ram. I believe Mac tool trucks can order one for you. Not meant for heavy pulls but will work perfect on med. damage that your unispotter cant handle. Price is a around the same as a unispotter.
 
Well, a come along and a stout tree would probably do for that Honda.

Here at the shop we'd roll it up on the rack, and if no other frame jobs are behind it, it's nice to do the work up off the floor...
 
Come long and a tree...yep.
With that little dent in the door line the tack n pull plate method should snatch just fine with a good slide hammer.
 
Bondoskimmer, I might be seeing something different than you in the pictures. What I see is the front edge of the quarter pushed in right at the jamb. He'll need to extend the repair into the quarter jamb, too, from the looks of it.
 
that's what i see too. He needs to pull the quarter at the edge of the door jamb, and repair in the jamb itself, if I am seeing things right in the pic.
 
Come along and stout tree for sure, and hope the inner structure isn't also pushed in. At any rate it doesn't appear that there would be any access from the back.

2010_Honda_Ridgeline_Body_Structure_zps21b1db71.jpg


edit: This photo is the 2010 model
 
I used the idea from bobH and used a come along off the frame of my bronco next to the ridgeline and it worked great!! I have the majority of the damage straightened but im not able to get to the back side to hammer and dolly (smooth) the metal out... in a situation like this would you guys just reccomend epoxy then use filler to smooth it out? this is the only option I can think of anyway
 
You don't want a lot of filler in that panel. Do you have a stud gun with pins (or a electric dent puller) you can pull the rest out with? You should get it fairly out there, so you have an 1/8" or less in thickness of filler, if possible. When you can't get to the backside of a panel, you need to work it from the front side.
 
Yes i have used my stud gun/puller to the point of most of it would take less than 1/8 of an inch off filler. Looks like i need to weld a few pin holes shut and get ready for epoxy
 
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