need advice on repairing side swiped 1/4 panel

avusblue

Promoted Users
Hi I need advice on how I should attack this 1/4 panel, where should I even begin?

My first plan would be pulling the big dents first, using some tension tools. What do you guys think?

I only have experience repairing smaller dents tbh, but want to take this opportunity to learn since it's my own car. I have stud welder, porta power, bridge puller, bunch of PDR glue pulling tabs, PDR rods for the smaller dents.

any advice would be appreciated, thank you

photos
 
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If you have minimal experience pulling and straightening dents then like Don said replacement is a far better option.

There is a ton of work in those pics. If you have your mind set on repairing then you are going to need to get a decent stud gun and slide hammer. If you don't already have one. Not an option. To do that you are going to have to have one.

Search the site using Google. There is some good info on here about working out dents. It's more effective than the site search. In this format

site:spiuserforum.com your keywords
 
I've saved worse, so it can be done. The worse that can happen is that you find you can't save it and have to replace with new anyway. You will be out the time spent, but you will have learned what to do or not do on the next one. The shape and bodylines will make this easier than a flat panel, as "oil canning" won't be much of an issue. Go easy with the stud welder pulls, the metal is very thin, and hard pulls will pull the stud right off, leaving a hole to deal with. Make sure you have full access to the inside so the panel can be epoxied or cavity waxed once done.
 
I've saved worse, so it can be done. The worse that can happen is that you find you can't save it and have to replace with new anyway. You will be out the time spent, but you will have learned what to do or not do on the next one. The shape and bodylines will make this easier than a flat panel, as "oil canning" won't be much of an issue. Go easy with the stud welder pulls, the metal is very thin, and hard pulls will pull the stud right off, leaving a hole to deal with. Make sure you have full access to the inside so the panel can be epoxied or cavity waxed once done.
I appreciate the encouragement, I can just buy another 1/4 panel and weld one on but I do want to learn how to fix bigger dents. This is my personal car so I don't mind spending whatever hours it take, I actually been wanting to learn to tackle a job like this but I don't want to experiment on other people's car lol. If I fail, I'll take it as a learning experience and a valuable lesson.

I actually have a good access to the upper half of the 1/4 from the back when I removed the rear door panel, so I might even try to massage the dents from the back while having tension rod on each side of the dents. The lower half of the 1/4 don't have much access from the back, so I will try to do the glue pull method first as much as I can.

how would you start this job?

I saw some next level PDR, tackling crazy dents, gotta give props to this guy metalworking skill
Extreme PDR
 
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I appreciate the encouragement, I can just buy another 1/4 panel and weld one on but I do want to learn how to fix bigger dents. This is my personal car so I don't mind spending whatever hours it take, I actually been wanting to learn to tackle a job like this but I don't want to experiment on other people's car lol. If I fail, I'll take it as a learning experience and a valuable lesson.

I actually have a good access to the upper half of the 1/4 from the back when I removed the rear door panel, so I might even try to massage the dents from the back while having tension rod on each side of the dents. The lower half of the 1/4 don't have much access from the back, so I will try to do the glue pull method first as much as I can.

how would you start this job?

I saw some next level PDR, tackling crazy dents, gotta give props to this guy metalworking skill
Extreme PDR
Most will be obvious, simply push out from the inside while lightly tapping the tops of creases. Once you feel your getting things close to correct, spray a light coat of 2K primer or guide coat primer on the whole area. Then do a little block sanding to see how close you are really getting. Since you most certainly will have to do some filler work, don't worry about the metal work being perfect, as it won't be. Get it as good as you can, then DA the whole area with 80 grit down to bare metal and give it some epoxy. Then fill (bondo) what you have to.
 
The metal in the area around the side molding indentation will have to be fixed as perfectly as possible, that's not an area you want to be carving out of filler.
 
Start pulling at it and see how you get along. If you’re going to get a new qtr, why not learn something first? You may surprise yourself.
 
Most will be obvious, simply push out from the inside while lightly tapping the tops of creases. Once you feel your getting things close to correct, spray a light coat of 2K primer or guide coat primer on the whole area. Then do a little block sanding to see how close you are really getting. Since you most certainly will have to do some filler work, don't worry about the metal work being perfect, as it won't be. Get it as good as you can, then DA the whole area with 80 grit down to bare metal and give it some epoxy. Then fill (bondo) what you have to.
Yeah I will do that, hopefully I will be able to tap down all the crowns while pushing the dent from the back
thanks for the advice
 
Start pulling at it and see how you get along. If you’re going to get a new qtr, why not learn something first? You may surprise yourself.
yeah my thoughts exactly, I don't mind spending the time, since it's kind of a hobby for me. new quarter is 6000 for the dealer, yikes
 
Do you mean so it will align perfectly with the door molding indentation?
You just don't want to end up creating that shape out of filler, I don't know how to explain it better. Especially around the curved end,that is basically finger sanding and it takes a certain degree of skill to pull off. Better if you can metal finish that zone if possible.
 
I could get new replacement 1/4 is 6k for this car, used 3k. If all else fail, I will have to buy one unfortunately
What's the car? A quart panel should only be $500 -$1000 unless it discontinued, Then it's worth whatever someone will pay.
 
car-part.com is showing an M3 RH 1/4 for $1800.
What's the car? A quart panel should only be $500 -$1000 unless it discontinued, Then it's worth whatever someone will pay.
It's high because it's an M3 which had unique body panels compared to the standard 3 series.

No harm in trying to work it out first though. I'd like to be able to walk you through pulling the dents but that would require a lot of effort on my part and a VERY long post.
Disassemble the interior and trunk, so you can access what you can from behind. Push with your hands what you can out from behind. Make some tools that will allow you to access from behind some of the areas. "Rub" out the dents (meaning use pressure and move back and forth) that you can with your tooling. A long screwdriver bent in the middle works well. Use the handle end to rub with. Reshape if neccesary. The tip end of a screwdriver will work in places as well.

Watch what the metal does as you move it. Be very aware not to create more work for yourself by randomly beating out spots. Stretching the metal and creating high spots. Less force is more so to speak.

And get a stud gun.
 
Another thought is find a guy or Shop that will work out the damage. Then you do the filler and the rest. That would be your best option IMO.
Someone experienced could work most of that out and have it ready for filler in about 4-6 hours.
 
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car-part.com is showing an M3 RH 1/4 for $1800.

It's high because it's an M3 which had unique body panels compared to the standard 3 series.

No harm in trying to work it out first though. I'd like to be able to walk you through pulling the dents but that would require a lot of effort on my part and a VERY long post.
Disassemble the interior and trunk, so you can access what you can from behind. Push with your hands what you can out from behind. Make some tools that will allow you to access from behind some of the areas. "Rub" out the dents (meaning use pressure and move back and forth) that you can with your tooling. A long screwdriver bent in the middle works well. Use the handle end to rub with. Reshape if neccesary. The tip end of a screwdriver will work in places as well.

Watch what the metal does as you move it. Be very aware not to create more work for yourself by randomly beating out spots. Stretching the metal and creating high spots. Less force is more so to speak.

And get a stud gun.
I have already removed the rear seat, rear panels and trunk panels, there's actually good access from the back for most of the dents except the ones below the molding, there's only small access, I might glue pull that area with a large brige dent puller and refined it with stud dent puller if needed.

I bought some long PDR rod sets with different bends, hoping to use them to massage the dents. I also got some PDR lighting, lined board to help with identifying low/high spots.

I appreciate every piece of advice I can get lol, how would you start this job? I'm thinking start with pushing the bigger dents first. Well I'm going to practice on the door and fender first lol (since I bought replacement parts for those already)

I actually was going to take the car to a bodyshop that I used for over 20 years who does excellent job, but owner retired, bodyshop closed down. So I figure since I've been wanting to learn on tackling large dents, why not give it a shot and see how far I get. And if I fail I'll just pay someone replace the 1/4 or fix it
 
I appreciate every piece of advice I can get lol, how would you start this job? I'm thinking start with pushing the bigger dents first. Well I'm going to practice on the door and fender first lol (since I bought replacement parts for those already)
Start with what you can push out with your hands and push out by getting some form of tooling behind it. That one large shallow dent in the pic as long as you have access to it should come out 85-90% just by pushing on it with your hands. Others you can rub out like I wrote in my post above with some homemade tooling. Several of them are going to require something like a stud gun. That deep little dent at the door to fender gap is going to need a stud gun unless you have full unfettered access to it from behind and you can work it out from behind. I can't walk you through this, just to hard to convey this kind of knowledge in a few paragraphs. You are going to need to start doing and see how it goes.

Again if you are going to repair it, you need to get a stud gun.
 
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