Dent puller/bodywork questions

First the 1998 Frontier. The dent is higher than the Yukon or its predecessor was, so Mrs. Cusser is ruled out as hitting it. I got the 1998 Frontier with 100K on it in 2004 for my kids to drive in high school. Yes, one daughter is a blonde. The kids and Mrs. Cusser all denied knowing anything about the dent, might have been magic or Nazi spies. Anyway, Mrs. Cusser drives it now as her daily.


Yes, I was able to slide a broom handle through the hole once the tail light housing was unbolted to straighten somewhat (internal metal wall there on the box). But after a few years the paint started peeling there, so I covered for a while with stick on advertisement from my mechanic.

The 2005 Yukon was purchased 3 years ago and had the dent then. We don't know if the owners (who had bought it at auction) or owners before them made that. I'm pretty sure that the lower portion is plastic and will spring back into shape on its own. I'm sure Mrs. Cusser will be grateful and express her approval if I can repair this. Photos, see there's also a small dent even with the Yukon tail light housing:






I mean, to try again through the tail light opening once I remove that. I tried briefly on that Frontier a few years ago to get it close, used a broom handle. I might be able to do similar on that Yukon. I can see posts here and on Google advising that drilling holes and using a dent puller are "so yesterday". The modern ways seem to use a glue-on pulling kit or a stud weld kit. What do you think of this? Harbor Freight has coupons for 25% now, not bad.

I'd also need an electric grinder to grind off those welds, under $20. Sometimes one needs new tools to learn and perform new tricks.

Or maybe I need to lightly sand to gloss after spraying, then do a clearcoat?

Well, The Cuss' memory came back a little. On that 1998 Frontier I had used that "broom handle" through the tail light housing "superficially" because I was hoping to straighten the panel out without having the paint flake off. So I never tried to hammer the panel straighter at all, was hoping to avoid any painting, just wanted to improve it a little. Well, a year or so later paint did start to flake off there (not surprised: 1990's low VOC paint). So it's time to re-visit and try the hammer/dolly method, and maybe time to buy a grinder and do some bondo work.

As for the 2005 Yukon, I've never even removed its tail light housing, plastic overrider, or interior panel to take a look-see. So there I might even need to cut away an interior panel for access. Or get and use a dent puller.

OK, question #1: Anybody with any body shop experience who could guesstimate what a shop would charge to fix the Yukon panel? We've never even gotten a quote for that. Because it's white and hidden, we don't care if the whole panel is painted, just want a reasonably good match and feathering.

Question 2: For the weld-on dent puller, has anyone used one. Sure, would need to grind off the welds, but apparently that is better and easier than drilling holes and using a screw-type dent puller. And I think the Yukon panel may be too crinkled and small where the glue-on type of pull pins wouldn't be strong enough. So the Harbor Freight dent puller weld gun has gotten a lot of decent reviews, and with 25% off coupon, comes in at $75 plus tax to me. Its operating instructions list a zillion warnings for safety (see link) but don't say anything about welding goggles, does that make sense, maybe they are not needed for this because the weld is instantaneous and hidden by the gun nozzle?


Question 3. Has anyone here used a company from the Internet for matched aerosol cans of basecoat paint, and that they were happy with? I know in 1995 I had 5 aerosol cans made up locally for my B2200, but we did not clearcoat, and a dozen years later that faded a little. Those other two vehicles are white, but I also have a bubble hood that I might paint Caspian Blue for my B2200 if I can learn how to spray paint so it's not dull.




Thanks.


Help, please, we're trying to make Mrs. Cusser happy here !!!

Okay Cuss this is a high level overview of your upcoming body work task.

1: The bodyshop I worked at for 5 years would charge you $700-$1,200 for the Yukon. but there are cheaper places than that. We did very good work. color matching and body work was perfect or we re did it...

2: I have used the weld on pullers but mine was much larger and powerful than the harbor freight one but I'm sure the harbor freight one will be fine. Be careful not to hold the button for too long. it will actually lose strength if you weld it on for too long or it will weaken the panel around the weld and rip a hole in the panel. A second or two is more than enough (the panel will glow red hot while welding. you want about an 1/8" or so glowing ring around the "stud/nail"). You will get an idea of how long that particular gun will take to get a strong bond as you go, count how long you weld it on each time until you find a good number to stick with. Be sure not to slide hammer too far on an individual "nail" you will have to do it a bunch of times in different locations as to not make a ton of high spots... Imagine you need to move the entire dent slowly out in different spots (a little at a time) and not just in a few spots, since it is near or on a crease some spots might need more aggressive hammering. You should also use a hammer and tap around other areas to help out your slide hammer efficiency. Be aware of where your are standing when slide hammering especially where your "jewels" are, if a nail pops off while you are standing in front of it pulling and slide hammering away, it wont be pleasant when the stud pops off and the handle hits you down there . Keep in mind this isn't to get the dent out completely rather just to lessen the amount of filler needed.

Its always good to wear safety glasses when doing metal work but there wont be much spark or any UV light with the spot welder bec you are just electrically melting the nail to the car it will just glow for a second. OH and also if you do it right, after you are done slide hammering a spot, you can just use a pair of dikes/cutters to grab onto the welded part of the nail and gently twist, wiggle, and pry the nails off to lessen your grinding time.
After you get the dented panel out a decent amount, you will need to hammer and dolly the high spots (harbor freight has a hammer and dolly kit that is decent) and then bondo it smooth.

I am sure there are YouTube videos on bondo and stud welding techniques you can get some good ideas on. Watch YouTube videos on all this stuff to get a good idea of what is in store for you.

Be prepared to sand! This is a general overview of some body work use it as a loose guide line. Make sure you tape/mask off the areas you don't want sand scratches on. Bondo bonds best, directly to metal the less paint underneath it the better. Your hands are the best tool to feel for panel smoothness and straightness, the longest sanding block possible the straighter your panel will come out and don't use too much pressure, let the sand paper do the work. Sand in a large X pattern (diagonally and long strokes) and gradually move down from 80 grit (shape the bondo) then 150ish (or in the 100's - fine tune the shape and flatness) after 150ish you should not be shaping much of the panel any more, now progressively finer paper to get the sand scratches finer Try not to use your just finger and paper to sand anything it will become a low spot and look like a dent, largest surface you can use as a sanding block the best. Be creative, like for detail spots you can use a wooden paint stirrer as a block, make sure you get the edges down nicely too. When you have the shape and flatness you want, you should finish sand (400 to 500grit) the bondo. Use 'high build' primer. Then use 600grit on the primer to further knock out the sand marks and 800ish before paint, since Aerosol is thinner you should be good to spray over 800 to 1000 grit marks with minimal sand scratches showing.

3. Aerosol cans that are "paint matched" wont be exact color match especially on lighter colors. If you are ok with 'close' then do it. Make sure that you are not spraying the color over any exposed bondo only over sanded primer and old paint. You don't need to sand between color and clear. After the clear is cured lightly sand it down with 1500 to 2000 grit, then use high cut compound then fine cut polish to get rid of the foggy look and get a nice shine... wax it and show it off.

I know I missed a ton of info but if you have questions go ahead and ask.

And good luck, this will take longer than you thing