Aircooled VW South Africa

Hi there,

What mechanisms are out there to remove dents from bumpers, headlight trim, etc

i havent done that on any chrome items before,mm i will try and find out from my old man friend

I remember certain panel beaters using "rollers" so that the metal doesnot stretch. Not sure if they still do this.

Hi Ice

Dents would be removed as you would on any other panels. Only thing is the chrome generally isn't going to like it...
You may be OK getting milder dents out using wood or plastic (UHMW or similar) tools that won't mark the metal - this will work if the dent can simply be "pushed" out.
Anything more complex, or fairly deep, the metal is likely to have stretched anyway - some very deft application of heat (which shrinks metal) might be able to deal with that without marking.
The rollers that I think Suzie is refering to are a miniture version of an English wheel ( look here: http://www.metalmeet.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11036 ) , which develops shape by stretching the metal - a very light touch would be required.

Of course if the pieces are damaged anyway, then you may as well give it a shot - some very useful skills to learn in this game!!
Barry

Thanx for the info

Hi Ice
There is also a dry ice method where you shrink the area around the bulge---that is if your metal have stretch---- and the work it lighly. But I know to little about it to give you insructions, and I think it will only work on shallow dents and thin metal. Worth investigating though.
cheers
Baron.

BARON wrote:Hi Ice
There is also a dry ice method where you shrink the area around the bulge---that is if your metal have stretch---- and the work it lighly. But I know to little about it to give you insructions, and I think it will only work on shallow dents and thin metal. Worth investigating though.
cheers
Baron.

em i should have put my polo in the desert and after a few hours drouwned it in a pool of ice,

Dry ice helps for realy small dents like hail damage, havent try it yet