Dents are fixed!!! Final Pics

Glend · **Posted:** Tue Apr 14, 2009 9:13 am

I have four or five long (length of vehicle) bush pinstripes (thank you Camp Coffs), which seem to be mainly clear coat layer. Anyone have any advice on how to get rid of or hide these pesky things? I have done a search and found that Mequires Scratch X seems to be well thought of by some people. There also seems to be a clear coat pen thingee that looked hard to use without making a mess. I'd rather not polish down the clear coat.

Secondly, I have these dents in my rear door where the lower tyre mount has been pushed in (by a sliding XJ), they aren't very deep (the spare is up against the bumper now). Before you ask Pics are coming, once I get the tyre off in the daytime. I don't want to get body work done if I can help it, and they are fairly shallow, would one of these mobile dent guys be able to do a good job? I reckon that I could pull the interior door plastic off to access the other side of the dents. Has anyone used a dent franchise guy they would recommend? BTW the XJ came off second best, he busted his twin IPF lights and his bull bar rotated back on its mounts. :cry:

OK here are the pics, and I think I have at least a temporary solution, shown below (maybe permanent as the dents are out of sight behind the tyre).
Like to hear any comments on long term problems? Has the door structure been weakened, will it buckle more in years to come?

Hard to see, but easy to feel with your hand. This is the bottom tyre mount area, there is a indentation below and behind the mount.

The rubber pad that was between the swingaway plastic number plate holder is now gone and there is a slight dent there as well.

My solution, two galvanised washers that return the tyre mount to proper alignment.

Tyre mount on the washers

Tyre clearance restored.

cmohr · **Posted:** Wed Apr 15, 2009 1:14 am

Glen, you could probably not worry about the rear, but...... I know Team JaG has had his mount on the rear door, crack, from touring, so if yours now has a bend, that could lead to flex, and then a breakage/crack at a later time. Honestly, if you have insurance, tell em somebody ran up the back of you in the wet, ( I wouldn't say it was OFFROAD, just on street someplace), and get it fixed, just for peice of mind.

As far as scratches, I've heard good things about those touchup pens, and then giving it a polish.

Fouros · **Posted:** Wed Apr 15, 2009 6:40 am

i have used a good colour coded polish to try and hide the pinstripes on mine like a maguires

Glend · **Posted:** Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:09 pm

I've had the rear gate dents looked at by a couple of 'dent guys'. Neither wanted the job due to the location and the fact that there is a structure cross member in the location of the dents. So it looks like panel beaters are my only option.

I removed the rear plastic panel so you can see the issue:

The area where the dents are located (in yellow).

Internally they are inside the box section at the bottom of the gate - where the lower mount attaches (in yellow).

Looking inside the gate, the lower folded steel cross brace is where the top of the lower mount sits (just under the fold). There are no dents to be felt on the internal side of the gate above the cross brace.

So at this point I'm thinking I'll have to live with these little dents, unless I want to get the rear gate replaced ($$$). I suppose I could just attach a snatch strap around the bottom of the spare and drive forward (just kidding).

cmohr · **Posted:** Wed Apr 15, 2009 9:33 pm

Geee, I'd do it !!!!! :lol:

No seriuosly, if you can live with the dints, so be it. Maybe, look at a plate spacer rather than the washers as a long term thing, so as the mounting has more of its original contact area, and also a bit of added strength from linking both lower mounts together.

CD · **Posted:** Thu Apr 16, 2009 6:07 pm

Hi Glen,
3 months after i got my KJ (from new), a teenager rear ended me. His radiator was crushed, 1/2 his bonnet was caved in and my KJ looked like nothing had hit it. Well there were a few scratches on the plastic bumper and the tyre was bent in a little like yours.

Anyway 1 month later it was fixed via his insurance... can't remember the exact cost but it was almost $5000. Full new tail gate, reason being the internal bars were bent in the tail gate and they didn't want to bend them back. + a new plastic bumper (I've now got 2

).

Glend · **Posted:** Thu Apr 16, 2009 10:34 pm

The guy from Dent Ace came around this morning and fixed my dents in about an hour. I was abit sceptical that he would be able to return it to the way it was, but he managed to do a great job - not perfect but very close. He used a variety to tools to pull and push the metal (special glue guns, articulated pusher rollers, even the old rubber hammer). If I had a torx female socket set to remove the tyre mount bolts from the door I think he would have been able to get every last millimetre aligned. I have attached the final photos. As per cmohr's advice I am making up a long 3mm aluminium washer bar (what would be called a transom washer in boating) to fit inside the black bracket to strengthen it further. The cost of the dent fix was $200. A much more reasonable cost compared to CD's insurance handled case. I think this is a good result. Ken and Cindy are paying for it and I am sure they appreciate the outcome.

I'm happy to recommend Dent Ace to anyone in the Sydney area. Here is the phone number: 0416 704 206.

cmohr · **Posted:** Fri Apr 17, 2009 12:06 am

gOOD TO HEAR gLEN.....oH NO, MY CAPS HAVE GONE ALLL FUNNY, wHATS GOING oN i Say, wHAT The?????

Aus Patriot · **Joined:** Fri Nov 21, 2008 6:10 pm **Posts:** 45

Good job mate.

palla · **Posted:** Sat Apr 18, 2009 9:23 am

Great outcome for all concerned

Dents are fixed!!! Final Pics

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