Technical Banging out dent in spare wheel well

[typecastboy]

Anyone had any experience of knocking out a dent in the spare wheel well. My Cat D Lounge has the rear bumper hanging off but as the impact was low it has also dented in the well. I'm hoping that a new one is not needed as that would be grief and expense. I'm hoping that I may be able to knock it back out myself.

Anyone experienced this at all?

 

[The Twins]

Anyone had any experience of knocking out a dent in the spare wheel well. My Cat D Lounge has the rear bumper hanging off but as the impact was low it has also dented in the well. I'm hoping that a new one is not needed as that would be grief and expense. I'm hoping that I may be able to knock it back out myself.

Anyone experienced this at all?

I'd get paintless dent removal guy to do that. They have all the right tools and are usually very reasonable. About £80-100 for a decent dent.

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Anyone had any experience of knocking out a dent in the spare wheel well. My Cat D Lounge has the rear bumper hanging off but as the impact was low it has also dented in the well. I'm hoping that a new one is not needed as that would be grief and expense. I'm hoping that I may be able to knock it back out myself.

Anyone experienced this at all?

It isn't simply a dent, and is the key reason its been written off, I'm concerned that you've taken on a CAT-D write off and seem to have little knowledge of this sort of thing.

It MUST be repaired properly to maintain its integrity should it be rear ended again. Get it to a professional body shop to explain the process and get it done, as it all depends upon the severity as to what the course of action required will be.

Have you got any pics?

 

[typecastboy]

I'm not completely ignorant on it, but as this forum is full of knowledgeable people I thought I'de ask if anyone has experienced it. I will take a couple of pics tomorrow and upload them. I don't think it's too bad.

Upload tomorrow.

 

[typecastboy]

Here's a picture. Just been out in the dark to take it. Taken from above obviously. Might be a bit difficult to see properly, but gives you an idea.

Your thoughts?

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Here's a picture. Just been out in the dark to take it. Taken from above obviously. Might be a bit difficult to see properly, but gives you an idea.

Your thoughts?

That needs a rear panel removal, putting on a jig and pulling out and then a new rear panel welded in, and that's at a push. Ideally it needs a new boot floor and wheel well looking at that.

 

[306maxi]

I concur, remember that that's part of the rear crash structure of the car! Do you want something that's going to behave itself in a crash or something that's going to cave in easier than it should.

 

[jrkitching]

Thanks for posting the picture.

That needs a rear panel removal, putting on a jig and pulling out and then a new rear panel welded in, and that's at a push. Ideally it needs a new boot floor and wheel well looking at that.

I concur, remember that that's part of the rear crash structure of the car!

Two sensible posts (thanks guys) which the OP would do well to take notice of.

Modern structural car panels are made of grades of steel which can't just be bashed about and reshaped without permanently weakening them.This isn't the kind of work which can be done safely by amateurs working without access to full bodyshop facilitites.

 

[Mick F]

I agree too.
That needs a new floor.
That's not a dent I see, it's a crease, and no hammering and banging will remove it.

Good luck,
Mick.

 

[dave]

i agree with mep, that is a crumple zone it has done its job and crumpled to protect the people inside, if not repaired right it will not do its job next time. Next time the force of impact will be absorbed by the people insides bodies.

 

[PuntoHowTo]

The reason these cars are damaged repairable is because the insurance company's engineers have reported them as too costly to repair.

Plastic bumpers are fairly cheap so the reason for this car to be a Cat-D is the damage to the metal work, fiat 500s are still relatively new and hold good money the threshold for writing off a car is much higher.

The work needed to put right that wheel well would as MEP points out need most of the area cutting out. New then needs to be put it, welded, painted with the correct paints and sealed with the correct sealants, hundreds and hundreds of pounds of materials alone.

The boot may open and close seemingly properly but this is usually because the boot was closed at the point of impact the boot is out of shape/alignment along with the surrounding metal. The suspension mounts to the boot floor and The force can also be transferred into the rear quarters leading to problems with doors closing Or sealing properly or rear wheel alignment issues.

I'd look to the professionals on this you might think it ok for you to shuffle round in with a badly done cheap repair but what happens once you sell it later on

 

[Most Easterly Pandas]

Worth checking the pannel gap for the rear windows and B pillar also to see if they're out.

Personally I'd get a light front ender in the same colour and use this as a part mule myself, as front ends can be costly with lots of parts required but without chassis damage like this one.

Original pics of damage have been lost, but this was an interesting thread at the time, and iirc had less damage to the wheel well.

https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/203812-panda-v-passat-4.html?p=2233954

 

[jrkitching]

Original pics of damage have been lost, but this was an interesting thread at the time, and iirc had less damage to the wheel well.https://www.fiatforum.com/panda/203812-panda-v-passat-4.html?p=2233954

I remember that one - IIRC it went back & forth to the bodyshop for weeks and was never properly straightened out. The repair was apparently quite obvious to anyone peering under the rear floorpan.

 

[typecastboy]

This was a very light impact at the rear and was low. The reason for the dent was because it was low. It's broken the bumper at the bottom and whatever it was that hit it has gone up into the boot area, hence pushing the panel in.

I've taken advice from a paint free removal company who advises that a panel beater would be able to straighten it out. I've had a go with a rubber mallet and I have managed to do it. It's almost as good as new. All the seals are fine, the boot shuts properly, there are no gaps that shouldn't be there in the doors etc etc.

Appreciate your comments but it seems it wasn't as bad as it actually looked in the picture. All is now pretty much back to shape. Spare wheel and tools fit back perfectly. This car is also a light front impact which I have been investigating today. New thread about to start on that part.

 

[306maxi]

You don't get it though, without a new panel being welded in it's never going to be as strong and a relatively small rear impact might be fatal for you or any passengers in the back.

 

[zanes]

I'm sure the highly trained insurance assessor wrote it off because it needed a few new parts and a few whacks with a rubber mallet.

 

[jrkitching]

I'm sure the highly trained insurance assessor wrote it off because it needed a few new parts and a few whacks with a rubber mallet.

Most likely they wrote it off as a CatD because they knew it'd make good money in a salvage auction .

IMO all cars with structural damage should have their shells crushed. One lost life as a result of botched repaired cars returning to the road is one too many.

 

[306maxi]

Then my Panda would be dead

 

[jrkitching]

Then my Panda would be dead

Better your Panda than your wife .

OK, this one is personal, I'll admit - LadyKitching had a bad head on smash a few years back and very nearly lost her life.

Fortunately it was a newish, original, well maintained car; the airbags & pretensioners did what they were supposed to and she was driving at 28mph.

She spent the night after the accident in the ICU connected to a heart monitor. It was a very, very close call.

Sometimes having 99% of the original crash protection might just be 1% too little.

 

[typecastboy]

I've seen Cat Ds where there's just a couple of bodywork dents and a sill dent, very little. It's a bit of mystery sometimes.

Looking at the picture I uploaded, it really wasn't as bad as it looks in the picture. It didn't take much to be honest. Considering the thinness of the floor anyway, it's not going to be much of a crumple zone anyway!

If I didn't think it was safe, I wouldn't drive around in it. Once the car is all done, I will get it checked properly just to make sure. If I end up having to get a new well put in, so be it. It's too much of a good car not to spend some money on if it's really necessary.

I do really appreciate your comments (even some of the sarcastic ones)