jeeper31

Well as mentioned in a previous thread I had a spark plug shoot out of the engine and put a good dent in the hood. Went to a body shop today and they told me to fill it in with black paint and put clear nail polish over it to protect it. Just wondering what everybody thought of that idea. He said to bang it out and repaint the entire hood would be about $400.00. I was wondering if that is accurate? I am also wondering if anybody else had any ideas/advice how to fix it. I was thinking of maybe putting a vent where the dent is and maybe one on the other side. I know nothing about vents so any advice is welcome. Can a vent go there? IF so what kind? Should I put on on the other side as well? Are there fake vents for show? Would it look stupid?

Here are some pics of the dent, paint and placement.

bpp944

Wow, that's some "Outie"!!

Zero10

Haha, you just solved a big mystery!!!
On my N/A, I had a dimple in the hood right there, bent up, but the underhood stuff was still on there, so I couldn't see the dent from the bottom, and one of the spark plug holes had been buggered up and fixed (so said the PO). I never put that together until just now.


As far as fixing it goes, get a nice flat block and a hammer to flatten that back out. It will bang up the paint in the immediate vicinity, but you can get it flat again pretty easily. At that point, take it to a body shop and have it sprayed?
Black and clear nail polish... I can't believe that advice came from a body shop!
A set of body hammers would be helpful for fixing something like this.

jmporsche944

Yeah, if at all possible, knock that sucker out yourself, and then get it painted. It should cut the price in half.

jeeper31

Glad I could help.

I know nothing about body work though. How easy is it to bang out. I am assuming you put the wood on top of the dent and hammer the block? What are body hammers? does it pay to get some?

porschefig

have something flat under the hood aswell. I understand why you thought to put the wood on top, to soften the blow to the paint and such. I've just never seen it done that way.

Please wait till somebody confirms my thinking tho!

jeeper31

I think the hood has 2 layers so the wood would never touch the outer layer....I think. Corrections and better procedures very welcome.

What about the hood vent idea????? Anybody?

nineeagles

It is very hard to get this kind of repair to look "gone" completely....I believe it can be done though. Just don't disfigure the area of the hood. I had a real bad spot on my hood when I bought the car. Someone tried to fill it with bondo and it came out again. A good body man can "level" the repair and respray it but you would probably be better off respraying the whole hood....I bought a used one before I painted my car and trashed the damaged one.

You would prbably be better off using a flat metal brace (body block) under the dent (inside) and tap the dent until it is flat and then sand flatter.....a little tap goes a long way....maybe experiment with a piece of scrap metal first.....

michaelathome

I had this discussion at one point with another, member, we couldn't come to a conclusion of how many layers there are. I thought 1, he thought 2. board on the bottom hammer on the top. If I would try to do it I would make sure that the board covered a large enough area on the bottom to prevent the surrounding area didn't take any of the pressure of the impact of the hammer.

you wouldnt want any folding on the ridge up the side.

Why not just pay the $400 and have it done right?? It looks like you have a pretty nice car and they may be able to get rid of any little chips that you have on the hood while they are at it.

Remember to get a can of touch-up

Michael

Zero10

Most of the hood is 1 layer, except where it is re-enforced.
Most body hammer kits come with some hand-held anvils, that you can hold on the other side to pound against.
Should be able to flatten it quite nicely.

will951

Oh man....those dents are nasty. They are so small....yet look so much worse than a typical dent!

I have a similar (even smaller than yours) dent on my hood. Had the fuel rail off and a strong breeze pushed the hood down (no thanks to the shot hood shocks!). I think I would just bring it somewhere with a good reputation. It will cost more $$$....but probably worth it before you go messing up the integrity of your hood......

Good luck. And show us some pics when it's done!

PorscheDoc

I've got two chips in the paint very similar to that, just not quite as bad, and without the dent. Probably going to strip the paint myself and have it sprayed at a shop.