The 'E' Type Forum

Had a Bad Day Sunday......

Decided to tidy the garage up a bit, so after a couple of hours shifting things round and sorting stuff out I felt the need for a brew. Now during my 'tidying' I had moved my sons old snooker table and leant it against the wall whilst shifting some other stuff.

Anyway, in the midlands on Sunday it was bl**dy windy! so, i'm in the kitchen waiting for the kettle to boil when there was a huge gust of wind followed by a big 'crash'!

'What the fook was that' Thinks I, as I ran outside to discover the source of the noise. Well, the wind had only managed to blow the snooker table over, but luckily, it wasn't damaged! Probably because it's fall was broken by landing straight on the front wing of the E-type

Sadly the E-type lost that particular battle and is now sporting a bl**dy huge dent in the wing

Sometimes I wished I had just stayed in bed :?

Hi Ian,
That's a real bummer. Is the dent sharp or soft? ( can it be 'worked out' by an expert) ; did it damage the paint? Can you bring yourself to look at it ?

Commiserations . Where in the wing is the dent? The problems are only serious if the dinge has also bent a diaphragm internally , or distorted the centre section , although even then it is not usually difficult to replace the diaphragm , but it must be securely glued to the wing with Sikkaflex 221 . It may be worth your while having a word with Andy Rayner at Hutsons who a. make bonnets , and b. do this sort of repair all the time, and sending him an e mail pic of the damage. 01274 669052

Hi so sorry
I did some damage to mine the other week so i know how you feel
but my local ford agent saved the day. T Norton of Oakham
they have repaired two large dents in the bonnet preped and painted
all done and perfect for ?350 plus vat
what a bargain they are LE15 post code
might be some help
regards Paul

Hello Ian.
Having slept on the problem have you thought about an insurance claim?
Seems to fall into the unexpected situation that we insure against.
Steve.
Sunny Scarborough.

Ouch! Bad luck.

Luckily, I've managed to avoid doing anything like that so far (touch wood) except that when I was restoring the car, I did let the handle of my heavy floor jack fall against the bonnet which was stood up against the wall.

It made a nasty dent right in the middle of the bulge but I did manage to dolly it out.

Managed to 'pop' the main part of the dent out (its in the outer wing panel about 6" back from the headlight) which now leaves two small dents. One I think could be easily 'rubbed' out but the other has a small crease at the base. There is no paint damage though.

I dropped it round to a local bodyshop this morning that a friend who owns a garage recommended. The guy there thought it was a def bodywork/respray job but i'm not yet convinced.

I am going to run it into one of the 'dent removal' type firms for them to have a look at first. I haven't got much to lose, because if it doesn't work it's a bodywork job anyway!

I am awaiting the quote from the local bodyshop before deciding if I want to claim on the insurance or not!

Will let you know how I get on!

Good luck Ian I hope you get a reasonable quote for your repair.

On the subject of repair has any member got tips for aerosol respray techniques?
I have tried what is recommended on the can. Applying masking tape around the area. I then get a ridge when the tape is removed.
I have tried spraying through a mask but then get the halo effect of spatter.

Nick.

Nick,

One technique I use is not to put the masking tape down directly onto the job, but create a "rolled edge" with the tape, so the first part of the tape is applied, then doubled back on itself to leave the unsticky part on the top and raised up a fraction. This gives a defined edge to your masking, but only a certain amount of paint goes under the rolled looped edge.

Also when cured you can get special "blend in" paint sprays from decent automotive suppliers which effectively are sprayed over as a form of lacquer and this gently softens and merges the two paints in.

Commiserations to you Ian. I had the same problem several years ago after something fell on my front wing whilst in the garage. It was an annoying ding and right by the diaphragm, so could not be "worked out". Although no paint damage, I knew it was there and it really bugged me. I only sorted it after I managed to bend the car during a Isle of Wight Car Club slalom which went wrong, (Weber linkage going over centre and jamming the throttle on) and I ended up having to get my bonnet resprayed. Some consolation was that I got the dent taken out at the same time. No chance of me doing it under an insurance claim as it was witnessed by over a hundred spectators !!!

Cheers,

Dave

Taping to restrict overspray will always give an edge. The best thing to do is to spray as normal until you have a good coat. Then when the paint has gone off , lightly use 1200 grade wet and dry , wet and with soap on it , on the areas affected by overspray , and you should end up with a join that is undetectable after polishing with a lightly abrasive polish

If you don't like wet and dry, use a hand rubbing compound, again lightly, on the affected areas

A third approach is to use well lubricated body clay , e.g. from a Meguiar's kit , on the overspray