Ben Fixes a Chevy Volt

[bennelson]

The doors and seat were "Free" or a "sunk cost" depending on how you look at it.
I had already bought a crashed Volt (same make/model/year) as a parts vehicle for the battery pack. I pulled the doors from that car.

On the original auto body repair estimate the doors were almost $1500 each.

The only real money I have into repairs so far is about $15 at Harbor Freight.
I still need a can of touch up paint at a minimum, but probably also going to try a little more body work, Bondo, etc.

I tried doing a little auto body work myself.
I got a "Paint-Less" Dent Repair kit, which you use a hot glue gun to attach a tab to the metal.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iBDB3RV-tlE

I also ended up removing the interior panel and trying to get at the sheet metal from the inside. I ran a socket extension through and pushed and banged on it to get some of the dent out.

When I was done, I had gotten much of the dent out, but that little crease was still hard to get at. Here's a photo with the sun at an extreme angle, so that it really gets shown off. At other angles, it doesn't look as bad.

[ME_Andy]

I didn't have good luck with those DIY dent kits.

[bennelson]

Originally Posted by ME_Andy

I didn't have good luck with those DIY dent kits.

Has anyone had luck with a different style kit or other suggestions?

I watched a number of YouTube videos on dent repair. Looks like it's as much of an art as anything else!

[redpoint5]

The only way for metal to dent is to stretch. Once deformed, it won't be undeformed. Bondo and paint is how you fix more extensive damage.

If it were me, I wouldn't bother since I don't value vanity much, and the Volt already isn't highly sought for appearances.

[HaroldinCR]

I might have to try to get my son to post pics of his dent pull repairs, after his wife backed her Acadia into the corner of their house. He had a deep crease and other bulges in the rear hatch and taillight area, and also, in a fender from backing into their mailbox post and scraping a crease in the rear quarter panel.

He's not finished yet, but, results are looking pretty good, so far.

[California98Civic]

Great deal. Great work. Thorough. Patient. Accepting. Always a model of how its done.

[Vman455]

The real question here is: why does Chris' family have such a penchant for destroying Volts?

[bennelson]

Originally Posted by Vman455

The real question here is: why does Chris' family have such a penchant for destroying Volts?

All jokes aside, I think it's just because they have had so many Volts in his family. They have also been early adopters, solar installers, etc.
Things happen to cars. If your car happens to be a Volt, things happen to Volts.

[bennelson]

I looked through my scrap pile and found a piece of steel flat stock.
I drilled a couple of holes through it to build a new puller from the left-over parts from the Harbor Freight Puller which I broke.

I was able to use the new puller to work on a few of the dents a little more.

I was also pretty successful at pulling most of the dents out of the roof with it.

[redpoint5]

That looks a lot better. Can we get a look at the repair without the equipment attached?