We had a big storm come through here last night, and of course got the little hail dings all over the hood/roof. I heard that rubbing dry ice on a "hot" dent will pull out the ding. Has anybody seen this happen?

 

It can work but, not always.

We had a hellish hail storm back in 2000 in Bowling Green, Kentucky where the hail stones were SOFTBALL sized. Now obviously, hail of that magnitude not only destroys a vehicle but, leaves marks that can't be touched by anything (the car lots were enough to make you want to cry).

I, however, was more on the tail end of this storm where we had golf ball sized. My old car was pretty pinged up but, I opted to not repair it as the insurance company totalled it out. At that point, I bought the car back (salvage title) and went to work on it myself. I used dry ice and regular ice after allowing the car to bake in the sun for several hours. Further, I used a hair dryer to heat the surface more.

Drop in the ice and 'POP', some would come out. Some, no matter how hard I tried, wouldn't come out.

Good luck! It's a major pain in the ****!

RP

 

Great, glad to hear first hand from someone who has seen this. I'll give it a shot with the regular ice tonight, if not I work in a hospital and have friends in the "lab" to try the dry ice later.

(the hail was only quarter size)


Thanks ROCKPICK!

 

No problem!

 

When I was a painter several years ago I heard the myth...it may or may not work. The worst hail damage I ever saw was on a lincoln towncar. The couple traveled through Colorado...what a mess!

My suggestion is to take it to a reputable bodyshop, and let your insurance pay them to fix it.

Good luck!

 

I agree with that totally but, it's not a total myth as I can attest to it working. Like I said though, it's not fool-proof and some of the dings will not come out.

 

after a hail storm a few years back my parents took their vehicles to a paintless dent repair who were contracted by the insurance co. to fix alot of cars. they kept my moms volvo for the day to show how good they can fix it. they had before pictures and the car to show how purfect it was fixed.

 

Oodles of folks swear by the paintless dent repair guys. Many even claim they believe it is voodoo! LOL!

 

that's a little less pagan than licensed body shops that will tell the insurance company "dent too big, unrepairable, need to change out the whole panel"