Smart Repairs
Smart Repair is a term widely used in the body repair industry to describe economical repairs that are achieved by minimising the size of repair areas and covering several subtropics.
Smart Repairs (Paint)
The repair and painting of part sections of complete panels to minimise the cost of paint and materials. These can often contribute to a surprisingly large part of the repair costs. Although a cheap alternative to a full panel repair a good result can now often be achieved using the ever increasingly large range of products available in the refinish market now days.
Paintless Dent Removal
Paintless Dent Repair (PDR), also known as “paintless dent removal”, is a collection of techniques for removing minor dents and dings from the body of a motor vehicle. A wide range of damage can be repaired using PDR; however, usually if there is paint damage, PDR may be unsuitable.
The most common practical use for PDR is the repair of hail damage, door dents, minor body creases, and minor indentations.
Learn more about PDR
Limiting factors for a successful repair using PDR include the flexibility of the paint, and the amount the metal has been stretched by the damage incurred. Generally, the more shallow the dent, there is a greater chance of paintless dent repair being a suitable option. Even dents with a several inch diameter are can be repairable with this method, as long as the dent is shallow and uncreased. Hence, often extremely sharp dents and creases may not be repairable – at least not without painting afterwards.
The technology of PDR has been around for many years, and has become popularly adopted for such purposes as lease return, auction preparation, rental car maintenance, and increasingly, consumer vehicle repair.
The most common methods of paintless dent repair utilise metal rods and body picks to push the dents out from the under side of the body panel. Additionally, glue and a specially designed tab may be used from the outside of the panel to pull the dents out. Paintless Dent Repair may also be used on both aluminum and steel panels.
Fluorescent lighting, or in some cases a reflection board, is used to see the shadows created by the deformation of the dent. This is an important aspect of the repair process. Without a Paintless Dent Repair board or reflector board, the fine detail of the process is unseen, and technicians cannot locate their tools specifically and cannot remove the damage accurately. Moving the tool under the panel allows the rod to be seen. While this is true with beginning techs a true master tech does not need much to know where his or her tool is. Most techs who have been in the business for a few years do not use a reflector board. The process of Paintless Dent Repair requires a technician to specifically push exact locations of metal to a precise height, which can only be witnessed with use of a PDR reading instrument, such as a Paintless Dent Repair reflector board or Paintless Dent Repair light.
Paintless dent removal takes years to learn; it is more of an art than a specific set of skills. The ability to successfully remove dents and dings is learned through trial and error with some common know how. An untrained individual can actually damage a dent if attempting a repair without the correct skills and knowledge.
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