scratch + dent

bige1030 · Post by **bige1030** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 6:57 pm

I need your opinions here. I have a small, deeper-than-surface scratch and a small dent on the hood of my 05 SXT Flame Red Neon. I touched it up, and it doesn't look pretty. I'd like to fix it to look brand new, and I'm wondering whether or not I should fix the spot myself (by sanding, priming, painting, and clear-coating) as opposed to taking it to a body shop.

I went to several places around town to get a quote (not Maaco...that's out of town), and everyone says that my *whole* hood must be repainted. All but one shop, including my selling dealer's shop, give me estimates around $350; the last one gave me an estimate of around $550. I wouldn't want to go to the last anyway, since the guy put a new Dodge badge on the estimate, and the hood doesn't go that far down...he's obviously a more work for more money guy.

So I have doubts about these body shops...why can't they just do a spot treatment? Is the answer to that question what I suspect it is - they just want my money and will do more than necessary in order to get it?

I've also heard that the more factory paint one has on the car, the better for resale value. In that case, the body shop would be doing me a disservice by not spot-treating the scratch and dent like I imagine myself doing if I have to do it myself.

MyNeonSaysHi · Post by **MyNeonSaysHi** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 8:20 pm

with 550 dollars get a cf hood

cgneon · Post by **cgneon** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 9:06 pm

its probably easier for them to just charge you more than try to match and blend the paint over one spot... even if you buy the factory paint for them to do it with. it still might not match due to weathering fading, (but thats really more an issue for older cars)

how bigs the dent.. my buddy used that pops-a-dent thing and it worked like a charm.. and you can go to the dealer and get your paint code in a rattle can apply light coats.. then buff it to blend the edges, then wax..

how big of an area you tryin to fix?

another tip someone told me was to use nailpolish if its just a small knick, scratch.. lots of shades to choose from, sure you could find a near match..

DJ CptnCrnch · Post by **DJ CptnCrnch** » Wed Aug 17, 2005 11:37 pm

yeah get a cf hood if your gonna pay that much to fix a dent and scratch in your hood....carbonbydesign makes a really really nice cf hood and its about 600$ i think shipped...i know they were doing free shipping b4....
www.carbydesign.com

scneonchic · Post by **scneonchic** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 12:46 am

yea it would be alot easier for a body shop to just repaint the whole hood than it is to paint one small spot and then have to blend everything, and even then it might not match perfectly.

i had a crack in my front bumper earlier this year, and they had to 'refinish' the whole front bumper, had to sand the whole thing down, refiberglass where the crack was, reclear the whole thiing....in comparision, i also had to have my sideskirt redone at the same time and they have to blend that part (they are molded in) and the first time was not too pretty, tape lines are bitch to get out and have it look flawless. so tape lines would be another thing they would have to blend out.

pretty much, id get a cf hood or just have the whole hood repainted, esp if getting a cf hood is the same price as getting the hood repainted/spot painted. sorry to ramble! haha

Eddie · Post by **Eddie** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 2:08 am

carbon fiber hood + 1
I also have a small dent on the front of the hood , to fix and paint it would be around 500$$ , for that money I am seriously thinking going the Carbon Fiber way .. I just dont know which one to go with..

dblsg · Post by **dblsg** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 10:52 am

i had to pay a little over 350 to get my friend's bumper repainted (backed into it with my truck

) so i'm saying 350 for the dent and paint is not bad, but i would rather go with the carbon fiber.

eVilcreations · Post by **eVilcreations** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 11:15 am

I voted for you to fix it yourself.....

By buying a new hood.....CF is good...or you could also get a nice fiberglass hood and probably even have it painted for that kinda money........

Josh

bige1030 · Post by **bige1030** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 1:18 pm

aquariuskid2001 wrote:how bigs the dent.. my buddy used that pops-a-dent thing and it worked like a charm..
.......
another tip someone told me was to use nailpolish if its just a small knick, scratch.. lots of shades to choose from, sure you could find a near match..

The dent is about dime-sized around, and a few millimeters deep. Does this pops-a-dent thing require drilling, or is it paintless/PDR?

I tried touch-up paint, but the scratch is a little too deep for it to look nice and brand new.

edit: Is there a way to edit the poll so that "Get a CF hood" can be an option?

BlackRoseRacing · Post by **BlackRoseRacing** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 7:03 pm

Diabloooo...your needed again

Post by **Diablo0** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 7:50 pm

Option added...

personally I'd get the CF hood.

but if I was to have the spot fixed I'd have the whole hood repainted so your have a perfect match all around and not a darker or lighter. plus depending on if they just fix that area and only that area and only wetsand that area then you open yourself to have that one area as smooth as glass and the rest of the hood still having the stock orange peal finish. if you want to keep the stock hood, just have the whole thing repainted. if you don't care about keeping the stock hood, just get a CF.

cgneon · Post by **cgneon** » Thu Aug 18, 2005 10:46 pm

pops a dent requires no drilling.. but if your gonna decide on a new hood, or total repaint of the stock hood, they'll pop it out for you.... they'll prob use something similair to do it too..

if you got the cash, get a CF hood.. since you'll pay close to the same to fix the stock one..

or save your money, and just pop the dent, and do the best you can with the scratch...( got pics of the damage?) and be done with it.. unless your real picky... some ppl are...

i WAS picky, until i found a 15ftx8ft chunk of wood fence on my car along with shingle scratches from the hurricanes last year...

i still say CF gets my vote...

05srt4clone · Post by **05srt4clone** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 12:25 am

Carbon Fiber!

bige1030 · Post by **bige1030** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 12:28 am

DJ CptnCrnch wrote:yeah get a cf hood if your gonna pay that much to fix a dent and scratch in your hood....carbonbydesign makes a really really nice cf hood and its about 600$ i think shipped...i know they were doing free shipping b4....
www.carbydesign.com

It's www.carbonbydesign.com ... you forgot the "bon" on the URL. No biggie

I'm a big computer guy, though, so it's a natural tendency of mine to correct syntax.

Damn those limited-time offers, though! The freight on the hood is $150. At least I don't have to pay sales tax...for once, it's good not to live in CA.

By the way, do all of these cf hoods come painted black, primed, or not painted at all? It seems like most people with the cf hoods use them in black, regardless of the color of the rest of the car. I still have yet to decide if I'll be happy with a black hood on a flame red car...

And yes, I've gotten pretty picky about my car's body. Today, I parked parallel on campus to avoid the normal door-slamming that happens in a parking lot. That doesn't help when I'm home at my apartment complex, though - no parallel parking there

diablo0 - Thanks for the update

edit: Will take pics over the weekend.

DJ CptnCrnch · Post by **DJ CptnCrnch** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 9:38 am

hahahhaha yeah i guess that website wouldnt work...my bad...i usually post b4 i goto work...so its always early in the morning

titansxt · Post by **titansxt** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 1:00 pm

dblsg wrote:i had to pay a little over 350 to get my friend's bumper repainted (backed into it with my truck ) so i'm saying 350 for the dent and paint is not bad, but i would rather go with the carbon fiber.

$\:D/$

Finally, some one who paid for the damnage they did to some one elses car!!!!

Paint it yourself. A cf hood is like 1/5 the price of a turbo kit.

bige1030 · Post by **bige1030** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 6:58 pm

titansxt wrote:Finally, some one who paid for the damnage they did to some one elses car!!!!

(emphasis added) Interesting way to look at it

Anyway, do those cf hoods come unpainted, painted black, or painted the color of my choice? I've got to think about that when assessing the price of cf

But yet it'll be easy to paint an entire hood by myself...

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 7:00 pm

That's not fair... When I voted, there was no CF hood option. I wanna' change my vote, dammit.

titansxt · Post by **titansxt** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 9:12 pm

bige1030 wrote:
titansxt wrote:Finally, some one who paid for the damnage they did to some one elses car!!!!
(emphasis added) Interesting way to look at it

Anyway, do those cf hoods come unpainted, painted black, or painted the color of my choice? I've got to think about that when assessing the price of cf But yet it'll be easy to paint an entire hood by myself...

An extra letter never hurts, right?

As for the CF you do know they come as the woven carbon fiber.....(they look good as is).
If you wanted to paint it, go ahead, but if you ARE going to paint it, get a fiberglass hood. When it comes to CF, you are paying more for looks.

03sxt · Post by **03sxt** » Fri Aug 19, 2005 9:20 pm

titansxt wrote:When it comes to CF, you are paying more for looks.

You mean, you're not paying for the fact that it's an important reinforcing fiber known for its light weight, high strength, and high stiffness that is produced by pyrolysis of an organic precursor fiber in an inert atmosphere at temperatures above 1,800° F. A material that may also be graphitized by heat treating above 3,000° F?!?!

Yeah, if you're going to paint, save a bit of money by getting a fiberglass hood. Get a good brand, though... Not one that you'll have to pay an arm and a leg for prepping and fitment...

titansxt · Post by **titansxt** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 12:31 am

03sxt wrote: You mean, you're not paying for the fact that it's an important reinforcing fiber known for its light weight, high strength, and high stiffness that is produced by pyrolysis of an organic precursor fiber in an inert atmosphere at temperatures above 1,800° F. A material that may also be graphitized by heat treating above 3,000° F?!?!

Sorry, I forgot how many times a day I test the strength on my hood and heat it up and above 2,000°F. I've been slacking, I only beat the crap out of my CF hood twice a week now, and I've been busy so its only been at 1,500°F today. Yea good point.

chinny · Post by **chinny** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 4:48 pm

my car got keyed in the side, how would i go about to fix this

bige1030 · Post by **bige1030** » Sat Aug 20, 2005 5:17 pm

titansxt wrote:As for the CF you do know they come as the woven carbon fiber.....(they look good as is).
If you wanted to paint it, go ahead, but if you ARE going to paint it, get a fiberglass hood. When it comes to CF, you are paying more for looks.

Scaled down, they look painted black. I had to find the blown-up pics to see the woven carbon fiber. Given that it would withstand Hellish temperatures as-is, I'd be happy taking it out in traffic and parking lots (a.k.a. Hell for cars...but that's another topic).

edit: Next challenge - shopping. Carbon by design looks cool, but I love shopping

dblsg · Post by **dblsg** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 12:28 pm

chinny wrote:my car got keyed in the side, how would i go about to fix this

body shop....... so, basically, your screwed.....j/k
shop around se who gives you the best quote.

chinny · Post by **chinny** » Sun Aug 21, 2005 8:39 pm

dblsg wrote:
chinny wrote:my car got keyed in the side, how would i go about to fix this
body shop....... so, basically, your screwed.....j/k
shop around se who gives you the best quote.

I think im going to paint the car black, its salsa red now.

2GN.ORG

scratch + dent

Should I repair my scratch and dent myself or at a body shop?

scratch + dent