dylan_patel•1mo agoTop Commenter

My project car's dent repair taught me to trust heat guns

I was set on using filler for a fender dent. A buddy made me try a heat gun and it worked in minutes. What repair method did you switch to after seeing it in action?

3 comments

3 Comments

aarons361mo ago

Totally get that, heat guns can feel like a cheat code sometimes. Had a nasty crease on an old truck door that I was sure needed pulling, but a careful heat cycle and some light pressure from behind made it pop right out. It completely changed how I look at smaller body dents now. Still keep the filler for the bigger stuff, but the heat gun is always my first try.

dylan_green581mo ago

Watched a buddy try the heat gun trick on a fender bend last Tuesday. It made the paint bubble before the metal moved an inch. @aarons36, your truck door might have been lucky, but most times I see this, it's a fast way to ruin good paint. Heat guns seem fine for plastic bumpers, but on sheet metal, you're just asking for trouble. I'll stick with a dent puller and save the heat for stripping glue.

vera5011mo ago

Seriously, heat guns on car metal scare me after seeing a neighbor melt the clear coat on a Honda hood. The paint gets brittle and cracks long before the dent pops out (if it ever does). Even on old trucks, you risk warping the thin metal around the crease. A proper puller kit costs about the same and doesn't risk a repaint. Once that factory finish is cooked, it's never the same. It's just not worth the gamble on anything besides plastic trim.