If you have a large smooth dent (no paint damage) try an old fashioned toilet plunger (seriously) I have done this twice over the years and it worked great! Spray the surface with a detail spray and carefully compress the plunger then pull quickly. OK, you can stop laughing at me now.........

 

This method actually works rather well... had a huge dent in the tailgate of my El Camino... took it out with a plunger on the second shot...

Be sure to buy a new one before trying this...

 

Dry ice is around -110*. That cant be good for you paint. Please save yourself some trouble and money and take you vehicle to a quality PDR technician. You obviously care about your vehicle as you are on a forum dedicated to HHR's so get it repaired right.

 

If done properly the dry ice won't hurt you or the paint, it should be wrapped in a microfiber or terry cloth and you should be wearing gloves.

 

If done properly, you'd take it and get it fixed right.

 

Well Mr smartass, I owned and worked in body shops for 25 years as well as owning an upholstery shop. We all know what I meant when I said "done properly", well all of us with good common sense did. In case of dents with little or no real metal stretch or fatigue, the hot/cold method works fine and we used it and other non invasive methods, as do other high end shops that CARE ABOUT CUSTOMERS' CARS, and try to avoid drilling, welding, grinding and body filler where possible.
You might know it all, but please don't spread it, it could be contagious.
That clear enough for you?

 

I think he is a PDR guy, there may be another thread on the dry ice that was posted a while back. like a year or so.

 

Not being smart ass or a know it all.Yes, I am a PDR technician. Im just trying to help you guys out but apparently you have it covered.

 

The skilled Paintless Dent Removal guys can do wonders, that is for sure. I have had sharp door bang creases removed from other cars that of course dry ice would not work on and you can't see any defect from any angle in any light. Truly amazing! So, obviously every dent requires a unique approach to a solution.

 

Being a pdr you should well understand the various methods of dent repair and it's beyond me why you would have said what you did, unless it wasn't meant the way it sounded. Cold/Hot method has been used for decades in many shops with great success, No it won't fix everything, stretched metal has to be shrunk to size and that can't be accomplished without invasive procedures very often. But when a method is proven to work, why diss it?