The Dent Devils Paintless Repair Shop
 

Hello. My name is Eddie, owner and founder of The Dent Devils Paintless Dent Repair Shop in San Diego. I believe there is always something one can learn from others so that is why I am here and maybe even share something in return. Feel free to ask me any questions or check out my web site or join me on facebook.
Happy Shaping
Eddie Martin

Eddie, Welcome,glad to have you as a new member. Thanks for joining us. You are right we can all learn from each other.

Welcome Eddie!!

I have often thought about taking PDR training but every PDR guy I talk to around here wont touch an older car. They claim the "metal was thicker back then" or "they don't know what's under the paint" (usually a repaint by then).

Everyone I know is a storm chaser. They drive their van to the next hail damaged town.

What do you think?? I understand not doing anything with a re-paint but do you think the metal was thicker back in the day? Was it just the shape and lines that made the bodies seem stronger??

There is no question the sheet metal was thicker on older cars. 18-19 gauge was the norm, now 20-22 gauge seems to be in everything. I believe a lot of it has to do with the way unibodies are built and get their strength from having multiple parts welded together as a unit, so they can use lighter gauge and still get the same strength out of them.

The other thing that has changed is the use of HSLA in body body panels and HSS in other structural components. More yield strength PSI means you can use a thinner gauge material and get an equivalent structure, which equals better fuel economy. Today, fuel economy means a lot more than a couple MPG for the consumer, it means the car manufacturer can sell cars in the US so it's critical that they constantly improve their average.

Hi Eddie,

Thanks for joining us, would be great for you to share some of your
techniques with us without giving too much away. Great process.

Welcome, don't forget our pics.

like said the metals are a lot thinner now then back in the day. But still a lot of things are the same. A couple of big issues in working old cars is the strength of the tools need to push the metal ( our tools are made to be as thin as possible so we do not need to drill to access damage which makes the tools weaker than a big heavy rod) , then the other factor is the paints used back in the day are not as flexible as what is used now. My self I work on repaints all the time and cars with bondo. A lot more car is needed. But again most people do not use lacqure paint or primer anymore..
I painted and did regular body work for over 15 years until I got sick from the paint. So first hand experience proved a lot of people would be cheap when paying to repaint . So most of the time all the paint and old fillers would not be stripped before repainting. Sad but reality is some times you can only do so much when working on some peoples budgets.
ps thanks for the warm welcome.
hopefully I'll get some extra time soon to look around more of your web site. Right now my time is very limited as I just reopend my shop in its new location a couple of months ago.
Is anyone going to Nace? I am hoping to go for my first time this year. Really hoping to see some cool tools.
take care Eddie