I only have two small dents on my 88 Cougar. One near the center end of the hood and one near the center end of the trunk. No creasing, looks like a golfball strike or a heavy-handed closing could have caused them. What's the best way to repair these? I've seen the product that you glue to the dent then pull it out. Does that really work? This car is in GREAT shape so I don't really want to pull, fill and paint. Any success stories?
I would not trust those products. My mom got one of those 'pop-a-dent' things for my dad, for his work truck. It wasn't fun to use. We came to the conclusion that it works best on really large dings, like the kind usually seen in the commercials. For small dings they can actually wrinkle the metal worse.
For what you have...paintless dent removal, all the way. It's not cheap and it won't be 100% perfect, but it won't harm your car and it will make things much, much better. There are lots of places around that do that now. Expect to pay about $100 minimum. I had this done on the convertible, right before I had the paintwork done in 2001. Why, you may ask? I talked to the painter about having it done, and he said, "Sure, anything to make my job easier!" Having the dents fixed saved body filler and lots of work/time. I got charged $110 for 9 dents fixed, which I didn't feel was a bad deal. As long as there is access to the dent from behind or underneath, I think you'll be okay.
I've used the Ding King and Pops a Dent, and Eric is right. They work great on large, creaseless dents. They can be a pain if you dont clean the glue off, cause if it gets stuck on the body, its not fun. If done with MUCH care and patience (as with all body work) these products may work well for you.
Depends which kit you use. There are professional kits you can buy. We bought one for the Body Shop and it worked, but we have to tap out the outer edges of the dent with a plastic punch and a light hammer. It isnt cheap. About the only thing you can do is go to a dealer and ask when the PDR(Paintless Dent Repair) Guy will be there. Will cost probably $50-$100, but they do a great job.
Paintless dent repair all the way.
One of my coworkers dinged my new car so I took it to one of those places. $75 to repair and you can just barely see a slight wrinkle if you look at it from a sharp angle. Other than that it isn't visable at all.