Dentman job - best way to remove this?...

    Hi there guys
    After Arnie's recommendation I'm getting someone called Dentman (SW London) to perform a paintless dent repair (I don't think thats his real name). Small ding on the side of the car.
    If he needs access to the interior/ reverse side of the ding, it'll be behind the rear doorcard as seen in picture here:
    8er.org/forum/index.php?attachment/15677/


    Question is,
    a) what is best way to remove rear doorcard?
    b) once its removed, will Mr Dentman then have easy access to the exterior bodywork? Want to avoid messing with it, if this won't help him.
    Thanks in advance!

    B, the whole rear card comes out in one quite easily.
    Pop the seat out of the way and it's fixed with the plastic, (snap off) door card type fixings along the vertical, front edge.
    The top edge has metal clips, an upward and bottom in to the centre of the car, action helps to remove them.

    Best removed by you as the dent men have a tendency to drill holes and fit bungs :shock2:

    ^ Strange! The above is not what I typed exactly. It changed to a sort of Pigeon English once saved. I went to edit it and it's fine, but changes once I save it. Honest Guv!

    This is what I put (if it stays the same).
    B, the whole rear card comes out in one quite easily.
    Pop the seat out of the way and it's fixed with the plastic (snap off) door card type fixings along the vertical, front edge.
    The top edge has metal clips, an upward and bottom in to the centre of the car, action helps to remove them.

    Best removed by you as the dent men have a tendency to drill holes and fit bungs

    Pull up and remove lower cushion completely, fold down backrest (use towel to protect from lock). Remove plastic cover on backrest locking pin.
    It is advisable to lever off the clips with a plastic tool from a cheap set (can be had for a tenner):



    We have made the experience that occasionally the clips were glued in with black panel bonding adhesive and a major PITA to get out.
    If you have difficulties to pull or lever them off, look very closely whether you see black goo.
    In this case don´t pull too much - the side panel is made from some ridiculous recycling material which gives way quicker than the pin or glue. Just take a sharp bread knife and cut/saw the clips.
    They´re cheap and you will need a few anyway sooner or later. Sometimes it can be difficult to remove the remnants from the panels - they can be removed in a lifting/turning motion - eg. using combination pliers.


    You will also see that much of the body panel inside is covered with tar paper. Behind this there is a number of maintenance holes. Tap and punch it where required - it will break like hard chocolate :D
    If you need to replace this - tar paper (no better name in dictionary) can be bought in sheets with an adhesive back and cut to fit.


    Cheers
    Reinhard

    Gixx - thanks, think you've entered some sort of parallel universe though.. :laugh:


    Thanks Reinhard. Bit daunted now. I knew there was a reason nobody ever calls me 'dauntless'.
    In case anyone knows the Part No for those clips.. i'm going to check but not sure exactly what to look for..

    Wouldn't an old-school plunger pressed around the dent have a small chance of performing this task?
    Yes I know..absurd :oops:


    but sometime, brilliant ideas come in simple packaging. I am here all week, to help others with any especially fiendish E31 related problems.

    Zitat von e31gixxxer;98351

    ^ That makes more sense than what is in my post, it's replaced words and swapped them around???


    Gixx mate - Just Say No - its healthier in the long run :mrgreen:


    Edit to add: Also, thanks for reminding me - slowly now - its called a 'doorcard' you bloody simpleton!! (me, not you).


    Edited my OP to make me look slightly less thick. In fairness, it doesn't have that doorcardy vibe that, erm, normal vehicle's doorcards have.

    Here I go again, weird man!

    I like to spray chain lube inside the void when the "cards" are off. It's nice and thin and gets right in, doesn't block the drain holes, and thickens and goes sticky after a while.


    It's still changing everything. Does anyone in authority know whats going on?

    Zitat von Timm;98356

    Door card removal and what it looks like underneath here:


    Thanks Tim!!
    *thud*
    that was the noise of my fanciful notion (that front and rear sides are somehow some separate entity) as it toppled headlong onto the hard, cold stone Floor of Truth.
    As I see only too clearly now - basically, I have to remove the whole interior on one side, so that a guy can get inside for about 2 minutes and, I dunno, massage a bulgy bit so it goes back into shape. :oops:


    Among several other new anxieties I'm panicked by the idea of screws dropping down into the gap from the handle, and then rattling round every time I go over one of the 290 speed-bumps within a 2 mile radius of my house. :oops:


    I have to be honest here guys, I'm just not the cheerful 'lets strip 'er down, and then merrily rebuild' type. I can't exactly ask Dentman to do it.. he is some brisk dent specialist on a motorbike, and will expect me to have the car handily disassembled when he roars up on his Ducati 750. :poke:


    Like every other major and minor fault so far which may or may not require attention sooner or later I'm likely to quietly strangle this plan in its planning stages, while hoping none of the people I badger on internet forums notice that I sure ask lots of questions for someone that has barely touched the car since buying it. Explaining why my car looks terrible, is missing a couple of windows and is in fact Orient Blue, may prove somewhat awkward at upcoming meets (but I'll front it somehow).


    Manwhile if anyone has any face-saving Plan B that could theoretically allow Dentman to pull out said ding without my needing to be involved in any way, I'd be grateful.


    [SIZE="4"]I'm sure on that Wheeler Dealers program,[/SIZE] [SIZE="3"]the guy just attached some clamp magnet[/SIZE] [SIZE="1"]to a large dent and pulled it straight out
    [/SIZE]
    :oops:

    Umm, Trojan detected, logging off now before I post my bank details and the place under the matress I hide all my money...S**t!

    B Iv'e had those cards off many times and it's about 5 mins.
    If he's coming on a Ducati, don't hold your breath, even VR can't ride one!

    Where is your dent? I have one low down on the rear panel between the wheel arch and the door and Dentman said he couldn't do anything about it as that panel is "double skinned".


    Also, I have a couple of interior panels that have their clips broken off the "recycling" quality board. The worst one is the trim panel below the dash on the driver's side. I've resorted to zip tying and other bodges to hold it on, has anyone managed to fix the studs back on the panels?

    Zitat von BBMatic;98352

    Wouldn't an old-school pluntheger pressed around dent have a small chance of performing this task?
    Yes I know..absurd :oops:


    but sometime, brilliant ideas come in simple packaging. I am here all week, to help others with any especially fiendish E31 related problems.



    That reminds me the time a mate tried to show me how to open his car with a Tennis ball:hmmmm:


    He cut the ball in half, placed it over the lock, then gave it a bash with his palm, nothing opened but left a 4" diameter Dent:laugh:

    Those who risk nothing,achieve nothing,become nothing.

    Zitat von BBMatic;98360

    ... I have to remove the whole interior on one side, so that a guy can get inside for about 2 minutes ...


    If you also have a dent on the door panel then, of course you´d remove the door card.
    If not, you just OPEN the door where the side panel requires removal.


    I´m surprised that you actually bought this mightily dangerous car with a bag full of horrors in the boot if you´re scared off so easily. ;)


    Timm´s excellent writeup very clearly shows the few steps needed and all you need is pictures 10/11 if all you want to do is remove the side panel.


    The clips are 5141 8101204 and cost .32 EUR a piece plus taxes.


    You can get away without removing the fold down part (where reinstallation indeed is a bit tricky if never done before and moreso if scared and hyperventilating) by putting it upright when needed and folding it down... when needed.



    Zitat

    ...I'm panicked by the idea of screws dropping down into the gap ...


    Bad news: they certainly fall into the void when hyperventilating and not using a magnet.
    Good news: they don´t rattle


    (My) truth be told - those screws are a minor annoyance only and no reason to get upset. If you lose one for good - get a similar one or buy the "proper" one from BMW. They will not stop you from driving your car only secure the door card on the handle.


    Zitat

    I have to be honest here guys


    Now now, what about at least giving it a try when alter ego doesn´t peek?


    There is absolutely no wizardry included and even a Canary Wharf banker with no tools other than an emery board can make it.


    Zitat

    ...without my needing to be involved in any way...


    You will want to be there any minute. Either to learn or to teach. Nobody in this profession has ever been taught how to remove those covers. You have now.


    Zitat


    [SIZE="4"]I'm sure on that Wheeler Dealers program,[/SIZE] [SIZE="3"]the guy just attached some clamp magnet[/SIZE] [SIZE="1"]to a large dent and pulled it straight out
    [/SIZE]
    :oops:


    There is a method for difficult to reach from the inside dents which today incorporates glueing part of a toolset on the dent and then basically pull/hammer the dent outside. After removal of the glued bit the metal is then beaten back into shape. This requires a little more expertise than just handling a set of bent rods.


    Nick
    Those "bumerangs" are made from another recycling material which, as it seems to me was found by beachcombers near the site of the Exxon Valdez misfortune. It has a history of breaking apart and we have a history of hot glueing it back together. In case it is still OK and not broken to bits it helps much when pulling the bumerang off, to do this very carefully in a certain order and exclusively in the directon of the threaded studs. The counterpiece in the dash may come off or fall apart - they are also cheap "consumables".


    I have no remedy for Trojans though :D


    Cheers
    Reinhard


    Thanks again Reinhard.
    Edit to add: sorry people about the massive writing in bold text, it looks rubbish but seemed a good idea.

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