Sorry to hear of your and Austin's misfortune. Hail damage is nasty. I'm a member of our local MG club, and drive an MGA during the summer months, it having both aluminum and steel body panels. In a "minor" hailstorm some years ago (pebble sized hail) a fellow member's MGA was caught out, its aluminum panels taking the proverbial beating. It took several months, replacement panels and a re-painting, but the car was repaired, "good as new" and has given excellent service since. Good luck with Austin's repair. May it go quickly and painlessly.

 

I have heard of people using this before, but does it really work? It sure sounds like a great idea. I'd really like to keep the MINI I have...

 

All I can tell you is I saw the results some time ago on a friends p/u and it was like new.

I had the same damage on my p/u and used a body shop they replaced the hood and fender now the paint doesen't match (it's a beater)

Just be sure if you go this route to get some guys that know their stuff, and good luck.

 

PDR can work if the damage is not too deep or the paint is intact. On the MINI, the roof dents will have to be "pulled" the old fashioned way and the roof repainted.
The shop that did my wife's car did a great job on the PDR and the repaint.

Just a note of warning: Watch out for "Stormers" who follow hail storms all over the country to do PDR. While they may offer a "lifetime warranty" finding them may be a trick. I went with a local company that has been in business for over 30 years.
Stick with a local company with a good reputation.

 

I just watched a demonstration at the dealership by a guy from this company, amazing. With a hammer dent to the door of a new MINI and then worked it out. The company is International.
Hope you get your MINI looking like new again.

http://dentwizard.com/site/US/EN/pdr/hail.htm

 

Hey guys, Austin is going in the shop on the 27th of this month. They are going to totally replace both the top, hood, and cowl. Not to mention one of the drivng lights and a marker light lens on the drivers side. Then both of the door and one quarter panels will have PDR done to them. It's going to cost the insurance company over $5000.00. Some how it even knocked off my custom short antenna. I found another one of those on e-bay and bught it. I know they will just repalce mine with a factory one.

 

...are you sure the hail dint damage the JCW kit, and youre going to need a new one?

 

Bad S
Hope it comes back good as new for you.
Look for ya on 540 sometime soon. LY/B MCS

 

I'm taking it to a place called Lewis Collision center. They were voted best in the area by the local paper. I sure hope they live up to their rep. BTW if you have black bonnet stripes I think I have seen you. I just wasn't in the MINI.

 

yep on the bonnet stripes, I see a woman in the B'ville area with a LY/B convertable. never gotten a wave though.

I'll be looking...

 

That's a shame too, I actually make a spectacle of myself waving at all the other MINIs.

 

My oh my...I missed your original post on this...wow... I can't imagine how you feel...except I am sad in my heart for your MINI....and I'm sure it will look good as new soon...

Donna

 

I'm often skeptical of these "best of" newspaper surveys. Very often the winners are those who simply have the most customers. It's not like people are in the habit of trying out and comparing several body shops. More likely most survey respondents have been to ONE body shop and they were satisfied so they vote for it. If you want to be picky about selecting a shop, I suggest seeking out one that caters to high end cars and clientele.

 

I think that this one is. The thing is three stories tall and the "reception" area looks like the inside of some fancy hotel. I'll just have to hope and pray for the best... Thanks for the advice I would imagine that you are most likely correct.

 

I was reading the response looking to see the damage as well.

I'll bet you slow down for accidents (I do, but only because I was a fireman in the past)

I too am sorry for the hail storm. I was in Bismarck, ND a few years back following a hail storm. I think everything there was mangled by hail.

 

I did take some pics of the damage but they were all too large to post and I Haven't had the time to open up the software and try to down size them. For some reason they are all HUGE! Austin goes in the shop in five days and I'm pacing the floor until he is back in his original condition...

 

*WHEW* Austin is finally in the shop... It's weird though it was like dropping off your kid on his/her first of school. I have never left him with anywhere over night. Yes, I am that obsessed! We'll both be pacing the floor here until he is released from the hosp...er... body shop. I guess it's going to be a long couple of weeks.

 

Well what is the verdict? Is Austin back??? :impatient

 

Oh my! Sorry for what happened to Austin, hope all goes well. Reminds me of what happened to me here in Montreal, around the same time but last year. I was driving home with my fathers Porsche from the dealer and i was minutes away from my house until suddenly it started hailing golf *****...but i mean MAD weather...in the end the car got killed, their were dents all over the car and one of the tail lights broke, nasty job, luckily i made it under an overpass and stayed on the shoulder until it calmed down. What was even worse, was when i saw a whole bunch of cars with their windshields (back and front) shattered...not funny at all, cause i could of easily been one of them. As for the cars parked in my driveway at home, they were hit hard too. Thanks to the insurance, we walked away without getting holes in our pockets.

So i know how you feel...its hard to deal with it. Especially if it was your first car (like me)

 

It looks as though I should get him back sometime early next week. Maybe, Tuesday. It will have been like 21 days! The Body shop had to file a supplement to the insurance company for close to another $2000 taking to total to over $5100 dollars for repairs! I am keeping my fingers crossed that he is good as new and not just "rigged" I'll let you know as soon as he is home again.

 

Yee ouch 5100! Hope it's looking good for that.

btw saw a Red "S" with white Shelby stripes at a car dealer in Paris, TX. last night sitting on the stand out front, looked real nice.

 

If it doesn't I just might forget to sign the insurance check and raise quite a fuss!

 

I've used this method for hail damage/door dings many times over the years. If it can be used it's much better than replacing panels, filling dents, etc. A good PDR shop can remove the dents so that it's impossible to tell they were ever there.

 

Yes, folks it's been 21 days to be exact and Austin is back in the loving arms of his folks. He looks really good. There were a few problems that the body shop needs to straighten out. Bonnet stripes are uneven, and headliner is not right and is drooping down onto the side window and of course the entire interior is covered in over-spray!! It's not like my wife and I are **** retentive or anything about our MINI ( Okay, we really are badly) also the glass guy chipped a brace on the outside of the car between the rear hatch and side glass. Also, now the radio only picks up on station now and it's county. I have no idea of how the managed this... Other than that the MINI does look fantastic. The interior needs a lot of cleaning because it's filthy. They cleaned a little bit but I mean even the A/C vents are filled with tons of body shop dust. It's been a long three weeks and I thank everyone on here for their support and for their concern. Now we can get back to motoring!!!

 

Good to hear he got fixed...hope the body shop takes care of the other careless stuff...I'd be pissed still if I had overspray, and other things wrong with it still...but the important thing is he's back in your good graces! Sorry to hear about your misfortune with the hail storm.