rocker panel dent; heat gun? hot water?

[MyFragileHalogen]

I had a cushion's buckle got jammed by the driver-side door and made this nice deep dent on the rocker panel. Paint looks undamaged (in the photo I tried filler and some touch up for experiment so it's a bit more shallow than actual).

Googling tells me about using a heat gun, hair dryer, hot water and such to pop out dented plastic from behind and I wonder if such thing would be worth trying or if there are any interesting ideas you guys can suggest.

It's a 5 years old car now and I can take the panel out and just get it repaired/repainted during winter if it bothers me but certainly it would involve injecting quite a bit of money and taking multiple trips to local shops as I will have to replace the clear bra as well.

[hC1001]

Dont think heat will work on that. I'd leave it alone and try to forget about it.

[RRedline]

I have successfully used heat/hot water to pop out a bumper dent like this:


Don't think it will work on what you have posted. Sorry.

[9M71]

Sorry, no way thats coming out with heat / pdr...

[henrylee]

Leave it alone

[MyFragileHalogen]

Thanks for the comments! I was curious if there is any chance it can be push back from behind as it's not too hard to take the panel out. I have not figured out the latch mechanism but I've seen my painter doing it very easily. Maybe I will try it and see when I get bored in winter. Good thing is it doesn't bother me much now and I know I can get it professionally repaired/refinished if I want to.

[damageprone]

Originally Posted by MyFragileHalogen

I was curious if there is any chance it can be push back from behind as it's not too hard to take the panel out.

DIY solution would probably make it worse. A PDR guy could probably do it better as they have the proper tools to get behind panels and work on seams appropriately. Since the creases are on a body line/seam, "popping out" won't work. This needs more of a massage out.

I'd probably leave it if it were me.

[MyFragileHalogen]

Originally Posted by damageprone

DIY solution would probably make it worse. A PDR guy could probably do it better as they have the proper tools to get behind panels and work on seams appropriately. Since the creases are on a body line/seam, "popping out" won't work. This needs more of a massage out.

I'd probably leave it if it were me.

It takes <5minutes to take out the panel if one knows how to. But it's plastic, so I am not sure if a PDR guy would work on it.