I'm such an idiot at times

[greatbear]

This past weekend, while enjoying our company with champdaddy, not everything was all sunshine and lollipops. Our usual spot requires an intricate series of maneuvers with the truck and trailer not unlike a sliding-tile puzzle of sorts, with backing, turning, swinging and other wheeled dancing in order to slide the trailer into it's spot and leave the most available space on the site for other stuff. Well, I am usually quite adept at this little 8-ton pas de deux. This time, with my eyes giving me trouble, the rain pouring down covering my mirrors and keeping me from opening all the windows and trying to make sense of Jeff's signals while he's holding an umbrella, well, I made a boo-boo:



I turned too tight backing up and 'jackknifed' the truck/trailer and ended up with this mess. Fuck. If ever was a off day where something I normally do well ends up being an impossible task, this was it. Oh well, it was nice having a nice new truck for that short period of time.

Today before I headed out for my gimpy leg therapy, I pulled out the taillight and started levering out some of the crunchiness. After about five minutes using a couple of rubber-covered tool handles I got most of the metal back where it belongs. Some other time when I am in the mood for it, I will try and finesse the creases out, a process that takes far longer. The problem here is that the broad, flowing body design with subtle sweeps and lines will be really tough to make anywhere near perfect since it can't be hidden along sharp lines or boxy panel features. The scratches in the paint, well, I dunno about that right now. I can at least polish the scratch from the tail light plastic.

As much as the evolution of the automobile has changed the servicing end of ownership, with sophisticated electronics, complicated drivetrains and safety bits, etc, bodywork, with few exceptions, has remained firmly fixed in the distant past. Prying, pulling, pounding, beating, grinding and hammering are still the order of the day. Model T or Prius, they are all the same for once.

As for the rest of the weekend, there eventually was sunshine and lollipops. Really.

Comments

[normalcyispasse.livejournal.com]

Aw, crap! That's really a pity. How close do you think you can get the panel?

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

Not as bad as I was fearing it might be. I bet you'll get it mighty close. :-)

I have some minor body damage, but over a somewhat larger area from some duffus who brushed the left Qtr panel on the truck, pushing it in some and breaking the center cap nearly clean off and breaking a couple of the plastic threads in the wheel itself about 2 or so years back and unless you really look, it's not TOO obvious, but my truck is 17 YO, not barely a year old. :-)

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

I should be able to get it where it wont be noticeable with just a glance. I have two things going for me, thin sheet metal and flexible paint. What is against me here is a light gray, almost white primer under a dark blue metallic. Cars/trucks are made with such thin steel these days for cost and weight savings, they dent too easily. This also make pushing the dents out a bit easier too. One raised crease was able to be pushed down by hand. I have some wide clear tape that I will lay over the sharper creases and will tap along those with rubber and plastic mallets. The tape is shiny and will show progress, but will protect the paint from (any more) scratches.

This is where I wish I had a selection of long body picks and such used for paintless (as well as traditional) dent repair. I will look into some, depending on what luck I have with tools I already have.

[greatbearmd.livejournal.com]

Many years ago a friend of mine swerved to avoid some animal in the road. He ended up in a field or lot that had hay bales stacked up and slid sideways into those. Though it was a soft catch for the car, it caved the rear door and quarter panel in. Since this was a huge old New Yorker with slab sides, the panels caved in pretty easily. He was upset, the car was old, but nice. I walked back to my house, grabbed a toilet plunger, wet it, and plopped it onto the middle of the dents and pulled. Except for a minor crease left on the door, you could not tell anything had happened. The repair took about as long as it took to damage the car. lol

[ciddyguy.livejournal.com]

LOL.

[mikiedoggie.livejournal.com]

Ow. Damaged vehicles suck. I hope it comes out with little stress and effort.

[fuzzbearmark.livejournal.com]

Looks like you had a moment of what my family likes to call: "Mark driving". Ugh.

Fortunately I drive like this much less often these days.

[rockybear02.livejournal.com]

Ummn since my last few weeks HAVE SUCKED - I only heard this from Jeff...

So sorry to SEE it in person.

Big Hugs,