Dry Ice on hail damage

[Martyr]

Ive heard that letting your car sit on a hot day and then setting dry ice on the hail damage will pull the dents out. Does anyone know if this is true or bs?

[nice96gt]

Some people say it works, some say it doesn't. It may fix some smaller dents but on larger dents you may have to get the pulled professionally.

[Prospeeder]

pour boiling water on the paint and then imediatly apply the dry ice and the instant contraction of the metal should pull little hail and rock dings out

[GrandAmSSE]

I just posted something about this in the Hood Dents topic above. It works very well trust me. I even talked about how I've seen it used on hali damage. Strange cause I didn't see this topic till after. You put dry ice on the dent and when its cool you heat the same area up with a heat gun. You MUST use dry ice. Regular ice doesn't work.

[tenspeed]

Bill, you're saying that first you chill the area then heat it?

[GrandAmSSE]

Yep. Heat makes metal expand right. Why would you expand the dent only to make it contract again? Wait but now that I think about it. Maybe I do have it backwards. I think I do cause when you'd make it contract it would pop out the dent. I never done it myself but have seen it done. So I know the idea works. In theory I could see it working both way.

[tenspeed]

I was thinking of trying it. I have a '94 Ciera that was parked under a walnut tree. It has some shallow dents

[GrandAmSSE]

I'd try chill and then heat. If it doesn't work try heat and then chill. I am 100% sure that it work just can't remember for the life of me which way to do it. Try both. One or both will work. But what ever you do don't touch the ice without protective glove or you'll burn your hands.

[Prospeeder]

its heat then chill! Pour boiling water on the paint then imeadiatly apply dry ice, remeber, dry ice is like, what was it, like -50 F and is EXTREMLY cold and will give you frost bite

[tenspeed]

I'll be sure to use my PPE. I've used liquid nitrogen before .

[gicts]

watch out for the windows. That doesn't seem healthy, much like when you pour ice water into a cup right out of the dishwasher and it cracks, or boiling water in a cool cup

[GrandAmSSE]

Saftey first. Hate to see someone get hurt and know I didn't warn them. Good luck!

[stockert]

I just got a package in the mail that had dry ice in it, with a warning about not touching it, said it was -144 degrees F. now THAT is cold!

[96GreenGaGT]

will that work for a dent that is about as big around as a baseball but not very deep? and what did you pay for dry ice? i've never bought any and don't really know where to get any in town.

[GrandAmSSE]

Does the dent have a crease? If so your screwed. If not then most likely yes it would work.

[gicts]

Originally posted by 96GreenGaGT
will that work for a dent that is about as big around as a baseball but not very deep? and what did you pay for dry ice? i've never bought any and don't really know where to get any in town. Do you all have a Kroger? it's a large supermart around town and it goes for about a $1 per lb

[Martyr]

If I try each dent individually it should only take me about...
(Ice+boiling water x 84 dents) = a very long time. I'll check it out and post the results soon. Thanks guys.

[matts]

isnt is always dangerous to inhale in large quantities? if your outside it might not affect you, but i would use it in a well ventilated area

[VanishingImage]

Originally posted by gicts
Do you all have a Kroger? it's a large supermart around town and it goes for about a $1 per lb

Kroger sells dry ice?? I go there all the time and have never seen dry ice for sale. I know they have regular bagged ice,but its not the dry ice.

[gicts]

Originally posted by VanishingImage
Kroger sells dry ice?? I go there all the time and have never seen dry ice for sale. I know they have regular bagged ice,but its not the dry ice. yup, at least ours does. It's a little freezer next to the checkout counter. Kinda hidden and you might want to ask, but yea.

[Martyr]

Ive found it here at United Super Market, they even have it at HEB in Austin. So far it's worked on some of the smaller dents, the deeper ones are going to be tough. I'm not messing with it anymore for now. I burned the sh't out of myself with the boiling water, then the ice. I should have taken your advice, ohwell.

[Martyr]

oh sh't is it just me or does my chick look bald in this picture!? I guess i never noticed before.
I need to change it before she sees it.

[Skymonkey]

I just ran onto this problem this week-end, a surprise thunderstorm with golfball, and larger size hail. Surprizinly enough, these Grand Ams must be built pretty tough because i only received one real good dent, but about 30 small ones. I would be interested in finding out exactly how to apply the dry ice, such as how big a piece, what is best to wrap it in,how long to apply it.
In other words, the exact procedure for doing this. If anyone knows who has done this with success, i would appreciate them sharing. Thank You

[tenspeed]

In other words, the exact procedure for doing this. If anyone knows who has done this with success, i would appreciate them sharing. Thank You

Try searching "dry ice dent" on You tube. There was another post about hail damage recently that might have links in it.

[Nighthawk243]

If the hail damage isn't in a sealed location, you could strip the interior parts out and then massage the dents out. That would probably yield better results.

[tenspeed]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UUSkwlyDrKw&feature=related

[Skymonkey]

Thank you tenspeed.

[GA_mayne]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miNykNl-0NM&feature=related

same thing, just with a can of compressed air (liquid CO2)

[Skymonkey]

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=miNykNl-0NM&feature=related

same thing, just with a can of compressed air (liquid CO2)


Very interesting, but kinda scarey about putting the flame from the lighter next to the paint, even though there is a piece of alum. foil in between. Do you know anyone who has tried this.

And thank you very much for the link to the video, greatly appreciated.

[Nighthawk243]

I personally would not use a torch or lighter to heat the metal. Too much risk of blistering the paint (Or if the area is plastic... melting it)

[ramairgrandamgt]

as soon as someone comes up details as to how to use any of these heating sources and best use of the dry ice. i will avoid trying it. pouring boiling water on my paint and the risk it could hit plastic areas does not excite me. a proper body shop heat gun yes because of more control over that step. MORE TEST

[tenspeed]

How about a hair dryer? Almost everybody has one of those in the bathroom.