Paintless Dent Removal - does it need a special glue? Or what?

[askitee]

I purchased a Paintless Dent Removal kit and already own a Hot Glue gun. I had no success with the process - it seems the "tip" dislodges from the panel without pulling the dent out (1/2" hailstone dent). I am using an ordinary hot glue gun, is there a specific type of glue stick required for this to work?

 

[Gwolf]

I purchased a Paintless Dent Removal kit and already own a Hot Glue gun. I had no success with the process - it seems the "tip" dislodges from the panel without pulling the dent out (1/2" hailstone dent). I am using an ordinary hot glue gun, is there a specific type of glue stick required for this to work?

We had a wide spread hail storm back maybe 15 years ago. It covered about 50% of the whole county. The insurance companies got together and brought in a paintless dent removal service. They set them up in a large lot with an unused building in the county seat. Everybody with hail dents were given a date and time to bring their vehicles in. It was not supposed to take more than a couple hours to complete. I had 2 Ford Rangers with serious dents, broken lights, and one had a crack in the windshield. They pulled most of the side panel dents, which were not too large. They pulled some of the top of the cab dents. They said they could not pull the hood dents, because my trucks had aluminum hoods and the hail dents had stretched the metal. No way to fix it, they would have to replace the hoods on both trucks, then repaint them to match. They offered me a cash settlement for the total damages or they would have a local body shop do the repairs. I did not owe any financing on either truck, so the financial companies were not involved. I took the cash, fixed the light lens myself, and drove the trucks for several more years with dents in them, and about 10 thousand more in my bank account.

I took some pictures that night, but did not go out from under the porch roof, because some of the hailstones were large enough to bust your skull. Some places got smaller hailstones, but I was in the area that got some softball size ones.

I watched when they were trying to pull the dents. They used wax remover to get any wax off the finish, and then cleaned the dent with alcohol, before they attached the puller to the dents. I had to rewax the trucks after they finished not fixing them.

 

[askitee]

Thanks GWolf,

It sounds like I might not have cleaned/prepped the surfaces enough. I'll try using some rubbing alcohol on the spot to see if I get a better outcome.

 

[USAF]

Thanks GWolf,

It sounds like I might not have cleaned/prepped the surfaces enough. I'll try using some rubbing alcohol on the spot to see if I get a better outcome.

The body panel has to be up to a certain temperature to adhere properly also. I was looking into doing the same thing with our vehicle and watched a few you tube videos on the subject.

 

[askitee]

I better break out the heat gun and try again.