Rear cladding repair

Do you think this can be popped out, or am I needing to replace the rear cladding piece?


http://i1281.photobucket.com/albums/...ps6f5743fd.jpg

I had a similar looking rear bumper when I bought my VX. I pulled the bumper off, and heatgun and propane torched the backside (at a safe distance to not melt the cladding) to get it soft enough. Also making sure to focus on the creased areas so it doesn't tear, took an old partially inflated basketball, stuck it to the back and pressed the dent back out. I believe I did it 2 or 3 times before it came out all the way.

Now doing it that way, I can almost guarantee that you will still have crease and stress marks left over.

X2 on the heat gun/blow torch....and X2 , WITH CARE!

I've also used a pillow case filled with sand to mold / push
shapes like this after heating... (Plastic white water canoes!)

As Knigh says....stresss marks and crease lines will not fully vanish.

Jo

Thanks. I'll give it a shot. Lines and marks are better than dent I figure.

Back in my Northstar Automotive days we boiled 'em to get 'em back to shape, removes creases and all. Plus, you don't run the risk of melting it. Now, you ask, where the heck am I going to find a pot big enough to boil it in? You don't need to. With the cover removed and propped-up accordingly, poor boiling water into the dented corner and let it stand a few minutes, gently start pushing the dent out with the business end of a baseball bat or similar large rounded object. Put another pot on to boil while you're doing this so you can repeat the process. A large turkey cooker with propane burner works great for this. At Northstar we had large boil tanks but you can achieve the same results with the method described. Best of luck and DON'T SCALD YOURSELF!!!:flame2: