need help with aluminum dent on a buster L (fire corps)

[Inkman]

Hello guys
I read allot on this board and learned a ton allready.
But now i am looking for some specific advice, ideas and opinions.

Recently i bought an buster L (ex fire corps)
I think its 5mm thick aluminum.

She has got some character from all the life savings she has done.
And i am looking for a cleaner look on the outside.
The inside looks really great btw.

I added pictures of the dents i want to clean up as much as possible.
I also added the inside of that part of the boat aswell.
Its hard to reach that area from the inside.

For the bigger dents:
what are my options here?

It looks a little worse than it is on that close up.

I was thinking of drillling a hole or weld and pull it out some how?! What about a Dentpuller?

Heat treatment?
Or weld some sort of shield skid plate over it? To cover and protect.
Or take the flat part of the nose out with an angle grinder and hammer it then weld it back?
Or get it proffesionally done by a bodyshop?
I prefer bare metal look above the water line iff possible.

For the red part of the boat there a few really shallow bumps and i was thinking of using an aluminum filler then repaint it, or even use some sort of bedliner or armour coating for it, so it would coverup even more and protect.
What do you guys recommend for this part?

And for the underwaterline i was thinking of an black antifouling or an armour coating.

Sorry for my bad grammar im from europe, and also for the double picture i tried to remove one but i failed

I am looking forward to what you guys recommend.

 

[Johnny]

Inkman - it all boils down to your budget and what you want
the finished product to look like. Are you going to keep
the center part bare metal and polish it to a bright shine ?
Or, paint all exterior surfaces to make it pretty.

Words and directions from the gallery here can not give you the
experience that metalworking requires. That in itself takes years of hands on practice.
Option #1: take it to an automotive shop that does crash body work
and get a couple of written estimates of what it would cost. They have the
expertise, talented craftsmen and equipment to do that kind of work.
It will be a challenge even for a professional body repair man because there is no access to the inside.
Take a look at this video: it will give you an idea of what it takes to remove small dents in metal.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BA38vRzBMB4
Option #2: use assorted autobody fillers such as Bondo, primers, etc.
to do it yourself, paint it, and it will be turn out just fine.
Option#3: Skip the exterior for now and focus on the inside of the boat . . .
Enjoy boating around and having a hoot of a time with your friends and family.
Then in the spring, explore your options and take it from there.

Please tell us a little more of your background - - - if you are capable of of this
type of work.
Also, the way you are explaining of what you want to do with your boat is bring
it back to showroom condition . . . which can be expensive if done correctly.
and where is this boat now ? Photos of the actual boat as it sits in your driveway
with up close looks at the damage especially on any welded seams is another issue.

Personally, if it were my boat, I would Bondo the dents, paint it and be done with it.
There are several threads already on this forum of doing aluminum body work at home.
Also, search YouTube on how to Bondo Aluminum.....
Have fun, good luck.
Looking forward to photos as you progress.

and as retired sign painter/fabricator, we have a saying . . . . . .
this is a 60/60 sign !!
sixty feet away at sixty miles per hour, you will not see any imperfections and it will look great.
So, you may have a 100/40 boat . . . at 100 feet away at 40mph it will look AWESOME.



oh, and your grammar and English is just fine - not to worry.

 

[Inkman]

Thnx for your reply johnny

As far as my technical level.
I have had 2 glass boats before, i worked on them, once i damaged the bottom real bad on one
The hole was as big as 2 fists and got it to look 99% could have got it to 100% but i didnt care about it enough.

I removed hair cracks on a glass boat with a dremel en filled them...it was an expirience and allot of maintance and it made me wanting an aluminum boat even more.

Will it affect the bondo or aluminum that this boat is kept outside under 0 degree celcius?

I work on motorcycles for years as a hobby, chop em, drive em like i stole them LOL
I design my subframes and get them welded together by a friend.

So i cant weld myself.

I prefer an aluminum look for the mid part but iff its not possible to achieve that i consider to paint it.

Its winter now, and before the good weather comes again i wanna work on the boat to have it all done so i can enjoy the summer.

As far as budget go's it depends a little, i wanna keep it as low as possible offcourse.
I wanna do as much as possible my self.
Lets say 500 but 1200$ max

What do you guys think it would cost to get that dent in the bow out in a body shop, lets say to look 99% to a 100% unpainted?

I dont wanna polish shine look, just undented. I hope to keep it bare and look decent.
Not like i cant drive a boat

Another cool thing i like to add about this boat is, they left all the wiring and buttons on it, they only removed the blue lights and critical stuff.
Allot of cool mods on it allready.

So i will add some cool stuff on it and make it more comfortable

 

[Johnny]

where are you located ??
look in your area for PAINTLESS DENT REPAIR - - - they can give you an estimate.
do it once - do it right - and you will have a very nice looking boat.

extreme hot/cold temperatures "can" loosen Bondo or any filler if not prepared properly.

 

[Inkman]

Im located in amsterdam (holland) allot of aluminum boat builders are popping up here and there, i will get up early and drive arround with my boat ask about prices...and offcourse check what they are capable off.

Maybe someone who has a little time on there hands can make me a nice deal.

Ur deffinetly right...I rather do it right the first time or get it done for the right price.



Anyone got expirience with PAINTLESS DENT REPAIR?

Or before after pictures of aluminum repairs like this?

 

[Steve A W]

Sorry I don't have anything to ad to help, however
I must say I'm jealous of your Fire dept.
All we got for a rescue boat was a 12' inflatable with a 4hp Merc.
to take care of three miles of Lake Michigan shoreline in our district.
And a resident bought it for us not the town!
Good Luck with your boat.
And remember we like pictures.

Steve A W

 

[Johnny]

oh wow Inkman !! you are so far far away . . . .
I doubt that you will find the shop we are talking about that
does dentless body work. It is a specialty trade here in the U.S.

Back when I was in the Navy, your Nederland Navy invited my
ship to stop in for a port visit in Den Helder. I have never seen
so many beautiful wooden boats in one place in my life. We spent
a beautiful week there. It was February. cold and rainy, but FUN !!
I try to think back 45 years and I don't remember any tin boats, only wood. LOL.
I hope that you can find a good quality metal shop there in Amsterdam
to fix your boat correctly.
Looking forward to your progress !!!

 

[Inkman]

This is the last time they pulled the boat out.

Thnx guys..

In amsterdam there are so many canals and there is no space left its totally filled with all kinds of boats, allot of wooden boats, allot of aluminum boats.

Repair without paint is common in holland and this is a small country i will find one close.

I think you gonna love a canal cruise in amsterdam...i recommend it to everybody! People are nice and nothing is crazy here.

Here some pictures of my boat.

 

[Inkman]

They needed a bigger boat

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Here a cool video how this boat performs:

https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=cQDnIPf1xXg

 

[driz]

where are you located ??
look in your area for PAINTLESS DENT REPAIR - - - they can give you an estimate.
do it once - do it right - and you will have a very nice looking boat.

extreme hot/cold temperatures "can" loosen Bondo or any filler if not prepared properly.

That's the ticket if you can find a place in your region or an old body man well schooled in dent removal . I watched a guy once massage a dented door with a sharply defined door edge dent right on the crease of the door center. I thought no way but he did it like new in 10 minutes to perfection.
I took one out of mine and it's ok but say 60%. Shrinking dents is something of an art so you can't follow some bodies directions or YouTube unless you do bodywork a lot. It's more of a massage than pounding out so find an old school body man who is up on that stuff, not the current pull and replace methods like are used mostly today for cost reasons. You can likely save some $$ by removing the decking. Yourself if he needs it done to get at the dent but let him see it as it sits now before you pull anything.



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[richg99]

It just happens that a few weeks ago, I leaned (hard) against the back of my Toyota van. The outer panel popped in. Looked bad!

But, the paint wasn't broken, just the panel was inverted. I went to Harbor Freight ( a large, US national retailer of low-cost tools). I purchased two sizes of the Suction Cup Lifter shown below. The smaller one was about $4.00 US and you can see the larger one in the adv. that I have LINKED to below.

Out came the dent, instantly. Perhaps you can find something similar in Europe and have a go at it. The cost was minimal. Might want to give it a try. regards, richg99

https://www.harborfreight.com/aluminum-suction-cup-lifter-92825.html

 

[Inkman]

where are you located ??
look in your area for PAINTLESS DENT REPAIR - - - they can give you an estimate.
do it once - do it right - and you will have a very nice looking boat.

extreme hot/cold temperatures "can" loosen Bondo or any filler if not prepared properly.

That's the ticket if you can find a place in your region or an old body man well schooled in dent removal . I watched a guy once massage a dented door with a sharply defined door edge dent right on the crease of the door center. I thought no way but he did it like new in 10 minutes to perfection.
I took one out of mine and it's ok but say 60%. Shrinking dents is something of an art so you can't follow some bodies directions or YouTube unless you do bodywork a lot. It's more of a massage than pounding out so find an old school body man who is up on that stuff, not the current pull and replace methods like are used mostly today for cost reasons. You can likely save some $$ by removing the decking. Yourself if he needs it done to get at the dent but let him see it as it sits now before you pull anything.

________________________________________________________________________________

Thank you for taking the time to write this, theres a boat builder here +-45min that builds +50 aluminum boats a year, we had a lil talk.
he told me he can fix it, i need to bring the boat to estimate the price, i hope its not gonna hurt to much.

@richg99 im glad you fixed the toyota, but i think this isnt gonna work with 5mm aluminum, i might be wrong, i will do some research thanks allot

I will update iff i have one, i will keep reading on the board, i dont even know off my boat is in the right place here, but its aluminum so probabbly in some way she is... :lol:








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