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Just for fun: How to fix a dented car

Couple of weeks ago a friend backed into my car. She and I both lucked out. Once the black marks, surface scrapes, and dirt were cleaned off, we each had a nearly identical dent about four inches across, but both in tricky spots.

She has a handy husband to fix hers. She offered to pay for fixing mine, but I told her it was too small a thing to bother her with.

I got a suction-cup puller, which didn’t work (see “tricky spot” above). So I turned to the Great Source of All Wisdom and Distractions to get other ideas.

I still have the dent and haven’t yet tried the hair dryer method, the glue-puller method, the sink-plunger method or anything else the Internet offered. But I did find this super-helpful video, which I thought you’d find entertaining and instructive:

P.S. I am not going to use this technique.

5 Comments

  1. Joel
    Joel March 23, 2019 12:03 pm

    WTF was that all about???

  2. StevefromMA
    StevefromMA March 23, 2019 4:08 pm

    I guess that video reminded us of the impermanence of things.

    More fun to have a bunch of people come over with Glocks for target practice.

  3. just waiting
    just waiting March 24, 2019 5:23 pm

    Honest Mr. Insurance Adjuster, I parked it behind the store, and when I came back…..

  4. Sam Linder
    Sam Linder March 28, 2019 2:38 pm

    Don’t know any other way to contact you, Claire, so hope you get this heads up:

    https://www.consumerreports.org/recalls/honda-recalls-inverter-generators/

    Honda Recalls 200,000 Inverter Generators
    They can leak fuel, posing a fire hazard

    Honda has recalled 200,000 inverter generators sold between February 2018 and February 2019 because they can leak gasoline from the fuel valve, posing a fire hazard. Honda has received 19 reports of gasoline leaking from the fuel valve, but the Consumer Product Safety Commission hasn’t received any reports of injuries associated with the generator.

    The recall involves three variations of the same model of portable generator—the Honda EU2200i, the EU2200i Companion, and the EB2200i. A Honda spokesman said that the flaw can be attributed to a manufacturing defect. “The screws used to assemble the fuel valve may loosen during use, allowing the valve to leak fuel,” says Davis Adams, communications manager for Honda’s power-equipment division.

    Consumer Reports hasn’t tested the Honda EU2200i inverter generator but has tested the Honda EG2800i, which was the subject of an earlier recall. That recall involved 34,000 generators that could potentially leak fuel from the carburetor. Adams says that even though both recalls involve fuel leakage, they’re unrelated. “The mechanism of the leakage in the earlier recall is completely different from this new recall activity,” he says. “In fact, the models are actually produced at different factories.”

    “Gasoline-powered products being recalled for fuel leaks are not an uncommon problem,” says John Galeotafiore, who oversees CR’s testing of outdoor power equipment.

    Honda is asking owners of the recalled generators to stop using them and contact an authorized Honda power-equipment dealer to schedule a free repair, which involves replacing the fuel valve. “Due to the complicated nature of replacing the fuel valve, this is a repair that can only be accomplished by an authorized dealer,” Adams says.

    The company is contacting owners who registered their generators. If you own this model and didn’t register it, you can find the full list of serial numbers on the CPSC’s recall notice. The serial number can be found in a lower corner on one of the side panels of your generator.

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