Question About XJ8 (and XK8) Body Panels

Still working on trying to get Harlem in shape and ready to go once again … Lately the two small dents she has in either rear fender - both courtesy of the last two people who had possession of her before I finally got her back - have been glaring at me - obvious imperfections to her otherwise very nice body (well, except for the deteriorated clear coat and one small rust area :frowning_face: ).

I have thought of taking Harlem’s back seat out to get access to the backside of the dents, and maybe pound them back out as best I can from the opposite side. :thinking: HOWEVER, IIRC I read some time back (not sure where - maybe a YouTube body shop video?) that XJ8/XK8 body panels are, for the most part, double-walled. :grimacing: If so, then the “pound out” approach won’t work. Does anyone know for sure on this issue, at least as far as the rear fenders go? :confused:

Why don’t you use what brits call smart repair.

They can pull the dent out, from the outside, and depending how bad it is now, you can have a perfect result.

Your method could make it worse

Well, first, I did hear from a salvage lot owner who has a lot of XJ8s at his place (and really knows them), and he tells me actually the fenders are single-walled. I don’t know what “smart repair” is, Andy ? :confused: Perhaps that’s the Brit :uk: equivalent of what we call “paint-less (dent) repair” here in the U.S.? :us: My alternative approach, and I have already bought the tools for it, are the suction cup method (although the one the Ebay vendor sent me is only like 2" wide) and from the same vendor this gizmo that has a pair of handles that are squeezed together to gradually pull the dent out, using hot glue adhesive (now I just need to find the adhesive for sale somewhere :roll_eyes: ). Failing those two methods, the same vendor also sells a larger, more heavy-duty version of the popular “Pops-a-Dent” gizmo that used to be advertised on T.V., which also uses that adhesive. I have also seen YouTube videos where dents have been pulled out very nicely using a toilet plunger, of all things (took like about 50 applications, though). Speaking of YouTube, there is apparently some controversy on it about using boiling water on the metal beforehand or not, to soften it a bit. One side highly advocates it, but the other side claims it will ruin your clearcoat. Since Harlem is in need of a new paintjob anyway b/c of her frazzle clearcoat, I’m not really worried about that consequence, even if true. :thinking:

If the above “paint-less” methods don’t work, I’m looking at filling both dents in with some of my metal Bondo and just repainting over the areas. At least it will look a lot better than before, it it goes as planned. :crossed_fingers: