PDR drilling: When to and when not to.

In PDR drilling for access is sometimes a necessary evil, but should only be used as a last resort.

Ok I know what you are going to say, there should be no drilling when fixing a car by PDR. I agree, in a perfect world there should not be, but as you start to fix more exotic cars you will find yourself in a position where you will need to use a drill for access to the dent.

If you use your common sense and best judgment drilling a hole can often save you massive headaches and time as well.

I often throw it back on to the customer and explain that in the case of a certain dent being untouchable from behind, and with the glue puller not being able to bring it out, there is 2 options.

You can let me drill a small hole underneath this weather strip, and we can have the car fixed in the next 30 minutes for about 100 dollars.

Or you can get it re-sprayed and have the car off the road for up to a week and it will cost you about 300 dollars.

Most times the customer sees it my way.

Sometimes in PDR drilling, a small hole in the dog leg of a car door opening, with a professional rust proofing plug will look factory anyway, just make sure you match the other side.

Drill bits.

In the PDR industry it is not a good idea to turn up for a job, with a box full of drill bits and a power drill, it not only looks unprofessional it can scare the customer away before you start.

So I always have a cordless drill with my buffing pad attached to it, and a small bit called a uni-bit meaning a universal drill bit, or step-bit.

These step-bits have different size cutters on the same bit, so you can easily transform a 1/8 inch hole into a ¼ without swapping the drill bit.

Go from pdr drilling page to the main PDR Online page with the dent simulation program