how much should it cost to get this body panel pulled out? Functional Fix..

So on New Years afternoon... (a bad time for the first rain of the
year in san diego where people already can't drive in the rain),
somebody with a jeep hydroplaned into my volvo's trunk. If he had hit
my bumper there would be zero damage, but of course bumper
compatiblility screwed me, and he hit my trunk and tail light
(completely missed my bumper).

With this being a 1986 Volvo, I took an economic gamble and left
collision coverage off my insurance policy, and the guy in the jeep ran
off before I could get his insurance info, so I'm on my own in terms of
$$.

The car is is in perfect operating condition, but isn't asthetically
perfect. A few dings, scratches, paint chips, and now a jacked up
corner of my trunk. The trunk still opens and closes, but it's
catching a bit. I'd like to get my tweaked corner "pulled out," and
I'll install a replacement tail light, but since I'm paying out of
pocket, and I don't care about the asthetics of this car's "rump," I
want to "partially" fix this, meaning I don't want to (can't justify)
paying $1,500 to end up with a rear bumper that looks better than the
rest of the car. Rather, I'd like to pull out the body panel that got
hit, back to the right shape so that my trunk closes properly, and I
can pop in a replacement tail light, and call it fixed. I went to a
couple shops and found one that said they can't do "partial fixes" like
that = big company and liability, and I got a recommendation for
another place that might. The first shop guessed it would be $100 -
200 to get it pulled out the way I want, but the place I went to
offered to do it for $600.

So here's the question...
****************
How much SHOULD this cost? Any recommendations for somebody that can
untweak my trunk in that $100 - $200 range in San Diego? Not sure if
chain body shops do this sort of thing.. I get the feeling I'll have to
go to a privately owned shop in order to get a "partial" fix. (I
personally think of what I want as completely fixed.. it's just a
functional fix I'm after ignoring the cosmetics. but the shops I went
to referred to it as a "partial fix")
***************
Below is just extra info on the accident. Not necessary to read if you
don't know the ares and just want to give me a recommendation..
Thanks!

I just recently drove where the jeep was driving when he hit me, and I
totally see what happened. Basically people FLY accross Mission Bay
coming from Balboa right as it turns into Garnet. Well I was making a
right turn from Mission Bay onto Garnet (having just come off the 5),
and he was hauling ass coming from balboa going straight through that
mission bay intersection.

I had completed my right turn and was already up to 15, maybe 20 mph,
I think, before he hit me. I pulled over into the next driveway to
survey the damage. He got out looking real ****ed, seemed to think the
blame laid squarely on me, asked if I was OK, and took off before I
could gather my senses and get insurance info.

Now that I've driven this thing from both perspectives, I can see why I
got nailed... At the speed one is inclined to come accross mission bay
from balboa, people making right turns from mission bay onto Garnet
would be advised to leave some extra room. Especially for the
conditions, the space I made my right turn into was too tight. I
didn't hear the jeep slowing down at all, so I'm guessing he hit his
breaks too hard and hydroplaned into me.

It is impossible to say, without seeing the car, how much damage is
involved.

If you can get to the inside of the panel, sometimes you can bump it out
with
a rubber mallet. Or, a plumbers friend on the outside of a panel can
sometimes
pull out a simple problem.

If I didn't have to fix it, I probably wouldn't, on a car that old. Go to
Pic A Part,
get a new taillight and put it in yourself.

here's what it looks like...
http://etlipman.home.comcast.net/Upload/volvo.jpg

You can see the driver side corner of that panel got pushed in (since
he totally missed my bumper)

I was definitely going to pick up a tail light from the junk yard, and
I also noticed I can get them off ebay now-a-days for 60 bucks.

I'm a little concerned that I might not be able to get the "new" tail
light in there since that corner got so tweaked.. Really, all I was
thinking I'd want a body shop with some equpment to do, would be to
pull out that corner close to it's original location so that I could
get a new tail light installed there..

> wrote in message
oups.com...
> here's what it looks like...
> http://etlipman.home.comcast.net/Upload/volvo.jpg
>
> You can see the driver side corner of that panel got pushed in (since
> he totally missed my bumper)
>
> I was definitely going to pick up a tail light from the junk yard, and
> I also noticed I can get them off ebay now-a-days for 60 bucks.
>
> I'm a little concerned that I might not be able to get the "new" tail
> light in there since that corner got so tweaked.. Really, all I was
> thinking I'd want a body shop with some equpment to do, would be to
> pull out that corner close to it's original location so that I could

I enhanced your picture and took a look. Your replacement taillight might
even fit with no work...depends.

Get yourself a BFH and massage out the bumps until
you can get your new taillight assembly in place.

I would just bandaid repair it. It is too old to be worth spending a lot
of money on it, IMHO:

Now that I see it, it looks quite minor. I would work from the inside
of that panel with a 1" bar and a hammer. If I could not gain access
directly to the outer skin I would cutout the inner panel in that spot.
That dent would pop right out. I'd do the same on the trunk lid
although I don't think that is what's causing you the problem closing
it. When the rear panel is straight the trunk might need to be cocked
counter-clockwise slightly, but that's all. And the latch mechanism can
be adjusted too. Maybe you could find some kid in a body shop class
nearby to do this for the experience.

what's a "BFH"?

thanks a bunch for the feedback folks... with this guidance and a
couple key tools and some banging.. sounds like this might work out
allright.. I've got a couple friends that should be able to lend some
muscle power too..

wrote:
> what's a "BFH"?
>
Big F*&king Hammer.