Damage to A pillar (1 Viewer)

[Bajaknot]

Hi all,
I just had a tree branch fall on my wind shield damaging the A pillar and left front quarter panel as I was driving. It sounds worse than it looks but I’m wondering how that repair takes place. Is the damaged A pillar cut out and a new pillar welded in place? It looks like the fiberglass covering the pillar is an extension of the rear quarter panel. Does that need to be replaced? Any info appreciated.

 

[KLF]

Pictures would help immensely.

 

[Moby]

Agreed on the pics. You might be able to get away with paintless dent repair. I've had some nasty hail dents come out beautiful - absolutely no trace.

 

[Sandroad]

I’m ignorant about the body work, but keep in mind 1) there are airbags up there that you do not want to go off while you‘re checking it out and 2) water leaks in the A pillar area and windshield seal can be really bad news. Whoever fixes it needs to do good work and not just use silly putty.

 

[Bajaknot]

Sounds worse than it appears.

 

[CharlieS]

That black trim pops right off, it is only held by plastic clips along the side and a metal clip at the top. They should be able to repair that easily. My guess is they'll probably pull it out, recountour with filler, prime, paint, and bob's your uncle.

 

[Moby]

That will buff right out

A filler/bondo glob to fill that will likely sink and crack over time. This has happened to me from the previous owner of my 62. The last 62 I looked at I went over with a magnet looking for filler. And guess what I found Looked great but in a few years I would have been replacing panels correctly.

An old school shop that still does repairs instead of just doing high volume slap in new pannels type work could pull that without replacing (like this: Stud Welder Dent Pulling System - https://www.eastwood.com/stud-welder-dent-pulling-system.html). Not likely paintless but disassemble the interior, pull the dent, some hammering, final light bondo that is sanded to just a skim layer and paint.

But it is hard to find shopts that still do this work. It's skilled. I spent timing working on hammer welding and body work and it is a lot of practice. Dang is it hard to TIG 20 gauge sheet and keept it flat. I never even got rudimentary good at it at thin sheet and hammering. But my son had a great time doing his first project - hammering out a bowl on my shot bag and working on finishing with a dolly.

 

[Bajaknot]

That will buff right out

A filler/bondo glob to fill that will likely sink and crack over time. This has happened to me from the previous owner of my 62. The last 62 I looked at I went over with a magnet looking for filler. And guess what I found Looked great but in a few years I would have been replacing panels correctly.

An old school shop that still does repairs instead of just doing high volume slap in new pannels type work could pull that without replacing (like this: Stud Welder Dent Pulling System - https://www.eastwood.com/stud-welder-dent-pulling-system.html). Not likely paintless but disassemble the interior, pull the dent, some hammering, final light bondo that is sanded to just a skim layer and paint.

But it is hard to find shopts that still do this work. It's skilled. I spent timing working on hammer welding and body work and it is a lot of practice. Dang is it hard to TIG 20 gauge sheet and keept it flat. I never even got rudimentary good at it at thin sheet and hammering. But my son had a great time doing his first project - hammering out a bowl on my shot bag and working on finishing with a dolly.

You would prefer a repair of the dent over replacing the panel? There must be OEM quarter panels I would assume. Would a new panel break the bank?

 

[bronc076]

You can get a new front fender from a dealer and have it painted but a good body man can fix all that and blend the paint and it will be good. New fender maybe easier and better and may or may not be cost effective.

The hard part is finding a good body man. Most shops that focus on insurance work have a high turnover and slather it with goo and send it on its way, which is fine for crusher bound minivans which live their daily life as an appliance for shuttling children and groceries.

If it were my LC I’d find a guy that works on classic cars, does restoration work, and ask him where to take it to get it fixed properly as I will have mine for decades.

HTH

 

[04UZJ100]

You would prefer a repair of the dent over replacing the panel? There must be OEM quarter panels I would assume. Would a new panel break the bank?

Take a closer look. The A pillar is part of the entire side panel of the vehicle - yes, all the way back to the trunk and all door reliefs is one piece.

The 100 and 200 have some of the largest single piece stamped body panels of any vehicle sold.

 

[Bajaknot]

You can get a new front fender from a dealer and have it painted but a good body man can fix all that and blend the paint and it will be good. New fender maybe easier and better and may or may not be cost effective.

The hard part is finding a good body man. Most shops that focus on insurance work have a high turnover and slather it with goo and send it on its way, which is fine for crusher bound minivans which live their daily life as an appliance for shuttling children and groceries.

If it were my LC I’d find a guy that works on classic cars, does restoration work, and ask him where to take it to get it fixed properly as I will have mine for decades.

HTH

Is it your experience that taking it to a Toyota dealership isn’t the best route in terms of quality/longevity of repair? Sadly, I’m not sure I’d know the right questions to ask a body shop to get a sense as to the quality of the repair.

 

[bronc076]

Not all dealerships have a body shop, they may just farm it out to whoever they have a relationship with. I would think they would want to have a relationship with a shop that does quality work but there are a lot of dealership horror stories out there.

 

[bloc]

You’ll do MUCH better finding a quality independent shop. Even dealer body shops are just insurance repair mills as described above.

Unless you live out in the sticks there is probably a shop somewhere around you that takes pride in their work. This business will be supported by people with cars they care about.. classics, exotics, rare vehicles.

Maybe check your local club house section in this forum and see who does work on classic cruisers like 40 and 60 series. Could be some good resources in there.

 

[Bajaknot]

Thanks, all. I researched a local body shop that specializes in exotic and classic cars and has great reviews. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction. I’ll let you know how it turns out.

 

[bronc076]

Let us know how it turns out!

 

[Julian73]

Take a closer look. The A pillar is part of the entire side panel of the vehicle - yes, all the way back to the trunk and all door reliefs is one piece.

The 100 and 200 have some of the largest single piece stamped body panels of any vehicle sold.

Toyota makes a number of partial panels for weld in repair.

 

[Bajaknot]

Thank you again for your recommendations to go with a body shop with expertise and not an insurance mill. I’d post pictures of how it turned out but they would look like any other A-pillar and front left fender and really not that interesting. I’d recommend this body shop to anyone in the Boston area. DM me if you need local expertise.

 

[doru]

Both those dents are easy to fix (that does not mean cheap). They can be pulled/pushed out easy by most body shops without using excessive filler. Some filler will always be used to get that perfect surface. What you do not want is filling instead of pulling.
The harder part is the paint job. How to blend it so you can't see it. That's were the boys are getting separated from the men.

 

[pepto1019]

Hello I have a similar question about my car. My A pillar was damaged due to a baseball hitting it causing it to leave a dent and crack my windshield I would like to know if the windshield would be able to be replaced

 

[pepto1019]