NA1 NSX Auto Shop Repair Mess

[Simpleton123]

Whats up everyone, I took in my 91' NSX in to a local car body shop as the right passenger fender got bent hoping to get it bent back in place and add a bit of a touchup. (First 2 images)
Body shop overbent it and its now in two pieces. (Last 4 images)
What should be my next move in addressing this issue?

 

[Honcho]

Aw man that sucks, sorry. Hate to say it, but you need to replace that fender. The NSX body panel alloy (a 6000-series HAZ6083P-T4 in the case of the fender) is designed to accept some bending and shaping, but you need to know how to work with aluminum. This place clearly didn't, as the metal work hardened and then cracked. The Body Repair Manual says that if you created a crack by shaping the piece, you must replace it, not weld/repair it.

You can shape the metal by heating it to between 200C and 400C first and then working it with a hammer and dolly. It looks like this shop just tried to bend it cold.

 

[Old Guy]

Honcho is technically correct. However, in this case I might be inclined to experiment because
1) right now the fender is 'technically' a throw away unless you want to live with it as is
2) the fender is a non structural element
3) a new fender is going to be expensive by the time you source it and have it painted so you have a fair amount of money to experiment with

Photographs of black shiny things tend to hide details so it is difficult to discern the exact nature of the crack, particularly how extensive the crack is. As a suggestion, a good welder might be able to fill the crack so that it is solid and the sheet metal guys might be able to file and grind to restore it back to the original profile, or at least file and grind enough so that with a minimal amount of filler you can restore the profile. Filling the hole with a blob of epoxy filler and shaping would work for a while; however, large blobs of filler have a nasty tendency of falling out with temperature swings and road vibration leaving you with the original hole.

Check around. The number of shops accredited by insurers to work in aluminum used to be as rare as hen's teeth; but, the Ford F150 and a lot of other cars that are using aluminum panels has changed that.

 

[centerpunch]

Fixing smashed Teslas is what forced most serious bodyshops to get in the aluminum business. A good shop will have a separate location that only does aluminum work.

 

[docjohn]

at least you have sporty tires...