My sister’s friend backed into my X-100, and left big dent in the rear. I would love a stellar body shop recommendation in LA. A shop that will do it right. I’m guessing it makes more sense to pull the dent out, even though I’d much rather the panel be replaced for peace of mind, however the back of the car is just one huge panel, so I’m not sure if that’s practical, or if the price would be astronomical. She’s paying for it.

any advice would be much appreciated!

 

That damage is indeed repairable without any replacement parts. As you know, you want a quality shop doing the work....

Sure hope you took her keys away from her....

 

Sorry about your bad luck. What I would suggest is calling these guys https://www.europeanautoreseda.com/ and asking John or Rene if they could recommend a body shop. They are an independent mechanic in the San Fernando Valley that had mostly specialized in Jaguars but they always have several exotic cars in service at any given time. So I would think they could steer you in the right direction.

 

Snackalac:::

That certainly is a pretty color.... Really stands out! After you get it repaired...why not shoot some Photos of it and place them on the Photo Thread? It will look good again.....Don't worry!
My rear Fender was hit in the same place but the Paint was not gouged out as yours....You might still be able to get someone with Paintless Tools to smooth-out the gouges and repaint the whole Fender.....Life continues on but sometimes it's a pain in the Rear......
Good Luck!

Billy Clyde@ Cinco Ranch

 

Back in the day when I had my '67 XKE FHC, I got hit 3 times in 2 weeks. Backed into 2 times and rear ended by a Vega. The grill opening went around the rear bumper bars and did some damage but pushed everything into the radiator and then the fan on the Vega. He got way more damage than me. Each time I went to the body shop for estimates and he couldn't believe my luck.
I think yours can be popped out and resprayed. TM

 

I finally found this, which shows what can be achieved:

 

Thanks everyone for the reassurance and info.

Do you guys think the end result would look better if the part was replaced or if the dent was pulled out? Or a different method.

 

The body panel - or 'tonneau panel' is a major part:


It's overkill and not really an option even if you could find one.

IMO working with what you have is better than cutting the dent out out and patching with a section from a parts car.

 

Thank you. Why in your opinion is this not really an option if the part can be found? I went to a higher-end shop which refused to work on the car because they said they don't want it taking up space while they wait for parts. From what I gathered the owner seemed to think cutting it out was the best method (he didn't mention any others at least), but impractical in terms of time/money.

 

The panel is not cheap: it is NLA from Jaguar so you're looking at third parties, e.g.:
https://woxparts.com/en/car-parts/jaguar/FJA1321BE

It sounds like the shop just didn't want the job - why would the car be 'taking up space while they wait for parts'? Common sense would dictate to take it in when the parts had arrived. It would also be a much bigger ($$$) job to completely replace it rather than just a section.

Perhaps it's my warped OCD, but I would always choose to straighten rather than patch wherever practicable - especially if the underlying metal is sound, which yours appears to be. Dry-state car from new?

 

Yes, that makes more sense that they just didn't want the job. I did suggest just waiting until parts arrived but then he made up some other excuse. I'm having OCD as well but about the shape of the panel, I was worried that by 'straightening' it they wouldn't be able to fully replicate the original shape, and the car wouldn't be fully symmetrical. But maybe that isn't the case?

It's a dry-state car it's whole life.

 

A good shop can match the contours. When I was in the biz we had various contour gauges that could be used to check that it would be a mirror shape.
wj

 

^^ What he said.

If you watch the later part of the video from around 3:50, you can see the tech using such a gauge to grab the profile from the other side of the car.

I wish I could do panel work even remotely that well. He makes it look so easy.