Dan Ontrop is from the near part of Dayton, Ohio. He decided to come learn paintless dent repair with me one on one. I knew from the start he was very organized and did some thorough research before he made the commitment. He asked me lots of questions (as one should) and followed up on my past students as well. As mentioned in my past articles, I made it clear to him that learning paintless dent repair would not be easy. He told me he had already spoke to a few pdr techs who actually do it for a living and gave him sound advice on what training he should demand and seek out.I knew right away, he had a good idea of what to expect based on his own research and our past conversations.

Since he arrived, I wasted no time getting him onto a vehicle and performing the art of paintless dent removal. I started by getting him used to holding the tool, reading the line board and finding his tool tip. I recognized he had no problems with any of those exercises and we began the door ding removal process. Within 2 days, his skill dramatically improved and by the third day, we were working on deep center pit dings. Now don’t let the term, “ding” fool ya. Shrinking down the dent is easy but finishing and keeping it clean till you do is much, much harder than it sounds or looks. But despite the challenges that lie ahead, Dan kept his patience and had very good results.

When I train, my students can honestly expect all good days. Just some will be better than others. During the pdr training (especially the first two weeks) the pdr trainees are very inconsistent. Why? Because it takes a lot of pdr repairs to create good habits, build hand-eye coordination and maintain patience with muscle memory. These are some of the things Dan brings up in the video below. Listen to what he says and how he shares his personal experience. As his pdr training progresses, we will document and video his thoughts.

NOTE: PDR training results vary based on individual skills, eye sight, physical fitness and patience.