Happy New Year! Although 2021 will have many challenges, I truly hope we will all have a better year. 

Absent any questions this month, I decided I would write a review for a very affordable and useful tool. I purchased a stud welder/slide hammer from Harbor Freight. This tool allows me to pull dents out, especially handy with blind dents, with no access from behind. 

While very handy for blind access dents, it is also handy for dent repair that will require repaint anyway. 

I tried this tool out to repair damage to my Outback after it hit a guard rail (I was not driving…). I was very impressed with how strong the weld from the studs is, and how easy it was to pull the metal back with the slide hammer. I am also overly impressed with the quality of the welder. The slide hammer is not extremely high quality, but it works. I would love to have a blow molded case to hold this tool, but I guess that is too much to ask for at this price. I will probably buy a tool case from Harbor Freight to keep it in. 

I moved the slide hammer from stud to stud, until the panel was where I wanted it to be, when I was satisfied, I snipped the studs off and ground the welds away with a flap disk on my angle grinder. A skim coat of body filler, followed by filler primer, epoxy sealer, base coat and clear coat and it was done. 

I was able to fix the bumper with two-part epoxy, flexible filler primer, base and clear. The best part of this tool is that it is an affordable $100. I would consider that a bargain.