PDR Life Podcast

Gene Fetty
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PDR Life Podcast is built for anyone looking to learn the basics of paintless dent repair and start building real PDR skills. Through interviews, advice, beginner training, and practical tips, you’ll learn who Gene is, how he built his experience, and what it takes to grow your own PDR abilities. From tools and techniques to mindset, business, and getting started in the trade, PDR Life is here to help you learn, improve, and move forward.

Episodes

  1. Oct 13

    Your Offer, Your Path Forward | PDR Life Podcast Ep. 10

    Episode 10 of 10 · approx. 16 minutes · Host: Gene Fetty  00:00  The final episode   If the last nine episodes gave you an honest look at becoming a PDR tech, the podcast did its job.  Whatever you decide — PDR or not — go all in. That's what it takes to get the PDR life. 00:50  This season   The money, the tools, every training option from DIY to immersion plus apprenticeship, Mack's progress and competition results, and resources from Gene and his friends in the training world. 02:20  Why Gene stayed out of beginner training   Teaching may be Gene's calling, and people he respects kept telling him to teach beginners.  He pushed back: much of beginner training feels like a money grab, he refused to go partway in, and running a repair business, he couldn't shut down for four to eight weeks of full-time beginner classes.  Meanwhile: glue pull training for hundreds of auto shops (well over a thousand techs), advanced glue pull and push training, business, sales and marketing training, and a 20 Group he and MeLissa run for business owners.  He didn't have a beginner product good enough and different enough — until now. 04:20  The PDR Success Academy   Gene's new program, launching (or launched, depending on when you listen). 05:00  The problem with six weeks away   Gene still believes six weeks of immersion, then an apprenticeship, is the fastest track. But it's a big ask.  Few adults can put life on hold for six weeks and spend tens of thousands of dollars. Average household bills don't stop while you're gone for a month and a half or two. 07:00  Built for the all-in learner   The question Gene asked: for people who want to go all in but can't pause life, what could he build to set them up to succeed? His answer is a completely different approach to learning PDR — as far as he knows, unlike anything else available. 07:40  The keys to success   Accountability and metal time. In-person, over-the-shoulder instruction. The right tools. And somewhere to turn — not if, but when — you hit a roadblock. Gene thinks that last one may matter more than the immersion itself. 08:30  Six weeks isn't enough on its own   Even the best six- or eight-week program isn't long enough to become proficient, and most instructors will tell you to keep practicing at home. You need a longer series of sessions. 09:40  Drinking from a fire hose   Short events can teach the theory — Gene could cover it over a long lunch. Putting it into practice is another story.  Even in his glue pull trainings (with KECO and independently), people forget a lot without reinforcement — and that's experienced body techs learning a new method. PDR is a brand-new, highly detailed skill that changes your body, eyes and brain.  After a long session, you're overloaded, and in the first 30 days home you start to slip (see episode 6). 11:00  Who it's for   Not for testing the waters — go get online training for that. It's for people who want to go all in, would choose boutique training, but can't pause life that long. 11:30  How it works   A six-month commitment. Gene works with you week in and week out.  Hybrid: in-person plus online — and online means you and Gene, eye to camera, working on exactly what you need, not just watching videos.  When you hit a roadblock — a dent you can't figure out, a flaw you keep leaving — you have access to Gene for all six months. 13:00  In person, in bite-sized chunks   It starts with a three-day deep dive into fundamentals, plus homework, skills and drills.  Then, between virtual sessions and new drills, you come back for two-day sessions on Friday and Saturday — built for working professionals, so you miss one day of work and head home Saturday evening.  Over six months, you build from the smallest dents to complex dents, with Gene by your side. 14:20  Out and billing   Gene had Mack out and billing within six months. His goal is to have Academy students out on their own and billing by the end of six months — with full commitment.  Not for someone just thinking about PDR, or looking for a side gig. full commitment, and the blog notes that results depend on the work you put in. You passed on the earnings disclaimer earlier, so this is your call. This one is closer to a guarantee than anything else in the series, so it's worth a second look before launch. 15:00  How to apply   It's not a buy-now. When enrollment is open, you book a consultation call. Gene wants to make sure you're a fit and fully committed, because he's fully committed to teaching you.  Fill out the form at pdrsuccessacademy.com and Gene will be in touch personally.

  2. Oct 13

    The Gateway Conversation w/ Mike Sewald | PDR Life Podcast Ep. 9

    Episode 9 of 10 · approx. 48 minutes · Host: Gene Fetty · Guest: Mike Sewald, Gateway Dent  00:00  Episode 9   After covering every training option in episode 8, Gene says the best way to learn is full immersion, and the best company doing it today is Gateway Dent.  Teaser: Mike changes Gene's mind on the best way to learn PDR. 01:40  At Gateway Dent   "Live in St. Louis" — about an hour away. Gene spent the day there and taught Mike's class a glue pull session. 02:50  Apprenticeship vs. immersion   Gene's starting opinion: a true apprenticeship under a master is the best way to learn, and total immersion is second.  Gateway: six weeks, five days a week, about eight hours a day — roughly 240 hours, out of your element and in theirs.  Gene knows several people who sent sons, family and friends to Mike and got them back fixing damage to billable levels. 04:50  Mike's start   Mike was a police chief earning a small salary. A friend went to work for Dent Wizard and made $74,000 his first year, then got Mike an interview.  Hired in 1993 and sent to run routes in southern New York and Connecticut. 05:50  Becoming a trainer   Mike moved to Virginia Beach, chased hail, and worked in Canada for a while. When asked what he really wanted to do, he said teach.  A reference got him a trainer interview in St. Louis. He started late 1995 and taught for Dent Wizard for 10 years. 07:00  Pioneer days   Back then it was PDR vs. body shops, not tech vs. tech, so prices were good.  Techs were taught they could only fix a quarter-size dent and a one-inch crease. They kept asking "why not bigger?" and grew the trade. Today's tools and glue are unbelievable by comparison. 08:10  Thousands of careers   At one point there were four trainers, and two trainers handled 30 students each — 60 techs every three months. Gene's math: about 240 a year, likely a couple thousand careers over Mike's time there. 09:00  Starting Gateway Dent   Once Dent Wizard bought back its franchises, which had paid per student, the senior trainers became an expense rather than a profit center. Mike saw the writing on the wall. 10:00  A curriculum built from the field   At Dent Wizard, Mike wrote lectures within company guidelines. Teaching advanced classes, he asked returning techs what new techniques and tools they used, and much of what he teaches now came from the field.  He's been teaching on his own for close to 20 years. 11:20  Who succeeds   Number one: research, and come in hungry. It's a lifestyle, not a job. The best students are energetic and eager to get into the field.  Mike turns away a lot of people whose parents want them to learn a trade when they aren't convinced.  Skin in the game: pay for your own training. If a company sends someone, Mike encourages the trainee to pay and be reimbursed over a couple of years. They try harder. 14:30  Do your research   Talk to dent techs (most people know one), use social media and podcasts like this one, and call other instructors too. You need 100% faith in your instructor.  People who pick a two-week class because they can't do six often come back to Gateway later — and spend two years saving up again. Gene: buy once, cry once. 16:20  Physical traits   Vision isn't the gatekeeper it was once said to be — Gene has worn contacts his whole career.  Women do some of the best. The information matters more than the hands-on work; women often give Mike's lectures back word for word. They overcome the strength gap with leverage and longer tools.  Determination matters more than anything. 18:30  Determination plus information   Gene calls it obsession. Mike adds: you need the right information to point that energy at. 19:30  Why not just videos   Videos may hold good information, but students forget it and are doing the wrong thing two minutes later, with nobody to correct them. 20:30  Mentorship after training   The grads Gene knows who came home billing all had someone mentoring them.  Mike almost won't take a student who doesn't have a mentor lined up afterward. Going straight out on your own is really hard.  Gene's point from a talk with Keith Cosentino: move the same dent one inch and it's a different world. That's the fun for veterans and the struggle for new techs. 22:40  Week one   No pushing the first couple of days. Students learn to set up and read the light, describe the dent, point to and dot the center, and position the light to see center and depth.  Then walk the tip to center and work outward in spirals.  Homework in weeks one and two: draw dot spirals on paper with a pen to imprint the pattern. By week's end: small class A dents. 25:20  Week two   One-inch creases. Mike never teaches dragging — students walk the tool in from 3 or 9 o'clock, not drag in from 12.  Later in the week: class B and C dents — deeper, sharper, bigger.  Students guess a class A will take 8 or 12 pushes. Mike makes 300 to 500 light pushes to show them to massage the metal, not horse it out. 26:30  Week three   Mike's most important lecture: cross-check all the way around and work the ugliest, highest, sharpest ridge first, then downhill. Don't push a small crease up next to a bigger one or you'll pinch it.  Students take their notebook to every dent and work through the lecture — some dents need three lectures. 27:40  Week four   Bigger dents, big caved-in dents, dents with crowns, and "multifaceted" dents with several crowns — know where to start, improve one, then the next. Glue pulling starts.  Adjust push pressure: harder near body lines and edges, lighter toward the middle.  Tool week: students have used all of Gateway's tools and order their own at the end of week four, so they're ready when they get home. No single manufacturer makes a full set. 30:30  Don't overbuy tools   Mike tells students not to buy tools before class. Gene once met a new tech who'd spent $30,000 on tools he'd never use and was selling them to pay bills. 31:10  Week five   Real customer cars: access and leverage are a whole different thing from practice hoods. If it's a paying car, the student keeps the money. 31:40  Week six   Mike makes the dents and gives no advice. Questions go to your notebook first. The goal: walk through the repair on any dent you'll encounter, even if fixing it is another story. 32:40  The final test   Five areas of damage: a dent and a crease in the open, a dent and a crease behind a brace, and a glue pull. 80% overall to pass, no single repair under 70. 33:20  The investment   $2,400 a week for six weeks — $14,400 in tuition. The partner hotel adds a couple thousand more, and with tools the total is about $18,000–$20,000. 34:50  How fast grads earn   It varies by person, how much work they have, and whether they have a mentor. With a good mentor at home, Mike has seen great results right out the door.  Without one: hit the street Monday morning. "I'll practice on a hood in the basement" is the kiss of death — three months later, they're still in the basement. 36:50  The first $1,000 day   Mike asks grads to call him after their first $1,000 day. For most, it's within the first 30 days. One grad called after three months — to report his first $2,000 day. 37:50  Six years vs. 30 days   Gene's first $1,000 day came six years into his career, after a five-day class. Mike's grads often hit it within about 10 weeks of starting class.  $20,000 is a lot of money — and not much, compared to what not investing costs you. 40:40  Mike changes Gene's mind   Gene's new take: the best way to learn is full immersion, like Gateway's six weeks, followed directly by an apprenticeship or mentorship.  Mike: there's no sense making students stumble through what techs did 30 years ago. Avoid those stumbling blocks and they're money ahead. 42:40  Mike's advice   "If they're not all in, don't come." Gene extends it: don't go to Gateway, don't take the big company job, don't even buy the online subscription. There are easier side gigs. 44:10  Metal time   Gene's addition: once you're in, there's no replacement for metal time and no fast-forward button.  You can't learn it part-time. Once you're good, maybe. (And Mike buys a lot of used tools from people who tried.) 46:40  Back in the studio   Mike texted Gene afterward with something they missed: Gateway also covers estimating, invoicing, and organizing your business documents for the IRS. His philosophy is to teach students not only to fix dents but to survive in the industry. 48:00  Next episode   One episode left: Gene's new training program and philosophies. Don't miss it.

  3. Oct 13

    How to Choose Training- Training Schools vs Mentors vs Online | PDR Life Podcast Ep. 8

    Episode 8 of 10 · approx. 29 minutes · Host: Gene Fetty  00:00  Every way to learn   There are a ton of ways to learn PDR: good, bad, slow, fast. 00:40  Training mills can work   Gene went to a five-day training-mill-style class. So did his friend Bryce Kelly, arguably one of the best dent techs ever (look up Bryce Kelly or CFL Dent Repair). Both succeeded. It's possible, just not as probable. 01:20  Free DIY   Teach yourself from YouTube, Instagram and TikTok. Doable — but the longest possible path, if you succeed at all. 02:00  Money or time   A favorite saying: you pay in money or you pay in time. Gene can always make more money; he can't make more time. If he can buy his way ahead in learning, he's all in. 02:40  Online training   Still DIY, but guided. Gene has two classes for $1 each, starting with PDR through GPR — a jump-off point. 03:30  Dent Trainer   Myke Toledo of Dent Time — an OG YouTube dent guy. His training site is denttrainer.com, with monthly, quarterly or annual subscriptions.  Gene's first two training classes ever are (or were) there: a Jeep Wrangler cowl dent, and moving big damage with small tabs. 05:00  Real World PDR   Jim Mitchell, out of Indiana — a fantastic trainer. Monthly subscription.  Gene's hurdle for anyone who asked to train with DRN: take Real World PDR's intro class first (roughly $50–$60). Fundamentals, a few tools to buy, a great DIY start. 06:20  Best PDR Training   From Žan Vidic of Slovenia — the most decorated competition PDR tech, by a long shot. He's Gene's co-trainer for DRN's advanced trainings and works with Dent Repair Now.  bestpdrtraining.com: not a subscription. Beginner, intermediate and advanced levels — all within beginner training. Priced in euros. Mack took these classes while Gene was teaching him. 08:00  Learn PDR Online   Another online school. Gene has no direct experience, but has heard the founder on podcasts and believes he's in the UK. 08:20  Online as a supplement   Online is viable, just not fastest. It's also a great refresher after in-person training, since you won't remember everything your instructor said. 09:00  Three mentors, three ways   Fred (Gene's Michigan instructor) taught lines and working from the outside in.  Charlie asked why he was using lines: just use a fluorescent light and push where you want.  Jay said no lines, no bare bulb — use a fog reflection, and work from the inside out.  All three could fix a dent. Seeing all three techniques made it make sense. 10:50  Take them all   If Gene were learning on his own today, he'd buy all the online courses and learn every mentor's perspective on starting and finishing a dent. 11:30  Training mills   Bigger companies running five- to ten-day group classes. The business model is volume, not great technicians. They make promises and offer financing.  Gene has met several training-mill grads who couldn't fix a dent but were told they were the best their instructor had ever seen.  It may be the affordable option, and it can work — but plan to work hard when you get home. 13:40  Boutique trainers   One trainer with one to three students for a longer, multi-week class. Myke Toledo does this, with a long list of successful students.  Don Cavanaugh of Dent Kraft (with a K) in Minneapolis — one of the oldest old-school dent guys, and possibly the longest-running PDR shop in the country. Hard to get into, but you learn from a true master. 15:10  Connect with your trainer   Make sure you really connect with your instructor and like how they explain things. If you're spending weeks together in a small setting, you'd better get along. 16:50  Lines or fog   Myke is probably the most famous line-board teacher in the world. Gene can't see a dent on lines; with fog he sees every detail.  Figure out which you see better before you commit, then find a trainer who teaches on that reflection. 18:10  Dent Wizard   The 800-pound gorilla. Probably no organization has trained more PDR techs.  As Gene understands it: six weeks of training in St. Louis on a minimal salary, then a six-month apprenticeship in the field. Tried-and-true processes.  Trade-offs, as Gene understands them: a contract that limits where you can go after, you go where they send you, and a pay structure he considers soft. Like boot camp — they'll make you a dent tech or break you. 20:50  Local apprenticeships   Smaller companies like DRN bring on apprentices. Gene's right-hand guy started as an apprentice almost 15 years ago.  One-on-one, over-the-shoulder, lower pressure — but a slower runway than Dent Wizard. See Mack's episode for what that progression looks like.  Gene has friends all over the country looking for hungry apprentices. Put yourself out there: here's where I'm at, here's what I've learned, I want to work for you. 22:50  Full immersion   Boutique trainers are still running their repair business while you're there. Full immersion is dedicated: six weeks, five days a week, nothing but PDR. Gene thinks it's the fastest roadmap. 23:50  The best path   Full immersion, then straight into an apprenticeship with someone working cars every day. 24:20  What it costs   DIY with decent tools: under $1,000, especially starting with the $1 PDR through GPR class.  Training schools: roughly $3,000–$4,000 up to $10,000–$12,000, depending on length, location, and whether it's a real school.  Boutique, longer and full-immersion training: $20,000–$30,000 for training alone, plus $4,000–$10,000 in tools.  All in: from about $1,000 to $40,000. The more you invest, ideally the shorter your ramp. 26:40  Compared to trade school   Electrician, plumbing, carpentry, diesel or auto body school can leave you $30,000–$100,000 in debt with no guaranteed job and less income potential than PDR.  If you're serious, find a way to invest in yourself for the best odds of success. 27:50  Next episode   Gene goes to St. Louis to sit down with Mike Sewald at Gateway Dent. Mike has trained thousands of techs and was a Dent Wizard trainer for 10 or 15 years.  Everything — $1 courses, free resources, the quiz and the waitlist — at pdrlife.com.

  4. Oct 13

    The Money Episode | PDR Life Podcast Ep. 7

    Episode 7 of 10 · approx. 22 minutes · Host: Gene Fetty  00:00  Nobody was straight with me   Until a business coach about 10 years ago, nobody was straight with Gene about money in this trade. Being uninformed cost him hundreds of thousands of dollars.  This episode: what to expect as a new tech, whether you're a business owner or an employee. 01:00  Why PDR pays well   Other recon pros say "you guys make all the money." It is a well-paid trade — because it's so hard to learn. If you're not obsessed, you won't make dent guy money. 01:50  Wholesale   Dealerships selling used cars — independent used lots or franchise stores with used lots.  Where most techs cut their teeth. The most competitive market and usually the lowest price per car, but the most volume and most consistent work. 03:00  Hail   Where the "big money" (air quotes) can be. In hail-prone markets like Dallas–Fort Worth or Denver, you can specialize locally.  Most hail techs are chasers: apps and National Weather Service reports show where it hit. Pack the truck and go for two weeks, two months, or a year.  Good upside with good storms and good gigs — but it's a nomad lifestyle. Not for Gene. 04:50  Body shops   Typically your pickiest customer: they know exactly what they're looking at, and some feel you're taking work from them. 05:10  Retail PDR   Direct to the customer — in Gene's view, the mecca of PDR over the last five years or so.  Your hardest repairs: people with small, easy door dings usually don't bother. Retail brings the bigger, more complex damage. 06:20  Where beginners start   Option 1: route tech on dealer lots — often not the best lots at first. Think a small independent with a gravel lot. Easier to get into, and you get reps.  Option 2: the hail trail, ideally with a good team. Expect R&I (removing trim, hoods, taillights, headliners) and pushing doors or a fender while the veterans take hoods, roofs and rails.  As your skill builds, you can decide whether to go after body shop and retail work. 07:10  Gene's first years   Year one was mostly spent in his mom's garage. Not enough income to even put a number on.  His first real billable year, which ran from before meeting Jay into working with him, was about $40,000. That was in 2003: not horrible, but not dent guy money. 08:50  Income follows obsession   How fast you make money is directly tied to your level of obsession. Are you touching metal every day? 09:30  Independent learners   On your own — no company, no hail team — with good training, plan on 6–12 months before you make real money.  Friends and family won't hand you easy door dings. They'll hand you retail-size dents while you have beginner skills. And yes, you can make a dent look worse. 10:40  Gateway grads   Preview of episode 9: Mike Sewald's Gateway Dent in St. Louis runs a six-week full-immersion program. Some techs have had their first $1,000 day soon after getting home. 11:50  The apprentice fast track   Inside an established company, like Mack at DRN, you can earn while you learn because the company is subsidizing you, and veterans are right over your shoulder.  Mack did his first flawless retail ding about three to five months in. The customer had no idea how new he was. 13:10  Year one   For a really committed tech with training: realistically about $40,000–$80,000 in year one, depending on your track. 13:40  Mack's month   Within his first 19 months, Mack billed $25,134.94 in a single month.  Not quite normal. It helped that he stepped into dealer relationships DRN has had for 8 to 20 years, plus some local hail cars. 14:50  What a car pays   Typical lot car: about $125–$200. Typical retail dent: about $400–$500. Typical hail car: about $5,000–$10,000.  A few hail cars sprinkled in speed up both experience and earnings — but you have to be able to do the work. 15:30  Years 3–5: local wholesale   Low side: some techs treat it as a lifestyle business, working part-time hours for about $7,000–$8,000 a month without killing themselves.  High side: heavy wholesale grinders can do north of $300,000 in sales a year at home — dealers and body shops, plus a little local hail or retail. 17:00  Hail techs   You live on the road and typically work four to eight months a year. Hail is cyclical, so expect four to six months off or struggling for work.  Entry-level hail tech: about $125,000–$150,000 billed in that working window.  The best of the best, with the skill, work ethic and network to land good storms: $300,000–$700,000 is not unheard of. 18:20  Lawyer, doctor, or bank robber money   A saying from Mike Sewald's collection: what other trade lets you make lawyer, doctor, or bank robber money with your hands and a few tools?  But the barrier is huge. You'll struggle and you won't make much for a long time while you learn. 19:00  Hustle beats talent   Mack's results aren't typical. Gene has seen great techs who are lazy just get by, and mediocre techs out-earn them on hustle. 19:50  A cheat code to life   Louie, Gene's right-hand tech: "Doing PDR is kind of like a cheat code to life." 20:20  Overhead   Until you run a big shop with staff, a one-truck operation has almost no overhead compared to income.  Back in the detail shop days, Charlie had a couple of gun cases of tools and a light. Gene figured a few thousand in tools and a light in his Chevy S10 and he'd be off. Not far off — though he has a lot more than $3,000 in tools now.  Consumables: a little polish and compound, hot glue, rubbing alcohol, tabs you'll break, microfiber towels. That's about it. 21:50  Resources   Everything that goes with the podcast is at pdrlife.com.

  5. Oct 13

    Your First 30 Days in PDR | PDR Life Podcast Ep. 6

    Episode 6 of 10 · approx. 18 minutes · Host: Gene Fetty  00:00  It depends on your path   Your first 30 days could be after a multi-week deep-dive training, after ordering tools and watching videos, or in the middle of a training or apprenticeship. Each looks different. 01:00  Best case: after immersion or with a mentor   After full-immersion training like Gateway Dent (episode 9), or while apprenticing under someone, you could be on car lots billing and honing your skills in your first 30 days.  Six weeks of class plus 30 days home: really, that's your first 72 days. 02:00  Going DIY   On your own with no over-the-shoulder help, you're riding front seat on the struggle bus. You don't even know what you don't know yet. 02:40  Don't just consume   YouTube, TikTok and Instagram repairs won't get you anywhere. You can't learn PDR by osmosis.  If you're serious, be on metal every single day, for multiple hours a day. 03:20  Drills   Work with a good online training company (all covered next episode). Their drills will feel boring. Do them anyway — they're showing you exactly what to do. Put in the reps.  Expect your first week to be mostly videos and learning your tools. 04:20  Glue pull first   With the $1 PDR through GPR course and the recommended tools, you'll be fixing dents in your first 30 days, progressing from tiny dents to small, medium, larger, and real dents. 05:20  Practice panels only   Super important: in your first 30 days, you're fixing dents on practice panels. You're not ready for real cars, and definitely not cars people own.  If you work in a body shop, maybe something that's getting painted or body-worked anyway. 06:00  After a short training   If you took a 5- or 10-day class, the 30 days after it are critical. Be on metal every day, work from your notes or checklist, and check every box your instructor gave you. 07:00  Slow down   You're almost certainly making dents too hard for your skill level. Take your time.  Clean repairs that take a long time beat fast, unfinished ones. 07:50  Practice panels from body shops   Local body shops are the easiest source.  Get medium-to-dark steel panels. A white aluminum panel is horrible to practice on — even now Gene won't grab one to teach.  Look for panels that are mostly good: a hood with the front rolled under, a door with damage on one edge. 90% of the panel is still workable. A door with the glass still in is a bonus. 09:00  Pull-it-yourself junkyards   If body shops won't help, look for a pull-it-yourself yard. Gene's local one is U-Pull and Pay.  Pull panels yourself, usually cheap: Gene's seeing roughly $50–$70 for a gutted door or hood. 09:50  Bonus: learn R&I   A pull-it-yourself yard is a great place to learn how to take cars apart (R&I — remove and install). What are you going to do, break a junk car? 10:20  Get a paint meter   If you're buying junkyard panels, get an inexpensive electronic paint meter and learn to use it.  Look for factory or thin paint. Panels repainted several times have thick, less flexible paint that cracks — and that's not even your fault. 11:00  The learning curve   It's not a smooth curve. It's steep climbs, plateaus, then falling back down — over and over, your whole career. 12:00  The progression   Small round-bottom dent in an open area, then slightly larger, up to about a two-inch dent.  Then creases: one inch, two, three, four — increasing depth each time while glue pulling.  When you start pushing, you fall all the way back to a small, simple round dent and build up again. Every big step means a fall into a valley and a climb back up. Don't get frustrated. 13:40  Making practice damage   Use a baseball: soft, big and round. Start with dents the size of a pinky nail or a dime. Hit a little harder as you improve.  Work open areas, closed areas, dents in glue and on body lines as you go. 14:20  Why not a hammer   It's almost impossible to strike perfectly flat. Catch the edge of the face and you get a hard half-moon crease in the bottom — a beginner nightmare. 15:00  Sharp dents and straight creases   For sharper dents, hold a blunt knockdown on the panel and tap it in. It also teaches accuracy.  For creases, roll one in along a straight edge so you can pull it with a straight crease tab. 15:40  Perfect practice makes perfect   "Practice makes perfect" is a little wrong. Perfect practice makes perfect. Perfect reps on the right damage give you skills you can apply to real-world damage. 16:30  Don't let friends make your dents   Every single time, they'll hit it way too hard. 16:50  Day 30   If you're putting in metal time, you should see some success by day 30.  Still struggling — on your own, after a short class, or even after immersion? Reach out for help. Don't repeat Gene's mistake of smashing a hood in his mom's garage. 17:40  Resources   $1 courses, the quiz, and the waitlist for Gene's new training program — all at pdrlife.com.

  6. Oct 13

    Beginner Tools- What You Actually Need | PDR Life Podcast Ep. 5

    Episode 5 of 10 · approx. 31 minutes · Host: Gene Fetty  00:00  Before you buy   These are Gene's picks for people testing the waters or learning on their own. If you're training with someone, listen to your trainer.  Gene's full kits are available at Anson PDR and Dent Reaper. 00:50  Don't buy cheap tools   Skip Amazon, Harbor Freight and Temu dent tools, no matter how good they look. This skill is hard enough with great tools.  The bend test: a shiny knockoff with nice welds and interchangeable heads bends under light pressure. A comparable Anson PDR hub tool won't — Gene would hurt himself first. 02:50  Quality holds its value   Buy tools that will serve you forever. If PDR isn't for you, techs will happily buy them from you. 03:15  Push tools   Besides a light (episode 3), you need something to push with. Gene's starters: the Dentcraft double bend (30-inch) and its sister, the single bend. No-frills workhorses — his are 10 to 15 years old and still going.  High-carbon, heat-treated steel. Use them under a hood with a leverage point, on a fender off the tire, through a taillight into a pickup bed side, even down a door in a pinch.  Both take interchangeable tips, which turns two tools into dozens. Relatively inexpensive, and they last a career. 05:10  Extensions   Screw-in extensions (small, medium, large) change the length and kick so you can reach more areas. 06:00  Sharp tips   Early on, you need to be able to see your tip under the panel. A sharp pencil tip puts more pressure on a smaller point, so it's easier to see — not for finishing.  Most beginners start pushing with a blunt pencil tip: more surface area. Both from Dentcraft. 07:20  Soft tips   For slightly bigger dents, a softer push brings the bottom up clean. Then switch to sharper tips.  The cherry cap (R4, "Radius 4") from Dentcraft: a removable rubber cap, a wear item that's cheap to replace — Gene says about 25 cents each.  A broader soft rubber cap gives a larger, softer push. Progression: shrink the dent with the broad soft tip, then a sharper soft tip, then a sharp metal tip. 08:30  Plastic vs. steel under the cap   R4 tips are mostly steel. Anson's Dead Dent and Tequila lines also offer a PEEK plastic tip.  When a cap wears through, a steel tip makes an ugly high spot. A plastic tip is much less likely to pinch or crack paint.  Keep both: bare plastic is slippery and runs away from you, while the bare steel R4 ball gives you a third bluntness option (sharp pencil, blunt pencil, R4 ball) that won't slip. 10:00  Phenolic tips   One of Gene's secret weapons, from Anson PDR. They look like turned wood but are a resin (Gene's guess: wood fiber and epoxy) machined to shape.  You can push incredibly hard without leaving a tool mark in paint or metal. A little tough to finish with as a beginner, but great for fine detail as the dent shrinks. 11:00  Leverage   Starting on a hood (open, direct push), you need a leverage point. Gene's is an original from VIP PDR Tools — two hook sizes and several levels to hang from. He keeps a backup on the cart.  Budget option: rings and S-hooks from the hardware store. Use heavy hooks so they don't straighten and slip under load. 12:40  Knockdowns   Knocking down is a skill with a lot of nuance — and for beginners and glue pullers, one of your best friends.  You can buy one knockdown and swap tips (VIP makes good ones). Gene owns one knockdown per tip because he's too lazy to change them.  His favorite: the ShockBlocker from Dent Vision Tools. It rides on a sleeve, so your fingers don't move and vibration goes into the panel, not your joints. Repetitive motion adds up over a career. 14:20  Knockdown tips   Three to start: a cherry cap with a plastic tip (softest — plastic, not steel, if it pops through), a match grade tip in PEEK from Dead Dent Tools (Gene's everyday workhorse: almost as hard as steel but non-marring), and a much finer pee wee tip for small high spots. You'll have a lot of those. 15:50  The hammer   Gene's first real PDR hammer was an 8 oz Craftsman. Craftsman may not make it anymore, but Vaughan does.  You mostly flip it and knock down with the handle for a light touch. Plus a soft red face, a harder yellow face, and metal-to-metal on the side: four strikes in one hammer. One of the best investments in PDR. 17:00  The Stinger   Step up: a wooden paddle. The Stinger is Gene's design, sold by Anson PDR as a limited run.  Gene has a free Stinger course — no strings attached — on how and why he designed it and when to use it. 18:20  Brace tools   Panels have braces. Gene's full kits have a lot more brace tools, but beginners start with whale tails — the head is shaped like a whale's tail.  Old Faithful: Pinky. Every dent tech knows it. It slides into the gap between the outer skin and the brace and twists, with huge leverage over about an inch.  If you buy three tools: the double bend, the single bend, and Pinky.  Under braces you can also direct push with your finger in the handle. Great for learning to find your tip, though not long-term — it wears out your shoulder.  All Gene's whale tails are from Dentcraft — in his opinion, the best on the market. 20:40  Other whale tails   Pinky's big brother: same wide head with more reach (Gene thinks 13 or 15 inches).  For tighter braces: "orange," a 10-inch medium head. Heads go down to a mini half-inch you don't need yet. 21:40  Getting into a door   The Talon wedge from Stuckey Tools (same Stuckey as the lights) opens a gap between the window and the outer skin.  A stainless, felt-backed window guard from Anson protects the glass. You push off it so the tool's heel doesn't scratch. Gene estimates about $50. 23:00  Twisting tools   Down a door, your leverage becomes a twist off the guard. A whole new skill set — and another place beginners get hung up.  Gene's picks: Tequila compact hub tools from Anson — stainless, heat-treated, around 24 inches. One with a blade (shaved) tip for tight spots and brace edges, and one with 3/8-inch interchangeable tips. He also likes the 24–26 inch version. 25:00  Handles   The compact hub handle with a button: slide on, lock, rotate for leverage. Add a screw-in extension to double the handle length so you're not pushing with your shoulder and elbow.  Tequila's new econo handle has no button — you tighten a knob to lock it. Less machining, so Gene believes it's around $89.95, and it works across their compact hub line. A T-handle may also be available. 27:00  Down the door   For braces inside a door, start with a 30-inch mid-size head whale tail from Dentcraft. It also works great for sneaking out to door edges. 27:50  Glue pulling   The PDR through GPR kit covers the light, tabs, lifters, glue gun — everything.  The KECO Robo Lifter is the best lifter on the market in Gene's view: great ergonomics, a spinning body, and ball-and-socket feet that conform to more of the car. His is about 10 years old. 28:50  Slide hammer and cold glue   Gene's slide hammer is set up for cold glue: a butyl-type rubbery substance that pulls more gently than hot glue. Mack leaned on it heavily to finish repairs to a high level.  Many slide hammers take swappable heads for cold glue or hot glue tabs. 29:50  Buy quality once   Cheap imported junk costs you time and money — you'll throw it away and buy the real tools anyway. 30:30  Resources  TOOLS AND BRANDS MENTIONED  Dentcraft (double bend, single bend, tips, whale tails including Pinky): dentcrafttools.com Anson PDR (phenolic tips, window guard, Stinger paddle; also Dead Dent Tools, Tequila, VIP PDR and Dent Vision): www.ansonpdr.com Stuckey Tools (Talon wedge): https://www.stuckeytools.com/ KECO Robo Mini Dent Lifter: https://kecotabs.com/pages/robo-lifter Free Stinger course, $1 GPR class, quiz and training waitlist: pdrlife.com

  7. Oct 13

    Mack's Story: 3rd in the Nation in Under a Year | PDR Life Podcast Ep. 4

    Episode 4 of 10 · approx. 65 minutes · Host: Gene Fetty · Guest: Mack Fetty  00:00  Meet Mack   Mack Fetty, about 19 months into PDR at recording. Gene calls him his proof of concept for the glue pull first method.  Gene had seen former glue pull students go on to in-person PDR training, and their instructors all said the same thing: they barely had to nudge them along with pushing.  So with Mack: glue pull first — small dents, hail-size dents, creases — before a push tool ever went in his hand. 02:50  Mack's automotive background   19 at recording (20 by release), basically fresh out of high school.  Started at 16 as a detailer at the same body shop where Gene once detailed, then became the bumper guy — pre-painted bumper swaps — while keeping an always-broken BMW running on the side.  Moved up to core supports, whole front clips, and suspension work. Left the frame work to the veterans. 04:50  Why PDR?   Gene and MeLissa decided not to pressure Mack into the trade — they'd back him a million percent if he chose it.  Body shop guys kept asking why he wasn't working for his dad. Mack loved the shop, but once he started understanding money, the math hit: Louie would stop by and earn in 30 minutes what Mack earned in a 40-hour week.  He'd known Louie forever and could see the lifestyle. It didn't look harder than a body shop — if anything, easier on time. 07:00  The check that came home   Gene "planted a seed": after an early-morning job at Mack's shop (about an hour, 8:00 to 9:00), he had the office give the check to Mack to bring home. Mack thought it was about $400; Gene says closer to $600.  Mack only realized on the show that it was a setup. "The PSYOP worked." 08:45  MTE 2024   Mack's first Mobile Tech Expo was early 2024 — before he'd glue pulled or pushed anything.  MTE is the biggest reconditioning show in the world, held at the end of January or beginning of February. Gene recommends it whether you're in the business or thinking about it: mobiletechexpo.com  Meeting the PDR community, sitting in classes, and watching the competition helped him decide. 11:00  Work release and window tint   Mack was a junior at MTE 2024. That fall, as a senior, he'd earned extra credits for work release — school until about 11:00, then work.  In September 2024 DRN lost its window tinter. Mack had sat in on a day of tint training, put his notice in at the body shop (owner Chris knew he was making the right move), and took over tint.  Mack's verdict: tint is "100 times easier" than PDR. (Sorry, Trevor.) 14:20  Bryce Kelly and the tint detour   Gene's aside: Bryce Kelly, one of the greatest dent guys alive, almost became a window tinter — Gene thinks he told that story on the Dent Slayer podcast.  Once the slow season hit around the holidays, it was time for Mack to start PDR — glue pull only. 15:20  Did glue pull only bother him?   Not really. The only frustration: working a practice hood right next to hail cars he wasn't allowed to touch.  His logic: the guy who knows how to do it says this way is easier, so try it first. And he was getting it. 17:50  Day one   Small, light dime-sized dents on a flat hood or door laid down.  Some reps were just dropping a Sharpie dot in the center of the dent — learning to find the middle with a light, see what the light looks like, and tell a high from a low. 19:30  Billable on day one   Mack fixed hail-size dents on day one — about an hour to an hour and a half each, no cross-checking yet, but flat and not chewed up.  Gene's point: within a couple of hours, Mack was fixing dents to a wholesale-billable level. A month or even three months into his own training, Gene couldn't push billable work consistently. 21:00  Stacking wins   Stack losses and you get defeated and quit. Stack small wins and you want to keep going.  Mack: even if you miss the next one, you already fixed one an hour ago. 22:00  Early struggles   Placement came quickly — good depth perception and hand-eye coordination, plus tricks he worked out himself, like tapping the glue.  Knockdowns were the struggle: unfamiliar, two-handed, and precise.  The bigger struggle was seeing finish work. Mack would move his light in circles cross-checking for 45 minutes and think he was close; Gene would point out a line he couldn't see. 25:00  The camera trick and the monocle   Gene put a camera on the light and showed it on a TV (sometimes just his phone). Looking over Mack's shoulder, Gene can't know where the light sits relative to Mack's eyes; the camera showed exactly what Mack wasn't seeing, and all he had to do was recreate that picture with his own eyes.  Mack's mistake: putting the light directly over the dent, which washes it out, instead of using the fog.  Gene calls this the "tech's eye view," and builds it into all his online training.  Working with a magnifier — Mack used a monocle from KECO — made repairs faster and cleaner. Now his eyes have adapted. (The curse: Gene can't enjoy car shows anymore.) 28:00  The first real push dent   Mack's description: the middle of a door laid flat, direct push, about a 1.5–2 inch medium-depth door ding — the kind any dealer fixes on a front-line car.  It was as bad as the worst dent he'd glue pulled. Intimidating, but he already knew how to work the light, see the dent, and knock down accurately.  He mostly stayed on a cherry cap tip and knew exactly how the metal would move from his glue pulling.  Time: Gene remembered about 30 minutes; Mack says about an hour and a half to two hours. Either way, billable for most retail customers and every dealer, about a month in. 30:20  The top of the panel was done   Gene's circle analogy in action: light, check. See the dent, check. Precise knockdown, check. Cross-check, check. Mack's only new focus was tool control and the push.  Tip progression they went over: soft, then medium (maybe phenolic), finishing with something sharp. 33:30  Whale tails   Beginner explainer: flat panels (hood, roof, trunk) are usually pushed. Side panels (fenders, doors, quarters) usually take a twist. Panels have braces behind them.  A whale tail slides between the outer skin and the brace. It's a tight fit with huge leverage, so the moves are tiny twists — and cherry caps are off the table.  Mack learned whale tailing before door tools, on a Kia with rough metal. It was the hardest thing he learned. He's good at it now. 35:45  The progression   Smallest dent first. Once you're proficient, a little bigger and deeper, up to a solid two-inch dent. Then light creases, building up.  When push tools come in, you go back to small dents. Into hood braces: easy dents Mack could have glue pulled in two seconds, but he had to fight them with the tool.  Whatever path you take — Gene, online, in person, or full immersion like Gateway — the cycle is struggle, win, struggle on something harder, win. 38:00  Creases vs. sharp dents   Mack is a crease guy; creases never bothered him. Gene has always loved a good sharp dent. Everyone has their own strength. 38:40  Out on the lots   Gene and Mack packed the truck and worked dealer lots together. Mack asked a lot of questions.  Frustrating to do one car while Gene did six, eight or ten — but freeing, too: Gene was too busy to hover, and if Mack chewed something up, Gene would clean it up. Mack wanted to finish his own cleanup.  Body lines, especially cleaning up a sharp body line, were a struggle for a while. Lot work meant tons of metal time. 40:40  Practice panels vs. real cars   Real pressure: it has to get fixed. But the pressure makes you better — you slow down, skip the dumb push, and swap back to the cherry cap.  Having Gene or Louie as backup was a huge confidence boost. 42:30  The timeline   December 2024: started glue pull only. End of January: moved into pushing. A couple of months of practice, plus R&I on hail cars from an early April storm.  June: DRN lost a tech (Jake) and took over his route. Gene and Mack ran it together for about three months.  Late August: Mack got his own truck and went solo — at first taking two or three days to do what the two of them did in one. 44:50  PDR Expo beginner competition   PDR Expo in Las Vegas runs a beginner competition. Your instructor has to vouch that you're under two years in the trade. Mack was about 9–10 months in.  The dent: a 4–5 inch medium-depth crease on a hood, direct push, no twisting, 30 minutes.  Mack mostly used borrowed tools — thanks to Anson PDR, and Žan, who loaned him a rod. Žan comes up in the training options episode. 47:00  Competition day   One of the few times Gene has seen Mack nervous: two bites of a Subway sandwich an hour before.  Once he got in, it was game time. He built a 30-minute playlist and knew where he needed to be by each song. Light set up, music on, in the zone.  Mack's advice: if you think you're ready — or even if you don't — sign up. 49:30  Third place   Mack placed 3rd of 16 — the first tech ever under one year to place. First and second were both right at the two-year mark, and the judges said he wasn't far off second.  He planned to go back that September for the win. 51:30  Mack's week today   Working solo Monday–Friday on his own wholesale route, freeing up time to add accounts.  Monday: one big Ford store. Tuesday: three dealers plus usually a body shop, with about two hours of driving. Wednesday: two luxury sister stores — about seven cars, with a high standard. Thursday: a big Chrysler/Mitsubishi store with a roughly 400-car lot. Friday: filler — hail cars, shop work, retail.  He lost one account when management switched to someone they had a personal relationship with. It happens. 55:45  The first $1,000 day   Gene: it took him six years to have his first non-hail $1,00

  8. Oct 13

    Light is the Language of PDR | PDR Life Podcast Ep. 3

    Episode 3 of 10 · approx. 22 minutes · Host: Gene Fetty  00:00  The secret to PDR   Gene's line from his KECO classes: the secret to PDR is simply that we can see exactly what we're doing — and the light is what lets us see. 01:00  Why it looks easy   Watching someone do PDR, in person or in a video, you don't get the technician's view. A tool goes behind the panel, the panel moves, and the dent disappears like magic. 01:50  Gene tries it on his own car   After watching Charlie, Gene tried it on his own car and cracked the paint on the door in about three places.  Same story with body techs: they watch a pro, go back to their bay with a screwdriver or pry tool, and get crack, crack, crack — or at best, high spot, high spot, high spot.  The difference: the tech is using the light to see exactly where the bottom of the dent is. 02:50  The hand demo   Gene holds his fingers together as a cross-section of a dent. Push right where the fingers meet and the "dent" comes up smoothly, even while he fights it.  Push on the sides instead — what you do when you can't see the bottom — and there's no power. His hands collapse. That's pushing without seeing.  Ask Gene for the demo if you ever meet him in person. 04:20  Still need the light after 24 years   Started in 2002, now 2026: 24+ years of pushing dents nearly every day, and Gene still can't fix a dent to a high level without a light. 04:45  Whiteboard: the bottom of the dent   Push (or place your glue tab) exactly in the deepest part of the dent, push or pull straight up, and you make great change.  Pushing: the V-shaped bottom flattens and softens into a U, then comes up clean.  Pulling: shoulders come up, the dent shallows out, and you work through steps to smooth and pull again. 06:10  How the light shows the bottom   Light rays come in from the light source. The flat metal on one side blocks them, so that side of the dent falls into shadow; the other side catches the light and goes bright.  A fog reflection — what these lights produce — shows you the line where shadow meets bright light. That line is the bottom of the dent. 08:15  Reading a high spot   Think of a high spot as a mountain. At sunrise the eastern face lights up, the rays shoot over the top, and the valley behind stays in shadow.  Where bright turns to dark is the peak of the high spot. 09:50  It's all perspective   A dent and a high spot are the same thing from opposite sides of the metal.  Hit the exact peak with a knockdown or hammer and you can hit surprisingly hard without making a dent. After 24 years it still blows Gene's mind. 10:40  The most important skill   Seeing accurately is the most important fundamental skill in PDR. 11:15  Why this backs up glue pull first   Learning to read that light-to-dark transition while bobbing your head is hard enough. Add moving a tool precisely behind the panel and it becomes overload — maybe even fight-or-flight. Back to episode 2: learn to see first. 12:10  Don't buy cheap knockoff lights   You can find cheap lights on Amazon or Temu. If seeing is the secret, don't shortchange yourself. The reflection from cheap lights has nuances that just aren't right. 13:00  Stuckey Tools   Stuckey Tools: https://www.stuckeytools.com/ · Elimadent: https://elimadent.com/  Gene's two daily-driver brands are both U.S.-based, with great tech support and customer service, and he knows both owners.  Stuckey Tools: portable battery-powered lights (the one on camera is roughly iPad-sized, about six strips, cool and warm, each strip switchable), in a couple of sizes, plus full-size stand lights — also called hail lights. 14:00  Elimadent and LED   The second recommended brand, which Gene says is based in Texas. Also fantastic lights.  Both brands are LED. Fluorescent — what Gene started on — is gone. LED is what lets you see best. 14:30  Pocket lights   Small pocket lights, like the Elimadent X-Factor Flip Light shown on camera, run about $200–$250.  They're specialty lights — great for getting out of a jam on deep, difficult dents. They're on the tool list, but they're not where a beginner should start. 15:45  Portable vs. stand light   Start with a Stuckey or Elimadent portable cordless light or a stand light. Both companies make both.  As you finish a dent, the light needs to move farther away and lower on the panel, then keep moving away once it's at panel height.  If a portable light is your only light, it can be hard to get it far enough away. Workarounds: stick it to your toolbox, or mount it on something like a cymbal stand.  The most versatility comes from a full stand (hail) light.  Links to everything are coming in the tools episode. The PDR through GPR course recommends an Elimadent light from Anson PDR. 17:10  Lines vs. fog   Myke Toledo (Myke with a Y) of Dent Time — denttime.com — is an old-school PDR YouTuber with tons of content. He works with and teaches on a line board.  Gene was taught on lines in Michigan, then switched to fog after meeting his mentor Jay (episode 1) and never looked back. 18:00  Analog vs. digital   The difference between lines and fog was explained to Gene like analog vs. digital: if your brain is wired for one, the other won't make sense no matter how hard you try.  If fog doesn't click for you, look at lines. Check out Dent Time on YouTube, and Myke's lessons on reading a line board at denttrainer.com. 19:10  The line board test   A couple of years ago Gene pulled out an old line light because it shows well on video. He couldn't finish the dent — it looked good enough for YouTube, but not for the customer — and had to grab his fog light.  Gene won't teach line boards because he can't see or fix a dent with one. 19:40  What a good light costs   Portable battery-powered light: entry level around $350.  Stand light: north of $1,000 with the light head, stand, and battery.  You'll wear these out before they go out of date. 20:20  Mack's hail light   Gene's full-size Stuckey hail light is six or seven years old, still running strong, and now Mack runs it on the road.  Next episode (4): a look at Mack's career as a newer PDR tech. 21:00  Quality lights side by side   Carl Stuckey recently did a side-by-side video of a cheap online knockoff next to his light on the same dent. You could see far more detail with the quality reflection.  "I'll sneak a screwdriver behind and push a dent out, but I have to have a good light to do it." 21:40  Next steps   Take the quiz, grab the PDR through GPR class for $1, and join the waitlist for Gene's new training program — first to know when it opens. No spam.  Everything is at pdrlife.com — look for the right button.

  9. Oct 13

    Why GPR is the Smartest Place to Start | PDR Life Podcast Ep. 2

    Episode 2 of 10 · approx. 23 minutes · Host: Gene Fetty  00:00  Sequence, not just talent   Mack placed in his first competition in under a year. Gene credits sequence — the order you learn in — not just talent.  As far as Gene knows, he's the only PDR trainer teaching glue pull first. EDITORIAL FLAG — "Only PDR trainer taking a glue pull first approach" is Gene's claim from his own research. Fine on air. In written copy (YouTube, blog, ads) it's softened to "as far as I know." 00:40  The PDR circle   Think of PDR as a full circle: above the panel and below the panel. Each half is an entirely different skill set. 01:15  The delay loop   There's a lag between your eyes seeing something, your brain registering it, and your body reacting. Gene cites about 400 milliseconds — roughly a badly dubbed old kung fu movie.  Under the stress of learning a new skill, that loop can get even longer. 02:30  Why beginners miss   Learning to push: get a tool under the panel, find the tip in the reflection, find the dent, push it flat.  Gene's own frustration: "That right there is where to push" — push — miss. He could see it but didn't know what was happening.  He sees the same thing in students. The delay loop hasn't been trained down to "zero latency" yet, and that's a big part of why pushing is so hard to learn. 04:00  Gene's glue pull background   Gene has glue pulled since his first five-day training. Back then it was a last resort: unpredictable, or it over-pulled and made a mess.  The technology has changed a ton. In 2019 Gene went to work for KECO Body Repair Products — in his words, still the world leader in glue pull tools, technology and training.  Four years flying around the country, teaching mostly body shops how to use glue pull repair. 05:15  Taking dents to "blockable"   The final lesson in his body shop classes: take a door ding or hail dent to "blockable" — repaired well enough that the shop doesn't need color over it, which keeps repairs smaller and blends simpler.  Body techs with essentially zero experience with small tabs and mini lifters (like the KECO Robo Lifter) were fixing dents within an hour or two on day one — closer than Gene was after months of pushing practice back in 2002. 06:45  The idea   A handful of years ago: what if beginners skipped pushing at first and learned glue pull first?  Some of Gene's glue pull students got bitten by the obsession bug from episode 1 and kept working closer and closer to paintless repairs. 07:30  Feedback from other trainers   Several of those students went on to in-person PDR training with trainers Gene knows.  The feedback across the board: these students were so dialed in on seeing, operating and knocking down that the trainer barely had to nudge them along with pushing. 08:45  Why traditional training overwhelms beginners   Typical setup: a group class, you're trying not to look like the idiot in the room, and you're lost — dropped in the rainforest in the dark with no compass.  You're handed a tool and told to get the tip into a drawn circle or onto a dot and make a high spot — not even fixing a dent.  Meanwhile you're reading a reflection you've never looked at, working blind underneath. Nobody actually sees the tip through the panel; you're watching for a tiny change in the reflection. That's the whole circle at once. 10:30  Glue pull first   Take away the push tools. Start with a simple dime- or nickel-sized dent — like the first dent Jay gave Gene in episode 1.  Glue a tab in the middle of the dent, bring in the lifter, and gently lift with essentially no hand-eye coordination required. Slow, controlled, and you can see exactly what's happening.  The system is simple and repeatable. Body techs who'd never fixed a dent close to PDR level were off and running in about hour two. 12:20  The knockdown   Pulling leaves a small high spot. To fix it, you set a plastic knockdown — "looks like a gigantic nail" — exactly on the high, then strike it.  Unlike anything else you've hammered, you watch the knockdown tip on the panel and strike the top blind. Another layer of complexity — but you're still stacking wins. 13:30  Learning to see   From thousands of body techs Gene has taught: at about 75% done, untrained eyes say "that's perfect, I can sell that."  Finishing is hard because you haven't learned the nuances in the light yet. 14:20  Teaching Mack to see   Mack didn't touch a push tool for three, pushing four weeks — glue pull only.  Working a fifty-cent-piece-size dent, Gene told him it was still high here, low there. Mack: "Dad, I can't see it."  Gene grabbed a camera from the studio and blew a 1/16-inch flaw up on a big monitor so Mack's brain could learn to recognize it. It took a couple of weeks of pushing him before that vision opened up. 15:40  The progression   Small dents, then bigger, then creases — deeper and longer. By the end of three weeks Mack was doing fantastic with glue pull. 16:20  Why you can't stop at glue pull   You'll run into damage you shouldn't glue pull: a scratch, a chip, or a repainted panel (where it's a coin toss whether the paint stays on).  Body lines: even as a glue pull master, Gene still struggles with many body line dents he can push out with no problem.  Glue pull is a stepping stone. Unless you're in a body shop pulling what you can, it won't make you a full PDR tech on its own. 17:15  Mack at 30 days   Around the 30-day mark, glue pulling every day, Mack was fixing dents to a retail level Gene would roll out the door to walk-in customers. 18:05  Mack's first push   Most trainers start pushing with a circle, a dot, or a light dime-sized dent and build up.  Mack was a little cocky, so Gene knocked a real dent — about two and a half to three inches of distortion — into a flat lower section of a dark maroon practice door.  The instructions: you've built the skill to see inside this panel and see your tip come in. Take your time, work slow.  About 30 minutes later, the first dent Mack ever pushed was fixed to a level Gene would sell to any customer.  You'll meet Mack in an interview in an upcoming episode. 19:30  The dent that cemented it   Gene had the track record and the trainer feedback, but this was the first time he personally watched the transformation. That dent cemented his belief in glue pull first. 20:50  The $1 GPR class   Gene's online course on learning PDR through GPR is available to PDR Life listeners for $1 — about as close to free as he can sell it.  For people who think they have the obsession from episode 1 and took the quiz.  Runs about 60–90 minutes. You'll need tools; the course links Gene's preferred setup from Anson PDR.  Get it at pdrlife.com — the menu pops up; select the GPR class for $1. 22:40  Next up: The light   Episode 3 preview: "the light bulb moment" — the secret to PDR is learning to see and read the light.

  10. Oct 13

    Can You Really Learn PDR? The Truth No One Tells Beginners | PDR Life Podcast Ep. 1

    Welcome to PDR Life   The goal of the show: a completely honest, behind-the-curtain look at what it takes to become a PDR technician.  The answer to the title question is yes — if everything lines up and you learn the right way.  Many schools make PDR look quick to learn. It isn't. 00:50  Not a side hustle   A lot of body techs want PDR as a side gig. Gene's position: you won't learn this trade unless you're obsessed with learning it. 01:20  What's coming in this series   10 episodes dropped together — binge them in order.  Tools, Gene's recommended learning approach, and two interviews.  Mack (Gene's son) has been at DRN about 19 months and learned entirely on Gene's process. Took 3rd place at a national beginners competition about nine months into training — the first tech under one year to reach the podium. 03:00  PDR looks easy   TikTok clips and in-person pros make dents disappear like magic — the way Tiger made golf look easy and Jordan made basketball look easy.  No matter how simple it looks, PDR is one of the hardest skills you'll ever learn. 03:50  Metal time   The people who succeed go home and practice after the lesson is over.  Not just practice — good practice.  What you never see: the hours and hours of failure behind every clean repair. 05:00  The practice hood   After his first training, Gene built a hood stand and practiced in his mom's garage whenever he wasn't at work.  The Blue-Point pick hammer: when a dent beat him, he put a hole through the hood. ("I showed that hood who was boss.")  "It took me a year to become terrible." Part of the reason: he didn't get the best training. 06:15  How Gene got into PDR (2002)   Running a detail shop doing dealer and wholesale work, Gene started talking to every vendor who came through — dent, touch-up, wheels, interiors, paint, windshields.  Charlie the dent man: cool truck, a gun case full of tools, a portable fluorescent light, in and out — "he'd do 10 cars" in the time Gene detailed one. 08:30  The $6,500 decision   Charlie offered to train him for $5,000 plus about $1,500 in tools. In 2002, Gene couldn't swing it.  A Michigan school charged about the same but offered a student loan (around $68/month), five days of training, and a promise: follow the practice schedule and be making money by day 30. 10:50  The choice that cost years   That decision cost Gene two or three years — maybe more, after his conversation with Mike Sewald (episode 9). 11:20  Practicing alone   Whatever training path you choose — in-person, online, a full immersion like Gateway Dent, hybrid, or an apprenticeship — the only way to learn is metal time.  Gateway Dent: gatewaypdrtraining.com  Gene practiced alone off a handwritten 10-step checklist: a year to get to terrible, two years to "meh, okay." 12:30  Why most beginners fail   Most training starts in the wrong order (a whole episode is coming on this).  Beginners are juggling three hard skills at once: reading paint at a level of detail they didn't know existed, reading a light (Gene's three early mentors each used a different light), and a completely unnatural hand-eye coordination — finding a tool tip you can't see and moving metal at a near-microscopic level.  Lights get their own episode later in the series. 14:15  Glue pull first   Instead of starting with pushing, Gene starts students on glue pulling.  Set up for success on day one instead of failure: students are completing dents to a billable level before the end of day one. 15:00  The isolation trap   Most beginners end up alone — "an island of one" in a garage with a hood on a stand, trying to remember what they were taught.  Find a mentor, in person or virtual — even sending videos to someone in the business for feedback. 16:00  Meeting Jay "Dinger"   About 18–20 months in, doing windshield repair at a dealer, Gene spotted an unfamiliar reflection board. The owner, Howard, introduced him to Jay, known as "Dinger."  Gene walked up with his chest puffed out. Jay had run the entire Mercedes hail storm in Germany a couple of years earlier.  A month of silence, then a voicemail on Jay's answering machine offering to help with anything. 18:20  Ready to quit   Gene was struggling to finish dents and to sell substandard repairs to dealers.  Backup plan: take a second job, save $5,000 in a bag, and knock on Charlie's door. 19:00  Oakland… Maryland   Jay calls back: meet him tomorrow at Team One in Oakland. Gene assumes Oakland in Pittsburgh. It's Oakland, Maryland. 21:00  The tryout dent   After a day of handing Jay tools, Jay knuckles a tiny dent into a door.  Gene pulls out his line board. Jay: "It's got lines all over it." 15–20 sweaty minutes later, the dent is fixed to Jay's standard. 22:00  The job offer   Jay offers Gene a spot alongside a couple of trainees starting next week.  MeLissa was newly pregnant. Her answer: "Babe, if you can do it, let's do it."  The hard call to Schmidty at the pizza shop. Still friends today. 23:45  Three weeks vs. 20 months   With someone over his shoulder — move your light, get rid of those lines, switch to a fog reflection, hold the tool like this — it clicked in about three weeks after 20+ months alone.  Before long Gene was helping train Jay's new guys.  Takeaway: real-time feedback from a mentor, in person or not, is crucial. 25:00  What success actually looks like   Expect to be terrible for a while.  Fastest path Gene has seen: six-week immersive programs like Gateway Dent or Dent Wizard's in-house training. Call it 240 hours of class time — and you still need a lot of practice afterward.  On your own: minor repairs after a couple of months, legs under you around six months.  Realistic full-speed timeline: 6 to 24 months. Even Mack, surrounded by veteran techs, gets humbled weekly. The best techs never stop learning. 27:50  Preview: glue pull first   People who fail over and over usually quit. Glue pull first flips that into win after win, building confidence and skill. Full deep dive next episode. 28:50  Free quiz   Take the quiz to see if you're a good candidate to learn PDR: pdrlifepodcast.com (click "Quiz").

  • 10 Episodes

About

PDR Life Podcast is built for anyone looking to learn the basics of paintless dent repair and start building real PDR skills. Through interviews, advice, beginner training, and practical tips, you’ll learn who Gene is, how he built his experience, and what it takes to grow your own PDR abilities. From tools and techniques to mindset, business, and getting started in the trade, PDR Life is here to help you learn, improve, and move forward.

Information

  • Creator
    Gene Fetty
  • Years Active
    2026
  • Episodes
    10
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Show Website
    PDR Life Podcast

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