daughter's front fender got crunched in by the door area in a parking garage.
doesn't care about the damaged look, only problem is the door won't open since the fender's pushed in.
in order to get the angle correct before I start bondo'ing/sanding/painting, I would like to leave the fender on so I have the undamaged door as a frame of reference when I pry out the fender.
Problem is, the space between the door and fender is narrow so a regular pry bar won't fit.
I need a hooking prybar that's skinny enough to fit in that gap but strong enough to pull out the dented part of the fender, not sure if such an animal exists

 

The better solution is to remove the damaged fender, find an auto recycler that has the same car and for $30 you have a good used part to work with!

 

Will a pry bar be of help? You need something to pry against and the only thing in the area is the door which will probably get damaged if you pry against it. You can try inserting a flat plate and hammer against it. It's less controlled but it doesn't require prying off of anything.

Long ago I pulled out a fender by getting the car between two large trees. I chained the car to one tree so it couldn't move. Then I used a 2" ratchet around the tree at the other end of the car. I was able to get the flat hook of the strap between the body panels and pull the fender off the door. To get the hook in I started where there was room to insert the hook and I put on some tension to open the gap. Then I hammered the strap hook closer to where it really needed to be. I kept repeating the pull a bit and move the hook until I got it into position. The normal gap size between panels is about the same as the metal thickness in flat hooks so there is going to be some paint scraping when you tap it into position. Then was able to really pull to move the fender out of the way.

 

I see what you're sayingI think I'll just have to take it off, bang it out, put it back on to check the angle, and repeat as necessary

 

Well, there ARE other ways- the classic way to fix a fender is to use a broad head hammer & hand-shoe to hammer out the dent. Main thing to remember is to hammer in the exact opposite direction to the force that created the dent in the first place. An axe head or sledge hammer head will work as hand-held 'anvil' to hammer against.

But the technique my dad & uncle taught me is you drill a hole through the deepest part of the dent, add a 'shoe' behind (a mostly flat piece of metal wide enough that it won't pull through the fender- e.g. an axe-head that you've drill-press drilled a hole through the flat side.)
Then you EITHER park on a hill, chain the car to a tree, add wheel blocks (e.g. lay old tires behind the car's wheels so it can only roll 2"-3" and put it in neutral)
OR you attach a come-along / hand winch.
The idea is to have the chain apply force in the EXACT opposite direction of the force that caused the dent. Then bang out the dent, using a hammer & hand-shoe, starting with the deepest part of the dent.

Alternate version is to use a small bottle jack or scissor jack, wood wedges, and a flat but slightly rounded form (i.e. a thick frying pan) and then hammer the dent out with a hammer from the outside.