This might seem like an easy fix but it's been fighting me so far. I'm relatively new at sheetmetal work so go easy. haha I have about five dents in the upper crown/edge of my firewall. They are deep and only about as round as a nickel. I tried to use a stud gun on them to pull them out but their not budging. I assume because the strength of the metal in the curve. I was going to try hammer n dolly them but it is a sharp curve on the back side which non of my dollies will fit in. The cab and firewall are welded to the frame because of the cage so I can't just remove the firewall. My thought was to go buy one of the dollies that is as round as a quarter and see if that will fit up in there or? My wise ass friends said to just mud over them but that would be too easy. Any thoughts?
I am by no means a "sheet metal guy" but if what Im seeing is right, you need a hammer on the inside, not a dolly. Tap it with your hammer and push the dent out. form with your dolly and you're good.
If you want to get fancy, take a piece of 1/4" x 1" steel strap, about a foot long. round one end with a grinder then put it on the dent from the bottom and carefully whack it with a hammer, move it around as you work the dent out.
Had that idea as well! Or make a T dolly like Ron Fournier shows in his book. Can you still GET his book? I bought mine darn near 30 years ago!!!!!!!!!
Fill them with plastic filler. Do it right and it will last forever. If you want to get fancy there are metal body fillers.
These dents should be repaired cold . The metal isnt streched so no need to heat. Brian whats the rear access to the dents like ? Squirrel and TMan are on the right track , its just what access is from behind. As far as dollies go , I'm partial to redheads. Opps lost track . The dolly needed should be slightly smaller in radius than the crown of the metal where the dent is located . You actually dont want to do much hammer on dolly work. Hammer off dolly will be preferable. If you have good access to the rear of the panel you can just use a arced and rounded flat edge to tap the dent out from behind . Dont be afraid to hit it a little harder. You will need to equall the force than caused the dent to remove it . Repair of a dent like this is fairly straightforward.
no need for a dolly. I'd go over to my metal stash and get a piece of round rod of a proper length in a diameter that matches the dent and round off one end with my grinder. then I'd place it behind the dent and smack the other end with a hammer until it was gone. doesn't look like there is much hammer access behind it. easy squeezy
there is no need for any filler in a small dent like that. by the time you got your can of mud opened and mixed I'd be done fixing it right.
Yes thats the right way or take a ballpen hammer and whak it with another hammer more control that way than whacking with the ballpen directly
Thanks everyone! I was over thinking this one after hearing the suggestions. I will take a whack at it tonight. I'm going to try using a piece of schedule 40 nipple from the plumbing bin. If I have to I'll weld a piece of flat stock to it like the t that was suggested. I can get to back side of the firewall with some bending and sucking in my gut I'll report back. Thanks again!
The hammer on the back of the ballpen hammer sounds good too because I have bad aim. Lol The depth of the dent had me confused I guess.
Hey, Another method to bump this type of dent out, given you haven't got a dolly or spoon would be with a piece of wood say,2''x2'' X12''. Round off one end with a grinder to match the shape of the inner panel, and with a 3# hammer strike the other end with soft to medium hits. Bump it, study the result & bump it again as necessary. Using this method will result in less of a chance of you stretching the panel vs. a metal to metal hit. Any small areas that remain low can be raised with a ball pien, hammer on hammer, or a small punch/awl. Little or no filler should be necessary to repair this dent. " Life ain't no Disney movie "
A broken broom or shovel handle cut to about a foot long, keep the rounded end and tap it with a dead blow.
wery small chanse to stretch the metall in this place the firewall is so thick and in a radius like that wood is probably to soft
As others have said, make a tool. I have a rack of purpose-built tools. They always seem to be handy for something new too.
First off, thanks for all the advice. You guy's rock! I used a few different tools to get these dents out. I got to the back side and used a combination of two ball pen hammers, a 3/4" schedule 40 plumbing pipe, and the back end of a screw driver. I am happy with the results. There are a couple real shallow spots on a couple of them but I can live with 1/16". Here's a couple pics of the half dozen I repaired.
oops... i should def read the whole thing before i respond... my bad. I use my stud welder to pull out dents like those all the time...
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