Like one in the door that you can get 95% out with a wack from a rubber hammer. How do you handle the crease that's going to be left on the edge?
I think a little shrinking hammer and dolly might help but if I tried it myself I'd probably make it look worse. Just go slow.
With a friend pushing the middle of the dent with his hands from the inside, you take a spoon laid on the crease and hammer lightly on top of the spoon, aiming towards the dent. Slightly walk the spoon an inch or so towards the center of the dent, but remaining on the crease. Move it sideways a little after maybe three hits of the hammer to start your next series. After you've walked from one end of the crease to the other, go back and start again if needed. Making SURE to not be hitting hard enough to place inward dents on the crease. Just hard enough to take a little of the crease away. Repetition is the key, not strength or speed.
From the amazon description "This book is an excellent instruction manual and guide for everybody man or student." Are you a man or a student? haha!
Hey, Sometimes the damage at the end of a door can be the hardest part of the whole repair given the force of impact went through two thicknesses of metal, the door skin, and the door shell Once inna bleu moon ya get lucky and can bump the door shell enough to help move the skin out, snake a thin spoon inbetween the shell and skin, and pry up the balance of the low spot, whyle hammering around the low spot. Stud guns work well, and sometimes, if the damage didn't break the paint, you can go with a glue pull, but these don't work well if the shell is also bent. " You can see happiness stagger on down the street "
it's cheaper here http://motors.shop.ebay.com/sch/eBay-Motors-/6000/i.html?_sac=1&_from=R40&_nkw=metal+bumping
Of course that book is not available in any of the stores up in Canada, so I had to eat the double shipping and bought 3 figured I am getting dinged already might as well help someone else up here out. Been looking for this book for a while.
O ya.... if you don't have a friend handy to push the dent... put a soft football in the door and inflate it a little
Are you talking about the "smile" shaped dent that's left after popping out a large shallow dent? Or at the edge of the door where it's double/triple layered? The "smiles" are easy to do. Take a dolly, the same shape as the area needs to be after the repair. Place it smack dab behind the low spot of the dent. Next use a smooth faced, flat hammer (please don't use a shrinking hammer, you'll destroy the surface un-necessarily!) and tap lightly on the crease (the high spots) of the dent, work slowly, across the "smile", don't go crazy with force. The dent will eventually pop out and if you keep working with light pressure, you can take out any residual imperfection in the surface. Maybe a swipe with a vixen file, or a DA (set on rotary), and you won't need any filler on the repair. You''ll learn this and more with that old metal bumping book!
I've got four beat up doors to make two out of, with everything posted here I'm well on my way. Thanks everyone.
I use a soft dolly behind the smiley and a flat faced hammer from the high side. http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=663102
Guys... Summit has the book for $11.95. (ordered from them under 'Martin Tool & Forge: the key to Metal Bumping') I had ordered it thru Amazon for $19.95, then found the Summit offer...Cancelled the Amazon, ordered from Summit. If this was Thursday, I'd have it tomorrow! Monday's soon enough. Great thread, BTW.
The above book was first printed in 1939! The pre-war printing has some pretty cool photos in it, and sometimes they turn up at swap meets. The author, Frank T. Sargent, and his brother Robert wrote several books on collision repair in the 40s-60s, and also wrote for several trade journals for the collision repair trade. Frank lived a good , long life, and just died a few years back in his 90s. " Do Not Reach Greedily For The Kool-Aid "
Hey, Before ya get all hell bent for leather on straightening that door skin, be sure the door shell fits the opening of the vehicle! Not much worse than spending many hours straightening a door only to learn it's an 1/8'' short at the B Post, and the gap at the rocker was probably never correct ! " And I ain't even got a garage, you can call home and ask my wife! "