Calling all Body men. Question about hammer/dolly.

hi again sounds like you had a good shot at it..its real difficult to advise you on what went wrong or what to do now just by photos and pitures alone. I think its a good call to see if a local bodyshop can take a look at at for you now. the inner bracing may or may not be a problem ,its best to see it 1st hand for sure.
good luck and let us know how you get on Paul

 

Hey,

Whoa! You ain't the first guy to get 99% of the way home on a hot shrink, and have it all go wrong on the final shrink in the blink of an eye!

That's a weird panel to work anyways, my F100 has some of that same type of damage in the same place. The panel was stretched as well as compressed when it was formed to match the window pinch weld & the shape of the post as well! That area was already under tension before it was hit.

I'd pick your highest area of the stretch and land a good shrink there to start over. Perhaps you can get under the bracing/innerreinforcement with a long flat screwdriver or a punch, and pry up some of the low areas in the panel. This should help stiffen up the panel, and help to trap your shrinks.

Ya had it once, you'll get it again-give it another shot.


" Meanwhyle, back aboard The Tainted Pork"

 

I'd bet (but I don't know all of them personally) that all the regular body shops in my town would bash that inward and fill it full of Bondo. Not many guys know how to shrink metal anymore, and you've probably had many of them answer this thread. Keep reading the sage advice here, and keep trying to fix it yourself.

And if you do finally give up, just bash it inward and fill it full of Bondo.

 

Like was said: "You ain't the first guy to get 99% of the way home on a hot shrink, and have it all go wrong on the final shrink in the blink of an eye!"

I have done one quarter, door, and cowl side in the last week. All 3 panels were stretched. All 3 got away from me while hot shrink. It looked so bad, it looked hopeless, but just let it cool naturally and keep going after a break.

It looks like I see real hard slap marks in many places. I think you are using maybe too much force. With the heated spots, all the dolly/hammer is very light, nothing voilent.

All I can say that works for me, is to only flatten the new high bump that comes with the dime size red spot. I do use the sideways pushing a bit, towards the red spot, but then quickly get the red spot back down flat.

After that, let it cool off completely to see what happened, and figure your next spot.

 

Here is some tips on heating a panel... When heat is applied to a high spot it gets higher. When heat is applied to a low spot it will get lower. So if you keep heating the high spot it will only keep getting higher and tighter. So when you were close, you gave it some more heat and it brought it back out. If it is close quit with the heat.

You said you have a slight low spot below the high spot. You have to work the low spot out and the high spot down at the same time. So put a heal dolly with pressure below the low spot and the give the high spot some slide taps. You may need to give the low a slight bump. This is called hammer off. The low spot and the high need to level out one another. Hope this helps.

 

Hey,

You can raise low spots in a panel with a torch, but this is a skill that requires a good eye, and a fast hand. This works really well on roof panels that have been ''walked upon " After you've spring hammered the ridges down with a finishing spoon, you hit the low area with a soft flame and watch as it begins to rise. Shut off the torch, and with a vixen file make a few passes at a 30-45 degree angle (jus as you would if you were metalfinishing the panel) now cross file your last pass. The filing of the heated metal makes the panel jus slightly thinner than the surrounding metal, and the thicker metal on each side of the heated low presses it up into normal conture. Done correctly, the repair requires no filler, spot putty & no hy-fill primer "if" you've filed the repair carefuly. This won't work on badly stretched, low areas, and I wouldn't try this on HSLA or silcon containing steels used in late model vehicles.

" Life ain't no Disney movie "

 

This is all excellent knowledge you are all sharing, i sure hope many others will be able to use this thread that have similar issues. I haven't given up, but there is a local shop who claims that they will be able to help me out and metal finish the cab.

 

take it there!! If they're happy to hands on show you what to do ...thats the best way .You could learn more in 30mins there potentially than two days guessin on your own...no disrespect to the other posters

 

You said you have a disc, this would be a piece of cake with a disc. The beauty of a disc is that it naturally shrinks the high spots. It simple. Just put the disc on it and bear down hard, be sure to have good ear protection, it will screeecchhh LOUD. When you see a red spot start to appear let off the trigger of the grinder to stop the disc fast. Set the grinder aside and cool the spot as quick as possible. Water is o.k. but I like to shoot air over it until it is cool to the touch. You just shrank an area about the size of a quarter. After you have done several spots in the same area use a flat hammer and dolly lightly. I have smoothed a couple '55 chevy hoods. The first I would cut a 2-3" section, hammer flat, weld, shrink. The next one I didn't even cut it, I shrank the whole rib out of it

 

hey there madmav how you gettin on with that job?

 

bump

 

Watch David Gardiners Videos on U-Tube, visit allmetalshaping.com

 

I for one find this thread very informative. Good on you for trying to tackle that damned bulge. Read on, keep trying and kick its' ass!

 

madmav???? where you done gone??

 

I'm here guys. Still tryin

 

still tryin??? hope you not chasin that lump all over your bodyshell???

 

Wow, there is a oot of good info here...!!!

 

Chiming in here to say thanks to all you pros for the great info.

 

cheers Damien, I for 1 would like to know whats happened on this one....