Anyone Ever Hammer Out Grille Shell Dents?

[69sixpackbee]

Hi guys,
Been gone a long while but I am back with a question. Has anybody had any luck straightening out a dented outer shell on a grille? I just launched my 72 through the back wall of the shop and I took the rollaway and desk with it 😡😡. I have a fairly noticeable dent in the outside of the grill surround on my very good driver grille. I am contemplating making some wooden wedges and trying to straighten them out on a leather panel beater’s bag.
Can’t really afford a repop at this time and besides, it would look out of place on this truck since all of the trim is original and the anodization is uniform on all of them. I would just like to try and manipulate this back into shape.

Thanx!

I have not but you can always age new stuff as well. I did some of that with my 69 FJ40--muriatic acid to remove zinc plating, vinegar and hydrogen peroxide to rust and rust stabiizer to age the rust to a patina finish. I think you can take a new grill and use ultra fine steel wool to fade the sheen on the grill to give it the anodized look; am sure there are other ways to do that as well.

[kwmech]

When hammering them out, lay the shell in a bed of wet semi-packed sand as a back up if you are shooting for close to perfection. something about it

[69sixpackbee]

I’ll give the wet play sand a go. Thanx for that! I was going to stuff my leather welding gauntlet gloves with the stuff and give it a whirl. 👍🏻

[special-K]

The wood blocks are the way to go. You might want a better bed of sand than the glove. The biggest problem with repairing a grille is if it requires pick and file you have the anodizing to deal with.

[palallin]

Am I misremembering? I seem to remember that somebody makes a set of formed tools for just this purpose. . . . .

[B. W.]

Yes, several companies have a small anvil & hammers for trim. There's a company that makes is a small ring hammer with two sizes of hammers & a pick also.

[notsolo]

I did this about a yr ago, made several blocks inside and outside, clamped them together. Tapping on them and moving them along the damaged area..33 degrees was what I came up with...I don’t think it can be done with the grille on the truck.

[HO455]

Yes you can. But you have to have patience. Since you haven't done this before I recommend finding a similar piece of trim to practice with. The less force used to bring the metal back to shape the less need to polish out small defects.
The metal has been stretched and will have to be shrunk to return to the original shape. Remember this so you don't end up with a piece that is back to the original shape but larger than it was

[jeffahart]

Here is a chrome trim repair article in the H.A.M.B I've done something similar but with wood cut from a contour gauge, not bondo. And I used clamps and light tapping, not a press. His technique is simple and effective. Patience is a virtue!

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...lified.799131/

j

[HO455]

Originally Posted by jeffahart

Here is a chrome trim repair article in the H.A.M.B I've done something similar but with wood cut from a contour gauge, not bondo. And I used clamps and light tapping, not a press. His technique is simple and effective. Patience is a virtue!

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...lified.799131/

j

Excellent contribution to the thread. It should be a sticky somewhere for everyone to find.
Thank you sir.

[69sixpackbee]

Wow! All great suggestions!
Thank y’all so much!

[BlazerBill]

Most plating shops can strip the anodized finish and re anodize after you straighten the aluminum.that way you can sand or polish out the the dents and scratches. Probably 25.00 to strip and 60.00 approx. to re anodize.