dent repair

[sevt_chevelle]

I took some pictures of the process I did to remove some dents on my 49 chevy truck. Even thou my process is more geared for metal finishing, meaning no bondo, the SAME methods and ideas can be used to achieve less filler.
When I get more time today Ill do a description of what am doing, but the pictures do have somewhat of a caption...Eric

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pi...?id=2093955818

[Mt Man Chad]

You do some Amazing metal work !!!!!!

[OLDIRON69]

All I can say is WOW. When you finish the videos look me up. I like to do it myself if I can.

[wibilly]

thats awsome!! what do you do if yoy cant get to th backside?

[cfoust3]

Man you make that look so easy, I am half tempted to strip my truck right now. I won't because I know it won't look like that if I do it. Let me know when your videos are done.

[GREASEMONKEY72]

damn i wish i was that good, im still workin on it but i aint to bad if i may say so meself

[Palf70Step]

Beautiful work. I need a LOT more practice, as I am still the guy with the bondo.

[Hart_Rod]

Good stuff! I'm going to go start beating on some of my deformed metal.

[timcos]

Where does one buy and look for in quality metal working tools...hammers and dollies..etc?

[AR15DEFENSE]

Awesome! .....I'm still sanding

[GREASEMONKEY72]

i hate bondo

[sevt_chevelle]

Originally Posted by timcos

Where does one buy and look for in quality metal working tools...hammers and dollies..etc?

Martin, makes some darn nice dollies. Eastwoods sells martin,but I hate eastwoods they are pirates I also bought several from daggertools.com. Dagger is geared towards metalshaping and has just about everything over the sun.

Originally Posted by wibilly

thats awsome!! what do you do if yoy cant get to th backside?

Well, it depends on the location of the damage. Some times you can get long pry bars into a place. Some times you cut out the inner panel for access then weld it back up. But the average guy will just use a stud gun to weld pull attachments to dent and pull it out. Even thou they get you close its darn near impossible to get a metal finish using them. All depends on how far you want to go with it...Eric

[sevt_chevelle]

I tried to do a write up on the process but couldnt explain it any better then this.



The following text was writting by Wray Schelin



I 'll share with you how I remove a small dent . An easy example will work

best, so lets say, its the rear fender of a XK120. The dent is in the

middle of the rear section of the fender, and its is about the size of your

fist, sunken in about 3/4" in the center. All paint and undercoating should

be removed first. I would first select a dolly that has a crown that is

close to the fender; in this case that would be a medium crown. Using a

glove to protect my fingers I would palm the dolly and lightly tap it

against the bump on the inside of the fender; carefully watching the

progress of the rising depression. I would use this process until I got the

dent up to within 1/8" of the surface. This will happen within minutes-

this is called roughing out the dent. Next I would hold the dolly tightly

against the center of the damage , on the backside, while I use the slapper

on the front, tapping the circumference of the dent. This is a dolly off

action, the slapper and dolly are not clashing with each other, they are

beside one another. I would keep tapping away with the slapper, moving the

dolly tightly with some force, against the lowest area of the dent. Slowly

the dent will rise to very close to the surface level. The slapper does

this operation very effectively because it has such a large surface area,

compared to a hammer. With a hammer you're hitting a smaller area and you

might dent the area you're hammering against because it will yield easier

than the center of the dent.



Roughing and slapping the dent has reduced the dent by about 90% and

progress was swift. The next stage of metal finishing requires the bag of

tricks and the tools. The problem that you encounter at this final stage

is, you have trouble seeing what you're doing because your actions have to

be small. When you were roughing you could easily see the metal move closer

to the surface; but now you might only have to move the metal forty

thousands of an inch or less to reach the true surface. At this stage a

common practice is to use a pick hammer. In my opinion a pick hammer has

many drawbacks: one- you need room to be able to swing it; and generally

the hammer itself might be 6" or more across the head. Two- it is very easy

to over hit with a pick hammer and cause irrepairable damage. Three- more

likely than not you will not be able to strike the low spot, instead you

will hit the high spot worsening the problem. The safest bet is to retire

your pick hammer. This verdict also applies to the bulls-eye gimmick tools

which use a C shaped frame to guide you to the elusive low spot. If you go

down the bulls-eye road you will find your garage populated with many

expensive sizes and versions absolutely needed to remove all those pesky

dents and dings. You will always be one bulls-eye tool short.



What I do at this stage is coat the damaged area entirely with the 1/2"

wide red magic marker ( thats a US trade name for those who might not be

familiar with them- there is no magic, its just a felt ink marker) Next I

draw the fine body file over the area, just lightly skimming the surface,

this will quickly reveal the high and low spots. The object now is to raise

the low spots. You can do this by placing a dolly with a high crown surface

tightly against the low spot. You will only be guessing at this point

unless you have x-ray vision . You find out where you really are with the

dolly by lightly slapping the surface, with the the slapper a few times,

trying deliberately to strike the dollies crown. If you are successful -

and you probably will be, because of the slappers large working surface-

you will hear the ring of the contact of the metals. Slide the slapper to

the side, but leave the dolly where it is. You should be able to see a 1/8"

diameter ( a 1/8" inch affected area will raise quickly with little force ,

the size of the mark made when you slap it determines the speed of the

metal rise. 1/8" is fast 1/2" is slow) clear spot, or slightly less inked,

in a region of the small low spot that you were raising. If you goofed and

hit a high area instead you should be able to see a difference there too.

Whether you were in the right area or not is not important, what is most

important, is establishing where you are and being able to adjust . Watch

the trail marks left in the inked surface and you can steer the dolly, on

the backside, easily to where it is needed. Slap lightly, slowly raising

the low spot. After a few minutes, refile the area and your progress will

become apparent.



You might have to wash off the marker ink ; re-ink, and refile several

times. Each working of the area will reduce the size of the low spots.

Remember that the filing is meant just to scrape off the ink and not to

reduce the thickness of the metal. The force and stroke of the slapper will

be less as you progress. When you have reduced the low areas to less than

1/2" in diameter, and when you rub your hand over the area you still

slightly feel them, you are ready to use the shrinking disc.



The condition of the metal at this point is stressed and springy as a

result of all the trauma inflicted on it. The original damage has been

raised but in the process the metal has been stretched a little. If you

applied bondo at this stage some of the bondo would surround the damaged

area, feathering in the new surface height.



With the marker ink still on, and a wet rag handy, crank up the body

grinder with the shrinking disc and rub the area. You vary the pressure

according to how much you need to shrink. On the first pass I usually apply

light pressure. The metal will quickly begin to rise and expand from the

heat build-up. Remove the disc and wipe the area with a wet rag. With that

operation you have started to shrink, stress relieve and further fine tune

the outline of the low spots. You can now re-mark with ink, file and

further tap out the low spots with the slapper and dolly. Some dents might

require several cycles, but as you hone your technique you should be able

to remove most dents in fewer cycles . At this stage an obvious high spot

might have developed. You can easily remove it by rubbing the shrinking

disc over it; it will heat to a blue condition in seconds, and then cool

with the wet rag. After I'm satisfied that I can no longer effectively

raise any remaining tiny low spots (depressions only a few thousands of an

inch deep). I then install the very dull 120 grit 9" grinding disc and

proceed to work the area with it. The grinding disc will level the area

leaving a almost polished surface, it will heat the area quickly also, so

cool it with a rag after you done grinding. If you have done everything

correctly you should have a very smooth surface , that is stress free and

in no need of bondo.



If you practice these techniques on some old , damaged, and unimportant

sheetmetal parts you will quickly hone your skill.