Primarily Petroliana Shop Talk Forums Shop Talk Petroliana Forums General Petroliana Discussion Removing dent in visible GB skin. HELP!

Holy *****!! I have beat the HELL out of this with a 5 lb sledge and a curved wood block and only just moved it. It's like the metal is age hardened or something. Sure it's thick, but holy *****!!!
My question is, do have any prayer of getting this flat without using bondo after I get it close. Just trying to gauge what I'm up against.
What have others done?

Heat it up and just keep working it. Itll come out.

Steve,
Remember that when pounding out a dent, you have to work in reverse to how the metal was dented. That means you work from the perimeter toward the center. Like your cuz said, heat it up. Then hammer it with a curved-face body hammer (not a 5 lb sledge) and work the dents out from the perimeter to the middle. Even after you get that done, you will have to heat shrink the metal because it stretched when the dent was made and again when you hammered it out. I think I left tips for that in one of your earlier posts. Watch some Youtube videos on dent removal too...there are good videos out there for this. You CAN do it...just takes a little knowledge, time and elbow grease.

Yeah, this old steel is thick and strong.

Steve, NO HEAT you will work harden it. I did body and paint for 45 years. A good body man can hammer and dolly
most of the dent out then pick and file to finish. You should not need any bondo. I learned lead and metal finish in the 1960's.
That dent should be an easy fix for a decent body guy.

Lol, well I aint no body guy xolyman, but I appreciate the advice.
Brian, I appreciate your words as well, but I'm telling you. I am hitting it with full on all I have in me swings with the 5 lb and a block of wood, and it is BARELY moving!!! It's gonna laugh in your face if you think your gonna move it with a little body hammer.

I'll just keep at it!
Thanks guys.

Brian is right about binging the dent out. Start on the perimeter and work in. You need to anchor or clamp the skin so it cant
move when you you are working it. If you use the hammer off dolly when bringing it up it should naturally shrink back to original.
If not use a slapping spoon to shrink it. U tube has some good video's of guys doing metal finish.
Claude

There is a lot of metal there I would suggest a 1 or 1.5 pound ball peen with the heads reworked. I have straightened auto bumpers
for rechroming with them. Use the hammer off dolly method it will move. when you get to the finish part a small pick hammer will work. Better yet get a bullseye, you dont even have to be a body guy to use it. take your time. A lot of us want immediate results, that dent
will take the better part of a day to do right with no bondo.
Claude

Steve,
I straightened out the hips on my Wayne 60 with a small body hammer and the hammer-off-dolly method (Youtube it). It works....trust me. Granted, your skin is curved so it has more strength/tension in the metal, but it WILL move.

Wow, you guys sure sound confiDENT!
Okay, I'll slow my roll and work it slow.

I lay big panels like this on the concrete floor, face down....as you need to push the dent back out. Using the concrete as a backer, and a three pound cross peen hammer to work the dent.. Hammer directly against the steel....no curved wood block.....it only lessens the needed force to move the metal. You will need to shim up the area near the body ridges so that they are not affected.....and the contact with the floor is solid. If you have a steel plate handy, slide it between the floor and panel....it will help. Now, work the edges in. You'll find that you can be aggressive with the dent and results will appear. Paul www.severngaspumps.com