Dolly Work and Metal Bumping Help from the GRM Hive of knowldege..

Hello Folks.

I have a Project, whilist working on said project I am trying to teach myself some Hammer and dolly technique.

Got a rear Quarter panel with lots of arc to it.  I was able to dolly all of the dent / smash out of it.. now it'r really flat, how to I add the arc back to the metal?  Do I need one of the Stud Welder Dent pullers  for this or can It be accomplished by hand with Hammer and dolly.

I have excellent access to the backside of the panel.

Pics help to tell the tale..

Proper Contour:

I want this panel to be the same contour as above:

Thanks!  Greg

Reading this small, old school book helped me a lot in figuring out some of the processes and why they would work.

The Key to Metal Bumping

Old School Books are fantastic.

Short of me going to a covell workshop or something similar,  that book is probably a good start.

Thanks,

Greg

Anytime you have access to both sides of the panel it can be worked without needing a stud welder.  For future reference you really should be working towards the final shape first and then smooth after the fact.  You've made more work for yourself doing it in the order that you have.

My favorite metal master t learn from is Ron Covell.  I think his books are out of print but he has a YouTube channel, sells DVD and has streaming video on his site.

So I guess I just need to bang the back of the panel into the arc like shape somehow and then smooth it back to a nice  final shape with the Dolly/ Hammer?

I have questions about how to get the metal to stretch out into that arc Shape again.

Greg

slantsix said:

So I guess I just need to bang the back of the panel into the arc like shape somehow and then smooth it back to a nice  final shape with the Dolly/ Hammer?

 

I have questions about how to get the metal to stretch out into that arc Shape again.

 

Greg

Yup.  That's pretty much it.  Of course it's not quite as simple as that because, as you've pointed out you need to really stretch the metal to get it there and it might not like that very much.  Generally speaking though it's easier to stretch metal than shrink it.

Practice some on and off dolly work on a scrap fender or something and go to town.

Unless you have used some method to shrink the panel as you flattened it, you should not be looking at doing any stretch.

When the panel got bent, the metal got stretched. You have removed the creases and made a new surface. Probably added more stretch while flattening the surface. Good chance the new surface is locked in its current orientation.

Is the current surface oil-canned where it can be pushed from side-to-side? 

NOHOME said:

Is the current surface oil-canned where it can be pushed from side-to-side? 

Sorry, can this be stated in more laymans' terms for me?

I am not quite sure what that means?

Greg

In reply to slantsix :

You can see the effect where he pushes on one spot, and a whole area "bounces" in

slantsix said:

NOHOME said:

Is the current surface oil-canned where it can be pushed from side-to-side? 

Sorry, can this be stated in more laymans' terms for me?

I am not quite sure what that means?

Greg

I can try.

Picture if you will a rectangle of  flat tin. If you crumple it up into a ball, and then flatten it out smooth again, it will have a larger surface area than before you crumpled it. This is because the metal "stretches" where it was deformed. Metal stretches any time yo bend it, can not be avoided.

Now picture if this rectangular piece of tin was actually part of a larger flat surface. When you take all the wrinkles out, the extra metal needs to go somewhere and it wont be absorbed into the undamaged surface, and you get a raised bump in your surface. If you push on this bump, it will most likely be happy to just swap sides of the panel and make a bump on the opposite side, leaving you with a shallow indent where you previously had a bump. This is called an "oil can". Does this make sense? Remember these things and how they worked?

In order to get rid of the oil-can, you need to shrink the tin. Use a torch or a shrinking disc to accomplish this.

In reply to NOHOME :

Got it. I Have those old wizard of oz oilers.

My panel is not oil cannned.. It's tight now.

Greg

In reply to slantsix :

Then you should be able to hammer it into the shape you want.

Why did you not beat it out into the final shape in the first place?

In reply to NOHOME :

Becacase I am learning.  I have never really done this work before. I am trying to teach myself, it's all new to me.

Greg

Scott from cold War Motors is a master. He is currently building a Lincoln Continental fender from scratch with a hammer and a few blocks of wood pretty much. he explains everything in detail as he works.