i need some help on my front fender. it was pushed in and very dented when i got it and i got it back into shape and and got the dents hammered out but know it all bumpy where the dents were. what i need to know is how do i get these bumpes smoothed out. i dont have all sort of fancy dancy tools all i have is hammers and dollys, a torch, and a welder and lots of metal to make stuff out of so can any of you expert bodyworkers give me some advice.

 

Matt -

Axracer is our resident bodywork Guru and I know he'll have the 411 on exactly how to do this. Meanwhile, take a picture of the fender and post it in the thread or your gallery (with a link here). That will help a lot.

I could tell you what to do, but there are better ways...

 

When I was at AX's house he showed me how to use a shrinking disk. It took out all the lumps in no time at all. I ordered one off of ebay yesterday. I have a spot on my font clip which was dented in and I pounded it out. Now when the shrinking disk arrives in five minutes it will look good as new.

 

well unfortunaltly i dont have a shrinking disk and i doubt i get one any time soon even though they sound like quite the tool. i just need to smooth it out surely they did it somehow before they invented a srinking disc.

 

Shrinking disk was about $40.00 off of ebay. I am not sure how they did it before. The shirink disk is basically a round metal disk which generates heat on the panel surface and shrinks it back into form. A round metal disk on a grinder might work the same. You just have to cool the metal with a wet towel or air nozzle to cool it quickly to hold shape. This is a novice's description of what the shrinking disk is. I am sure Ax will be along at some point today.

Kevin

 

You can shrink the metal by heating the area with a torch, don't get it cherry red, then quenching it with a rag soaked in cold water. Then hammer and dolly to smooth out.
Fred

 

Yes A shrinking disk would be my weapon of choice. the disk itself is inexpensive, you just need a 7" or larger angle grinder to run it. And yes dent removal and smoothing can and is often done by hand, it's just more time consuming because you have to work back and forth and torch shrink any stretching that develops.
To smooth out the fender, you'll need a few tools: some cardboard and 1/8" hardboard to make templates and gauges from to know what the countour is supposed to be. a couple good straightedges from 12 to 36", a ball peen hammer or two in the 8-16 oz range with polished face and ball, a body hammer or two, one should be a pick hammer with a large round face and small radius ball on the other end. You may need to prepare the faces, an inexpensive hammer will likely need a fair amount of prep, a good hammer like a Martin or Snap-on will be pretty much ready to go. The "flat" face should not be perfectly flat but have a very slight dome shape. The radius should be large enough that it looks flat but a metal straightedge should rock slightly, soften all the edges as well with a sander with 120 or finer grit paper. The pick end should not come to a sharp point but should have ~ 1/4" radius on the end, think of a bullet shape. Also a slap hammer, a wide faced tool that looks a bit like a pancake flipper. I would also suggest a torpedo headed plastic mallet. Although not entirely necessary tool, a bullseye pick is a REALLY useful body tool to have and are available for <50.00. Highly recommended!
You will need a couple dollies with different shaped faces on them. The basic ones should be a "heel" dolly kinda like the shape of a heel with one side flat the other with a shallow curve and various radiused corners. The other would be a "track" dolly with 2 more curving heads somewhat more rounded than the heel dolly with a web between them. A track dolly is used by cupping one end in the palm with the fingers in the space created by the web so you can push the other face against the panel with considerable force or even hammer with it without hurting your hand. Other shapes of dollys can also be useful especially a "spoon" dolly: looks a bit like a heavy slap hammer with more curve to the blade. it's used in tight spaces and to get behind bracing. All body tools should be sanded smooth to 180 grit or smoother with no dings, rust, or sharp edges/corners.
Finally you will need a vixen file and handle: a flat file with wide curved teeth as well as a "long board" sander with a supply of precut paper in 40 and 80 grit.
I'd remove the fender to work on it, clamping it solidly to a heavy sturdy low table or bench or at least remove the inner fender panel and any fasteners in the area you'll be working on.
Remove all the paint on the outside of the panel and any rust, dirt or othe debris on the inside down to clean bare metal. best tool for this is a "kleen and strip" disk available in most hardware or paint stores. Looks like a grinding disk made of course plastic steel wool, buy a couple at least. Also get whatever mandrel you will need to mount it on a drill or rotary grinder. You could also use a sanding disk, but be careful not to remove any metal or create gouges.
Now with all your tools at the ready and the area in bare metal you are ready to actually do some work!
First make a couple ACCURATE hardboard templates of the area to be repaired from the other (good)fender. make one to match every major contour you'll be working and mark locating marks on it so you can match it up to the same position on the fender to be repaired. Take your time to make perfectly fitting templates they are essential in determining the contours you are trying to replicate! DON'T rely on just eyeballing it!!!
Now use the templates to determine if a spot is high or low. Bump up any low spots with the torpedo mallet or a dolly with a similar shape to the panel. tap down any significant high spots by holding a dolly with a similar shape behind the high spot bridging over it. TAP it down with LIGHT taps with the broad faced body hammer until it make a solid sound against the dolly, avoid hitting it hard enough or long enough to get a sharp ringing sound. Work your way systematically around the dented area from around the edges into the center, ONLY tapping on the HIGH spots! Now recheck with the templates. If you don't have any more major high or low spots you are ready to go on to the next phase. If you do, work those spots as before.
For the next phase we need to identify the smaller high and low spots and correct them. To make then stand out, run the vixen file lightly across the area at a diagonal direction, reverse the angle and run across it again. The high spots should stand out as shiny and the low spots dull. If you did the previous work properly none of the high spots should be above the desired contour. Now to raise up the low spots. First tap up any major low areas with the torpedo mallet. now raise up the smaller low spots with a flat dolly held against the outside of the low spot bridging it and VERY lightly tap on the low spot ONLY with the ball end or the ball peen hammer until solid against the dolly. press the dolly TIGHTLY against the panel, it should NOT bounce off the surface of the fender! Tap with overlapping taps not all in one spot. If you look at the back of the panel you should see an overlapping pattern of small dots. This raising is MUCH more accurate and easier to do with a bullseye hammer!
Once you have worked every low spot, run over the panel again with the vixen file.
Now start smoothing out the panel by pushing hard against an area with a closely shaped dolly of a slightly smaller curve. work the outside of the panel with a slap hammer over the entire area backed by the dolly, using blows like you are trying to tap a flat side on a ball of clay, or like you are playing a drum, not like you're trying to kill a snake! after covering the entire area with the slap hammer break out the longboard with 40 grit paper on it and again use diagonal strokes to sand the area.
If there are obviously low areas the sandpaper didn't touch carefully and gently work them up with the slap hammer or the body hammer, working "on dolly" where you get that obvious ringing sound, This will result in the metal stretching slightly and raising up. continue working by sanding with the 80 grit now and working any low spots still present.
Now, a problem you may likely run into is that the area has stretched either from the blow that caused the dent, from too vigorous hammering when first reversing the dent (heavy bag of walnuts formation) or too much/too hard on dolly hammering. The panel is near smooth, but the whole area bulges up more than the unrepaired area around it when checked with the template. Another sign of stretch area is the panel will get flexible and oil can dents pop in and out. The way to correct this is to shrink the area with a torch heat shrink or several small ones. try to identify the bulging area and do your first shrink right in the center. If this doesn't lower the entire bulge you may need to identify the smaller bulged areas and shrink eack of them in turn, Restore the contour as before being especially careful to not stretch it back out. It may take 4-8 hrs to completely metal finish a dent the size of your hand. DON'T rush it!!!!

 

Thanks AXracer for that tutorial. Where is the best place to buy tools from?

Bruce

 

wow thanks ax now i actually know how to use all these body hammers i have. On the shrinking with the torch do i heat it up then cool with a cold wet rag. thanks a bunch now maybe i can do something right rather than beat it out close and filler over it.

 

I do not quench my torch shrinks. Use a small tip on the torch with a neutral flame. heat a spot red hot the size of a dime or so. Wearing gas welding glasses will let you see a bump rise up in the center of the spot. Shut off the torch and tap the spot flat with body hammer and dolly. ONLY TAP IT! don't stretch it back out again! Allow it to cool. Once it has cooled for a few minutes you can finish cooling it down with water so you can touch it. It should not sizzle or steam heavily if you have allowed it to air cool enough.

#1 rule of body work: tap don't pound! You are not driving a nail. A hammer can do a lot of sensitive precise work or a lot of damage depending on the patience of the person holding the handle. To a jeweler or a machinist a hammer is a precision tool.

 

Bruce, that's a question with a 1000 answers, there are so many considerations:
How big is the tool budget? How much work are you going to be doing, how much time do you want to spend shopping/preping/restoring/making tools?
If one stop shopping is the most important, then I'd say Eastwood since they have most of the basic tools in decent quality, but you pay for the convenience.
If quality is most critical and/or you are going to be using them a lot and are a serious craftsman, then a pro bodyshop supplier with the top brands would be the best source. For some of the "trick" tools used by the top pros, slappers, beanbags, bullseye picks you can do as many pros do, make your own patterned after those used by others or buy them from the guys who hand make them then sell them to others for the good of the genre and to support their habbit, such as Ron Covell, Ron Fournier, and a few lesser knowns that sell their tools on ebay such as the shrinking disk and bullseye pick I bought.
Me, I mix my sources spending where the quality is important such as a good hammer or two buy a pro name like Martin or older snap-on. Things like generics I buy where I find the best deals such as a set of torpedo mallets from Summit Racing. Some basic dollies from Harbor freight. Some tools I make myself slap hammers, additional sizes of bullseye picks, or adapt from other uses: reworked ball peen hammers from my local Lowes or home depot. I also buy a lot of used tools off ebay and refinish/rework them. I adapt a lot of things I find at the scrap yard: pieces of rods and solid stock become stakes and dollies, , cutoffs of I beams and railroad track become anvils, a bag of birdshot from the gun shop becomes a beanbag.
Check out Covell's and Fournier's videos, I am constantly saying Covell's video Basic Techniques for Working with Steel should be THE first purchase if you are getting into bodywork, before you buy any tools.
Check out the Metalshapers Association websight for tips techniques and sources www.allshops.org