I am a novice at body work and need advice on how you guys would go about fixing this panel short of replacing the whole side. Do they make a patch for this corner? I looked, but only on LMC. I have access to a welder if needed. I am pretty sure this one can't be pulled out, right? It's pretty deep and right on the corner of the bed by the rear bumper. It's kind of caved in too by the rearamp, but I think I can fix that part.
Thanks.

 

Ghost man....
It can be done....
(look at what flowny did to his truck)
I see two options (well ok 3 )

A), go to local JY and cut out what you need and weld back in place
{after removing damaged piece of course}

B) take your time with heat and a hammer and dolly set, then skim coat,sand, paint

C) [for costly] have a body shop do it for you.

D) [for DON'T] forget to fix rear bumber

 

Haha! Roger on the rear bumper. I want to do it myself and I don't think you can get a hammer in there so option A makes sense. I'll have to look at Flowney's build again. Thanks man.

 

Getting the bumper out of the way (temporarily) is good advice. If you can't get behind it, you'll want to get a slide hammer, apply some heat and gently pull by tapping the hammer in the right direction. Get close but don't exceed the original contours. Weld all those little holes shut or just run a 36 grit disc over them to knock the high stuff down and then start with the body filler. The trick with body filler is to apply it to clean roughed-up metal and keep it thin, thin, thin as you can. Bondo isn't your only option as there are more expensive fillers that contain aluminum and other materials.

 

Thank you much! I didn't know if a slide hammer would do anything with it being caved in that much, but they're pretty affordable at Harbor Freight so I may give it a whirl. I've got nothing to lose and plenty of time.

 

I should have better emphasized the role of heat in slide hammer work. The warmer metal will be moved more easily and further. So use a torch with a heater tip warm up the metal you want to move first. There are limits to this so start small and develop a sense of how the metal behaves when you warm it up and pull on it with a slide hammer. Successive approximation is the key.

 

I'd use a stud gun.

Slide hammers which use sheetmetal screws result in more damage than its worth.

Slide hammers with various attachments to hook the damaged area are far more sane.

 

a screw in slide hammer is absolutely the most worthless tool I have ever seen. You do have everything to loose in the form of more damage to the panel they you started with.

That will be a stubborn, hard area to pull out.
Welding studs in that area and using a clamp on slide hammer would probably be a pain as you would likely just pull the studs off, leaving a hole in the metal too.

Heat at the creases with careful use of studs will probably be the way to go. But you have to know how to pull dents. One stud in the middle won't pull the whole thing out.




My custom slide hammer for studs.

 

On a large crease like that one you will need to get the bumper out of the way for access to the front of the panel.A screw in slide hammer is an archaic and damaging way of trying to pull a sharp crease like that one.It will just make a hole and pull out of the hole over and over again. So, 1 option is a series of studs with a stud welder ,side by side,for a few inches,a pulling clamp over ALL studs and pull with a come-along. Most folks don't have this stuff so what you should do is this. Take the welder you have and weld a pulling TAB of sheet( maybe 2" x 4",the 2" side is welded to the dent) metal to about an inch or two of the dent. Attach a come-along to the TAB and put the pressure to the tab. Get to the back of the dent and with a hammer,long punch,block of hard wood ,whatever.... hammer directly where the tab is being pulled. Don't try to do it all at once in that 1 spot. Now another tab over a bit more in the dent again and again until you work it all out. Weld a big ol'washer,a loop of chain.....anything/something for the come-along to attach to. A cut off wheel to remove the tabs then once all pulling done a bit of body work.10 times easier to do it than trying to explain it. Good luck! Gary

 

Well, looking at Harbor Freight, they have a stud welding kit for $100. Can't beat that.
Don't know how I am going to do it yet, but this is a lot to mull over.
I appreciate all the feedback. This should be interesting.

 

might also check your local Craigslist...many people buy the HF kit, use it once, and sell it for half price

 

Unless you are going to be using a stud gun a lot in the future; don't waste $100 bucks! Take a pair of tin snips,cut a strip of sheet metal out of scrap something or other and tack weld it to the dent. pull on THAT and save your money. A crease like you have has a lot of strength and a stud at a time probably will just pull away from the metal and leave a hole that needs repair. Strong creases/dents normally take a more aggressive pulling tactic to get them heading in the right direction.

 

I read something similar on the internet today. They suggested bending a coat hanger in a "U" shape and tack welding it to the shallow part of the dent then attaching a tow strap to the coat hanger and the other end to a tree and tightening it while heating the metal. Then cut the hanger move in on the debt a little and repeat. I think I will try that.