any autobody people......

[James K]

...........like to give some advise on the best way to straighten out a piece of bent sheet metal that is suppose to be flat. it is the grille extensions on my jeepster grille.

 

[TK1]

How bent? Do you have a pic?

 

[James K]

how bent................. hmm.........................not beyond repair

I'll try and take a pic but, its black so I don't know how well it will show up.

 

[fourdoorjeep]

Anything can be fixed with time and know how. When metal is bent it is stretched, kind like poking your finger into srandwrap. You have to work it back into its original shape. Depending on how bad it is, it could take allot of time. It really is an art form that is disappearing. 50 years ago a good body man could make a fender out of sheet metal. Someone that knows how to work metal will have to see it. If its not to bad a hammer and dolly will work. There are several methods of heat shrinking metal, but it does take practice to do it right. Take it to a couple of autobody shops and show them, they will tell you if it would be worth the time to do it.

 

[Rickomatic]

Anything can be fixed with time and know how. When metal is bent it is stretched, kind like poking your finger into srandwrap. You have to work it back into its original shape. Depending on how bad it is, it could take allot of time. It really is an art form that is disappearing. 50 years ago a good body man could make a fender out of sheet metal. Someone that knows how to work metal will have to see it. If its not to bad a hammer and dolly will work. There are several methods of heat shrinking metal, but it does take practice to do it right. Take it to a couple of autobody shops and show them, they will tell you if it would be worth the time to do it.

Truth.
It is easier to buy a cheap reproduced fender than bang one straight. Metal shrink is a true art form that few will even try.

 

[mbryson]

...........like to give some advise on the best way to straighten out a piece of bent sheet metal that is suppose to be flat. it is the grille extensions on my jeepster grille.

For flat stuff, I like to build a piece of 1/4" plate or something just bigger than the size of the damage. If the piece is small enough, put it in a press (a C-clamp can work) and bend it back slowly (your sheetmetal being the Carl Buddig meat in a 1/4" plate sandwich--mayo not required)..... Your Jeepster's sheetmetal is probably thick enough you can make that work. Newer vehicles get kinda interesting with the skinny sheetmetal.


Sheetmetal work gets 'interesting' on curved stuff......that's where the hammer/dolly thing comes in.

 

[dunatic67]

Take the grill extensions off and run a CJ hood.

 

[James K]

Take the grill extensions off and run a CJ hood.

OH, HELL NO.

 

[rrefx]

Hammer and dolly work very well when you get the hang of it. The trick is, that metal very much reacts to whatever is happening to it. If you get a dent, that metal is forced in, creating a low spot, but the metal around it is forced out, creating a high spot.

You'll want to place the dolly behind, firmly agains the low spot, if you haven't got a dolly, I've known guys to use 2x4 blocks of wood with success. With the dolly in place, gently tap on the high spots around the dent with a body hammer to relieve the stress, alowing the metal to return to it's natural state. A body hammer has a round and slightly domed head, the edges you keep filed down, so that the hard edge, or ridge, won't make an impression on the metal you are working. If there's any creases due to the dent, and the metal is thick enough, a vixon file can take care of those nicely. They are hard to find anymore, I got mine through snap-on. It definately is an art, just remember, the metal wants to return to it's proper state, how it was before dented, you just need to massage it back so to speak.

If the metal was stretched, you can heat it, and then tap it with an inward sweeping motion with a shrinking hammer. A shrinking hammer looks like a body hammer, but with a waffle-style head, kind of like the head of a framing hammer. Good luck, and have fun with it.

Ryan

 

[greenjeep]

For flat stuff, I like to build a piece of 1/4" plate or something just bigger than the size of the damage. If the piece is small enough, put it in a press (a C-clamp can work) and bend it back slowly (your sheetmetal being the Carl Buddig meat in a 1/4" plate sandwich--mayo not required)..... Your Jeepster's sheetmetal is probably thick enough you can make that work.

This sounds the easiest to me!!!