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How do I fix this high spot?

18K views 20 replies 8 participants last post by  SS_Dave 
#1 ·
On the drivers door of my 70 there is a divet near the top edge of the door just under the body line that looks like it was caused by a rock. Just underneath that there is a high area. Im not sure if the rock damage caused the high spot as well as the low spot or not. Anyways, I was able to fill the low area with filler but I dont know how to get the high spot to go down. If I wack the high spot with the palm of my hand it pops in but comes right back out. I took the wooden handle of a hammer right on the high spot and pushed in, then I whacked the hammer handle with another hammer, this has made the high spot a little better, but it is still there. Should I continue with this method until it is low enough and then use some filler, or is there a better way? As you may have guessed, I am an absolulte novice when it comes to body work, so any help would be appreciated! Thanks in advance!
 
#2 ·
If this high spot is a "brow" CAUSED by the dent that is IN, you need to remove the filler you filled in the dent and push out on it from behind while you TAP the brow down with a flat faced body hammer.

That would be the start. If it has no "body" and it is poping in and out, well now that is a whole nother issue. But we'll cross that bridge when we come to it. First, push out on the low spot and tap the high spot down. You may find that they "level" out to each other and all is good for a little polyester putty or filler.

Brian
 
#3 ·
Thats kinda what I was thinking... that the dent IN caused the high spot. So how do I pop out the dent? I have access to a beginners body hammer and dolly set... how do I use it?
 
#4 ·
Visit this article and read thru it, you will be miles ahead. The article was writen for large flat panels which you are not working with, but the technique is the same on any dent with a brow next to it. http://www.camaros.net/forums/showthread.php?t=12229

As far as the "beginers body hammer set" sometimes those are real junk. The hammer faces are too small and have sharp edges that put OTHER dents when using them. You may need to use a metal rod with the end rounded off or even a chisel to get to the back of your dent and apply some pressure. Then WHILE that pressure is being applied you tap that brow down with your body hammer. But really, any hammer will do as long as it's face is nice and smooth without sharp edges.

Brian
 
#6 ·
if the dent is small enough you might take a little propane torch and a cold wet rag. hold tip in middle get hot and then wet rag it. if not use a shrinking hammer and dolly the high spot down while holding steady on the dent from the back side. good luck
 
#7 ·
Thanks for the input guys. I will give these suugestions a try this week or weekend.
 
#8 ·
I finally got a chance to work on this high spot tonight but didnt have much success. I putting pressure on the back side of the dent with a chisel (its in a hard spot to reach) and tapped around the high area. The dent and the high spot seem to have gotten a little bit better but not much. For the amount of time I spent doing this I didnt see much progress. When I am tapping on the high spot, should I concentrate on one single spot or move the hammer around some? Anything else I can try to make this work better? I am a little leary of trying to use any heat to fix this for fear I might REALLY screw things up!

Any more suggestions are appreciated!
 
#9 ·
I'm still having a hard time visualizing this dent but the thing comes to mind from your last post and the "tapping" you're doing makes me think you might be being a little timid with it. Your dolly should be spanning the outside high spot on the inside of the door. Sometimes you have to hit it hard enough to get the results you want. Not too hard, you don't want to stretch the metal any more than it already is. You are at a definite disadvantage with your limited selection of dollies. Unless you have the glass out I think it would require an extra set of hands. Maybe even with the glass out. If you are having "oil can" problems with it, ie popping in and out, you are really going to have to figure a way to back it up to use a shrinking hammer. If you can't back it up the torch method described earlier will be your only other choice for shrinking back the area. A picture would be nice.
 
#10 ·
You will want to move the hammer around the while hitting the high spot. You need to work out both the low spot and the high spot together. As probably mentioned before the low spot is causing the high spot. Your dolly needs to be held very tight with outward pressure against the low spot while you hit the high spot with your hammer.

You need to relieve the stress on that metal from the high/low spots before you do anything. Heat shrinking the high spot at this point will yield poor results, as the stress is still in the panel holding the low spot in.

IMO the shrinking hammers and dollies that are out there are junk, they destroy the metal. They fatigue the metal, weaken it making for repairs that later down might occur impossible. Picture meat tenderizers and what that piece of beef looks like after. The modules that make up that steel will just be pounded to death, stay away from the gimmick tools.

When you get to the point that you do need to shrink that metal, which you do, the BEST method is with a shrinking disc. Its the most controlable and fastest method and does NO damage to sheetmetal.
But for fixing that one dent, its not really needed, you can get by using other methods that work on the disc's basic princple.

If you have a DA sander that can be switched into grinder mode you can use that to shrink the metal. If you dont have one that can go into different modes by moving the weight on bottom of the sander then this method WILL NOT WORK.
Take a dull piece of 120-220 sandpaper and run it over the metal. How this works is simple, it hits the high spots in the metal, heat builds up JUST in those high spots caused by fricition. Run your sander over the metal for around 5 secs, then cool the metal with a wet rag, if you DO NOT see steam you didnt heat the metal enough. Continue using the sander until you see steam when you cool.

You will probably find you need to do a few runs of heating and cooling, just the DA sander and the wet rag.

These two links show some metal work using nothing but simple hand tools and the shrinking disc, the end result is a repair with no filler what so ever, you could simply prime it and paint it. Hopefully you might get some ideas on what to do...Eric

http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2099542273
http://www.imagestation.com/album/pictures.html?id=2103083895 This one explains what is going on and shows the tools used.
 
#11 ·
I do have the glass removed for better access to the back side of the dent, but it is still hard to get in there with any of the dollies that I have. I was using a screwdriver or chisel to put pressure on the back side of the dent. I get the feeling that with the screwdriver/chisel method I am only putting pressure on a very small area of the dent, would I have better luck if I used a tool that could put pressure on a larger area of the dent at a time? What else can I to do this? Also I have been "tapping" rather lightly, should I be more aggressive with the hammer?
 
#12 ·
If you can't get enough outward pressure on the low area maybe have a helper put some muscle on it while you work the high areas on the outside. You can also use a slapping spoon instead of a hammer which would be less likely to cause any additional damage if you're uncomfortable with how hard to strike. A slapping spoon can be made from a piece of leafspring fairly easy- do a search for a photo to better describe what you'll need. The spoon strikes the metal and pushes in a a larger area than the hammer and also sends a better shock to get the low area moving outward. If the panel pops in and out (oil canned) after the majority of the dent is removed it will then need to be shrunk. Use a disc or the DA method Eric recomends-works much better than a torch or stud gun IMO.

Getting the metal close to being right will yield the best results, otherwise it's cave and pave time.
 
#13 ·
You guys recomending the DA method of shrinking..
Arent you worried about grinding too much metal off?
Wont the high spot be getting thin?

Just curious.

Cave and Pave... hee hee.

I am guilty of that, but the pothole wasnt too deep, so to speak.
 
#15 ·
You guys recomending the DA method of shrinking..
Arent you worried about grinding too much metal off?
Wont the high spot be getting thin?
Thats why I suggest a DULL piece of sandpaper, and with 180 to 220 that would take some time. The trick is having it dull, but the shrinking disc is far superior...Eric
 
#14 ·
I did manage to make the low spot somewhat better. It definitely is not as deep, but somehow I seem to have made it wider/longer, if that makes sense. I still dont think that the high spot has gone done at all. It sure seems like I have spent WAY too much time on this for such little progress!
 
#17 ·
Dave,
The shrinking disc is nothing more then a piece of 304 stainless. I have a flat one and a low crowned one, it works best in curved areas.
It does NOT remove metal, it simply shrinks metal by causing friction which in turn causes the metal to heat up and shrink.

There is a disc mounted on my grinder, its the flat version. You do need a high amp/rpm grinder to generate the heat. My grinder is a 15amp 6000rpm grinder. The pictured disc is 9in in dia.

http://www.imagestation.com/4325757/3985097305

Bob had mentioned using a slap hammer rather then a body hammer, IMO that would be a huge leap forward. A slapper will talk to more metal at one time because of its larger surface area. Plus body hammer can put damage back in because of their small surface area.
My slapper is the chrome looking thing with the black handle. Also shown is a body hammer, notice the diffference in size.
http://www.imagestation.com/4325757/3985099574

Better picture of the slapper
http://www.imagestation.com/4325757/3985099559
 
#18 ·
If I were to make a slapper of my own, would the piece of steel need to be flat or somewhat curved? How big should it be? If I were to buy one, where and how much?

Thanks guys!
 
#19 ·
Stop by any salvage yard or any spring shop and gather up a few old spring leafs, you can heat them with a torch to bend a handle and shape them with a grinder and cutoff wheel to whatever size you want. I have on a use most often which has two striking surfaces-one on each end. One end has a length of roughly 7 inches and the other end is 4. Or you can buy one.

Another note, the heavy duty truck springs make for some excellent dolly material if you want to cut and shape a few different styles, sometimes they are up to 1.5" thick on the overload springs.
 
#20 ·
The one in the pictures is made by Ron covell,its a top notch tool that I use almost everyday at work, I flat out love it.
But it will cost you, they run around 80 bucks. Ron offers a 2 and 3lb slapper I have the 3lb.
www.covell.biz
If you make your own, you will want one that is curved. Most leaf springs are 2 3/4in wide. My hand made slappers are in different lengths to met my needs. My longest is around 7in
 
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