Sheet metal "massage" help needed.

[ebinmaine 67,657]

Folks my rear fender on the 1975 Automatic has some issues in the back where the tire would contact with the fender pan raised. 

Looks like a PO either raised the fender along with moving forward...

Or...

Backed into something biggish.  

 

I need to know what objects or tools to use and how to go about straightening/pulling UP the metal away from the tires.  

 

 

What say you fine folkses. ....? 

[JPWH 6,040]

A picture of the fender would help to advise the repair method.

Jay

[ebinmaine 67,657]

8 minutes ago, JPWH said:

A picture of the fender would help to advise the repair method.

Jay

Absolutely.  

 

 

 

This is the bottom facing you. 

Rear fin clamped to table. Whole fender standing up.  

 

 

The areas in white circles are pushed on towards the tires. The blue circle on the left is a wrinkle. 

The blue line on the right denotes a pair of wrinkles.  

The small yellow circle is a wicked little inward wrinkle.  

 

 

Here's a picture without the marks (for clarity).  

 

 

[JPWH 6,040]

First thing I would do is hammer and dolly to smooth out the wrinkles. Then work on the larger areas that are left. Taking out the wrinkles will take care of some of the pushed in areas.

[Pullstart 62,916]

A little heat on the dented spots might help too.  Enough to help stretch the steel you know.  No spare fenders EB?

[ebinmaine 67,657]

17 minutes ago, Pullstart said:

 No spare fenders EB?

I have the same amount of fenders as tractors to be restored. I could rob one and fix this later but... Why not just do it now ... Besides, the learning is fun.  😊

[Achto 27,609]

1 hour ago, ebinmaine said:

I need to know what objects or tools to use and how to go about straightening/pulling UP the metal away from the tires

 

Like stated above, use a hammer & dolly to knock things back into place. When working out dents - first in last out is a good rule of thumb. 

[ebinmaine 67,657]

1 hour ago, JPWH said:

First thing I would do is hammer and dolly to smooth out the wrinkles. Then work on the larger areas that are left. Taking out the wrinkles will take care of some of the pushed in areas.

 

5 minutes ago, Achto said:

 

Like stated above, use a hammer & dolly to knock things back into place. When working out dents - first in last out is a good rule of thumb. 

 

I've a strong feeling that once the wrinkles are flattened out the ends are still gonna need movement.  

What can we do to bend the whole corners?

 

[Achto 27,609]

11 minutes ago, ebinmaine said:

What can we do to bend the whole corners?

 

 

I have used a concrete floor as my dolly many times. Hold the fenders at the correct angle on the floor and tap things out strait. A third hand could be useful when doing this, but I usually manage by myself.

[JPWH 6,040]

A dead blow hammer on the larger areas with a board on backside for general movement followed by hammer and dolly works good for me. Depends on how things need to move. The dead blow hammer won't make sharp hammer marks like a steel hammer will.

Edited December 27, 2022 by JPWH

[8ntruck 7,019]

Has the triangular area between the center of the fender and the offset area near the tire been flattened?  If so, I'd start there trying to restore the offset to match the opposite side.

 

As far as bending the fender away from the tire, I'd try clamping the short part of the fender to a table or bench, then use the rest of the seat pan to bend the fender back.

 

Would be helpful to have pictures from the other side of the pan. 

[ebinmaine 67,657]

5 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

 

 

Would be helpful to have pictures from the other side of the pan. 

 

I'll get some later today.  

[squonk 41,158]

First rule of sheet metal repair. If you fix it and use it,  it will get bent again! 

Edited December 27, 2022 by squonk

[ebinmaine 67,657]

6 minutes ago, squonk said:

First rule of sheet metal repair. If you fix it and use it,  it will get bent again! 

Absolutely true!

[ri702bill 8,347]

@ebinmaine - A second identical pan  -  in good shape  -  can be a good visual guide to your progress of massaging the damaged one. Also helps to do "The Pringle Thing" - stack the good one on top, look inside them for variations....BT,DT.

[ebinmaine 67,657]

11 hours ago, 8ntruck said:

pictures

The area circled in blue is the worst. You can see that's pushed in quite a fair amount.

 

The opposite side that's on top right now. I didn't mark that but it too, is dented some.

 

 

 

 

[oliver2-44 9,761]

A tip an old rat rod acquaintance gave me was to work from the outer edge of the dent inward, tap, tap, tap.
In other words don’t take the BIg Hammer and smash it in the middle of the dent. 

[Achto 27,609]

6 minutes ago, oliver2-44 said:

tip an old rat rod acquaintance gave me was to work from the outer edge of the dent inward, tap, tap, tap.

First in last out.

[8ntruck 7,019]

sometimes taking big bites of the dent will stretch the metal enough that it won't want to go back to where it started.

[RandyLittrell 3,884]

Best way to do that is to bolt it back to a tractor, then use your hands or even a two by four between the tire and fender. If you have it on a tractor, you can stand back and look at it to get both sides the same. 

 

 

 

Randy

[ranger 1,750]

If the metal is stretched and you don’t have any means of shrinking it, ie, shrinking tools, oxy-acetylene torch etc, Don’t try to hammer the dent out with a “Hard” hammer whilst supporting the metal against a “Hard” backing, dolly, etc. You’ll only stretch it more. Use a block of hard wood as a dolly, and a metal hammer, or a metal dolly with a wooden mallet. There are many old publications around which can guide you, but remember, most steel “body” panels made from the early 1970’s are made from “High Strength” steel, which is much more difficult to work/rework than the previous material used, which was much more malleable. 
google “The key to metal bumping” you should be able to open or download this book for free as a pdf file.

Edited December 27, 2022 by ranger

[ebinmaine 67,657]

On 12/26/2022 at 8:34 PM, Pullstart said:

 No spare fenders EB?

So ya know...

It dawned on me in the thread about Trina's "new" 857...

You wrote about one o yer girl kids liking their own whether it had a spring seat or fender pan.  

I got a seat from @AMC RULES so I could put it on one of Trina's rides rides because she liked the look of @Sparky's trail cruiser and others, like the 1045 she now has too. 

That means I DO have an extra fender pan for something around here!!

 

😃🤔

[Pullstart 62,916]

I know @Sparky did his with a little trimming of the original sheet metal.  Our process was more involved…

 

 

[ebinmaine 67,657]

2 hours ago, Pullstart said:

I know @Sparky did his with a little trimming of the original sheet metal.  Our process was more involved…

 

 

 

We'll have to wait and see which machine she chooses.. 

And how the changeover is done.  

 

We have the fenders and seat with spring but I'll have to make up brackets to hold the fenders in place.  

[Pullstart 62,916]

Back to this image EB… I ran Putt Putt for about a year after the 2018 Big Show with no toolbox or fenders…. Options…