The big thing here is do not rely on over the counter dollies for everything. On the lower curve I would have a piece of steel pipe or better yet cold roll steel. If I am right I think your thumb would lay in the roll just about right. Round the ends with a grinder. Lay it behind the high pick area and with your shrinking hammer tap it back down moving back and forth with hammer and dolly (your home made dolly/pipe). Don't be aggressive and wail away, medium bangs and check your progress every minute or so. Always moving your dolly so you are centered on it. The same with the big curve of the upper hood. If you have a store bought curved dolly that is close to the curve do the same, moving the dolly as you hammer so you do not hit a part of the dolly that does not match your curve. You may want to practice on a junk part. For the crease I use a flat steel stock that is about 1/2 inch thick and about 3 inches long on, on the right side of the metal and the same size piece on the back but using the edge of the metal only at the crease you are trying to put back right. Best if you had someone holding and moving the back piece as you hammer (lightly) on the front piece moving back and forth on the crease...Make any sense? Its hard to explain and takes some practice doing. Practice on a junk part not the actual part.
There are some really good videos of John Kelly showing lots of different techniques for doing body work. I really like a lot of them because he is not doing things with high tech equipment. I think there are 40 in all. If you think they should be posted somewhere else or maybe they already are, feel free, I am just not familiar as to where the best place would be. Anything to help others learn to DIY and hold on to their $$ for other things that need to be taken care of.
I can not get this post to copy the whole link for some reason so go to Google.com, select videos, then search Custom Metal Bodywork John Kelly, and that will bring up the videos.
