The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop popping out dents advice

I have several project vehicles I'm about to start some body work on. I've ordered one of those 4 ton porta power kits to address some dents I believe will pop out via this tool.
One dent is on the right rear fender PIC
Been scouring the www for intel and find theres many ways to attack paintless dent repair.
Looking for any advice/tricks etc.,
The pictured dent is very similar to several on both behicles, some have creases.

Thanks
Dave

Looks like a great project truck. As far as that dent in the right rear fender goes.....a porta power is overkill for sure. A guy could remove that fender and pound it out with a hammer and dolly pretty quick. Even a novice should have no trouble, provided the fender comes off easy enough. A 4 ton porta power is a great tool for the shop if you are moving frame rails, straightening bent core supports and other heavy duty moving of metal. I've even used mine to break down the split ring rims on my 47 AD to install new tires! Good luck with your projects.

Withdrawn from thread to minimize confusion.

No need to remove the fender- - - -the bed makes a better holding fixture than anything you can cobble up on a workbench. Use a body hammer with a little bit of crown to the face, and a heavy dolly on the outside of the metal. Work the dent out a little at a time, starting at the edges and moving toward the middle. If you use the porto-power at all, don't overdo it- - - -once the metal is stretched you'll have several times the work involved to get it right. Don't pound directly on the dolly- - -keep the hammer strokes slightly off to the edge so the metal isn't sandwiched between the hammer and the dolly. You should be able to get the contour within 1/8" or less of the original shape before using any body filler at all, and much closer than that if you're willing to file and metal-finish the repair. Spray a very thin "guide coat" of primer to identify the low spots that need to be raised slightly during the metal finishing step.
Jerry

I agree. Do NOT use a porta-power on that dent. You're likely to stretch the metal and make a new "anti-dent" that stands proud of the original contour.

Get the truck on a jack stand and remove the wheel to give you some room to work. Starting point would be to use a low crown dolly and smack the dent from the inside with it near where the object that caused it hit. Doing that will flatten the crease a bit. Then work with the hammer from outside near the high spots with the dolly held tightly under the low spot near where you strike with the hammer. What you want to do is bounce the dolly off the back side and have it rebound to hit the low spot. That's called off-dolly work. Like Hotrod Lincoln said, avoid striking the dolly directly. It's pretty amazing how the metal will work it's way back into shape. Take it slow and work your way around the damage.

It probably won't be paintless, but it'll be pretty close. You might be able to live with polishing up the marred spots and not have to repaint.

One other option to the valid ones already mentioned is paying a paint less dent repair professional to fix it... At least get a free estimate before attempting it.

You might be pleasantly surprised at the cost / benefit.... " might be"..

Before you do anything, buy yourself one of these booksl

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/mtf-bfb?seid=srese1&gclid=CKzemrnTt8kCFYOBaQod2PsMaA

It was written around the time your vehicle was built and it is written for beginners.

You are very lucky because it is actually a very easy dent to bump out because it is in an easy spot to get to and nobody has screwed it up with trying to hammer it out. But it will take patience. A port o power is a handy tool to have, but don't even think about using it on a dent like this.

Good deal, appreciate ALL the info. Body work has never been a forte of mine and have always been impressed with those that can perform it.
So a porta power is overkill, well shoot, that rear fender dent looked custom made for it's application. Still I'm sure I'll find a good use for the kit. (always try to justify new tools and I always need new tools).

So a hammer and dolly kit for body work is a preferred necessity, I'll be checking into that.

re. stretched metal. Should one use heat or cold to help "shrink" the dent?
Does the amount of time a dent is "stretched" effect it's repair and/or subsequent pounding back into it's original pressed state?

Saving the paint on the truck isn't necessary as the ultimate plan is to repaint it back to it's showroom glory but I'd like to minimize filler if that is even possible. That dent will go along ways in determining whether I seek professional craftsmanship in this resto/mod project.

Dave

Body metal has a "memory"- - - -it wants to go back to its original shape before the damage went in, providing the metal has not been severely creased, stretched, or torn. The body man's job is to carefully reverse the damage while creating as little further distortion as possible. The purpose of hammer and dolly work is to reverse the original bending forces in the exact opposite direction, if possible. Once metal is stretched, it needs to be heated and rapidly cooled to shrink back to its original shape. I use an acetylene torch with a very small tip and a needle-point neutral flame to heat an area about half the size of a dime red hot, then quench it with a water-soaked rag to rapidly cool the spot. Immediately after the heat/quench procedure, use a hammer and dolly to flatten out any distortion. This is one place where "hammer on dolly" work is needed, but only light to moderate blows with the hammer are used to prevent further stretching. Repeat the heat/quench/hammer sequence in several places to pull the stretched spot back into shape.
Jerry

Any time you strike hammer on dolly you will stretch the metal which will then need to be shrunk. What's holding the dent in place are primarily the "rolled buckles" at the top & bottom. The buckles fwd & aft are contributing but not as much. To remove the dent you need to apply outward force to the metal while lightly striking off dolly on the top & bottom rolled buckles. A body spoon will assist in spreading the hammer force over a wider area, minimizing collateral hammer strike damage. While you can "pound it out" with a hammer and/or dolly, I'll go against the grain here and recommend using a porta power if you have one. It's a great tool to apply the outward force a bit at a time while you off dolly hammer the buckles to relieve them. Just pounding it out will usually cause more damage than it fixes. You'll notice as you lightly strike the buckles, with the porta power holding pressure against the dent, that the porta power's push will lighten with each hammer strike. You'll need to hammer a little then put more pressure on the porta power then hammer more then more pressure etc.. Depending on the severity of the rolled buckles, application of heat may help.

What's happened is the metal has become work hardened and wants to stay in that position. It can be hammered straight but will have stresses in the metal that will make it weaker and prone to cracking. Remember what happens when you bend a piece of metal back and forth enough for it to break. That's work hardening that gets worse with each bend until the metal is brittle enough to part.

Once you get the overall profile close you can do away with the porta power and finish it with hammer & dolly. Try to finish it off by pushing out on the low spots from inside using the dolly while lightly striking the high spots surrounding the low area with your hammer. Hard strikes are rarely beneficial. The first day in class so many years ago when I went to body & fender trade school was to mentally picture how the dent was created. What force from which direction caused the damage. The correct repair is to do the exact opposite. Good luck.

I have popped a dent like that out with a big rubber mallet (leaves no hammer marks). There appears to be a bad crease at the top which will need some hammer off dolly work.
Carl