The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Interesting dent that I have been looking at

I have this dent on the left rear of my 67 Suburban. I've been studying it for a while (more like avoiding messing with it).

I have a stud welder and have been trying to decide where to put them for the best outcome and least added damage.

Always more than one way to approach. Of course I only have pics to go by. I don't have a stud welder. I have had situations with pretty deep dents, as that seems to be, in a place with no rear access. So I probably would cut out the dent as a rectangular piece going up somewhat. Then I would form the piece back to shape. I Then I would find a suitable tool to stick up in the hole to force the seam back together. Then weld the fixed up patch back on.

I may take a good look at the area where the window frame is. Inside. I may cutout a piece to be able to fit a tool on there to force/pry the dent out and the seam closed. Thinking that the window frame will cover much of the patch. Not sure about that idea. Window needs to come out anyway, so take it out for that repair. I do like to try and think of as many ideas as I can, crazy or not, to get outside the box thinking going. In my past career, it's called brainstorming. To be sure I had thought of all possibilities and not get fixed on something just because I had a stud welder. For example.

You can obviously cut a hole and go straight in from the back to pound the dent outward and the seam upward. The piece you cut out will go back on and be the proper shape and fit. You need to use a thin cut tool so you don't have gaposis....and be able to weld thin metal. (I have a suggestion for that also if you decide to weld)

I have done both the ideas mentioned.
Nothing is easy. It's all a lot of work. For me it gives satisfaction (once the grinding and filler is done).
The stud weld way could be the best. I just don't know if the seam will close up....and can't tell the extent of the situation.

It looks like you do really good work. Kudos.

Could you do some surgery on the back of the panel to allow you to pound it out from the backside? If you had a clean 1" hole or two, you could do some pretty good metal shaping using a hardwood dowel through the hole. Grind the end of the dowel slightly convex and you could shape metal in about a 3" diameter around each hole. Just make a hole with a size and location that you could repair the area easily and invisibly.

Of course having a stud welder and a heavy slide hammer would accomplish the same pretty quickly too. I think your stud locations are good but just plan on going easy to gradually work it out. Just plan on redoing all the studs at least a couple times. The gap should close somewhat but that can be dealt with later with some welding if need be.

Some stuff like this I have outsourced to a pro (If you can move the vehicle) as it's often cheap and super fast since they are only doing the one repair and no prep - just getting it close and the right guy can work this to the point of not needing filler. I've had annoying stuff like this fixed in a day for literally $100. That can be satisfying too...

I think I would put some stud locations below that wrinkle. That part has to come out as well. Pulling it out will close up the seam somewhat on the upper part, but that wrinkle will be the toughest part to get straight, possibly needing some access to the backside.

Before you proceed, I would wait for MPandC to weigh in. He would have better suggestions than I do. He may recommend cutting the wrinkle out completely in order to get it gone satisfactorily.

Good luck on whatever you attempt. The one saving grace is that you probably would have to work hard to make it worse than it is.

On the top corner right next to the window appears to be stress cracking in the paint indicating that the rain gutter is pushed in quite a bit and again shown with the separation of the seam. That would be my first place to pull. I don’t think the stud welder is going to be able to pull that out and I think you would be better off welding a 16-18 gauge plate with a hole to put a hook to do the pull. The plate needs to be 3-4” long welded right on the panel edge/seam at the deepest part of the dent. Don’t go crazy with the welds, a few 1/2” welds will suffice. Weld it only on one side so it can easily be removed by hitting it with a hammer on the other side of the welds, folding it over and snapping the welds. If you don’t have a solid point to attach a come-a-long pull the truck next to a good sized tree and use that to attach your pulling device. Use a nylon sling so you don’t damage the tree. Another caution you probably already know but I wouldn't feel right not warning you. Don’t stand inline with you pull. Always to the side in case it breaks off. Once you get you seam out where it belongs, that should close up most of that gap and the rest should fall into place using your new stud welder. Do your pulls a little at a time while tapping the high spots to release the stress.

The gutter may have to come off as well as removing the window. The window appears to be cracked, Did the dent cause it to crack?

Access to the back would definitely help but I assume it has an inner panel that prevents that. Is the inside panel also pushed in? Can we get a picture of the inside?

I also agree with klhansen and would like to hear MP&C’s opinion.

thanks for the responses.

Access from the back. I would need to cut holes... I'd rather have the holes on the inside (vice cutting the bent part out, fixing it and welding it back in.

The window is broken. I'd like to leave it in as long as possible to keep it weather proof.

I had not thought of welding a piece to pull on, that might be an option that I explore.

I'll have to look at my assembly manual and see how the window frame is attached.

Some of the pulling kits have zig-zag wire that gets welded on to pull on, and have attachments with groups of hooks to do a linear pull.
Here's a kit with the gizmos for linear pulling. I wasn't able to find the wires individually in a quick search.
Disclaimer - I have not used anything like this.

If it possible, I would slide a steel pipe/round rod up inside from the tail light hole, then an access hole straight in from low point of the dent to pound on your pipe. (Cut concave round on end of pounding pipe so it doesn’t slip off). This will help spread out the hammering force to keep from making dents from the other direction.