Stovebolt.com Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop How to start this one?

As with any dent, you need to work it out a little bit at a time or risk stretching the metal more and making the job more difficult. Using a stud puller, only pull a little bit at a time on each stud, then move to another. Pulling on the slide hammer and tapping down the crease as Kevin has suggested, will help relieve the stress in the metal.

Another possibility is to cut out the inner frame blocking the access to the backside, then weld the piece back in.

We need MP&C to weight in on this.

I second Kevin. Cut out the brace. I was fighting a similar dent on a hood for a 70. This is what I did. I took my spot weld cutter and removed the front bracing on the hood. This allowed me to get behind and slowly work the dent nearly back to shape. I unfortunately sold that unfinished hood as a replacement fell into my lap for next to nothing, and the new one had next to nothing for steel work on it.

This would be my recommendation:
Cut spot welds
Remove brace.
Hammer/dolly/ pull the dent.
Check frequently with a contour gauge.
Metal finish.
Epoxy prime where you can’t reach.
Weld brace back in.

More work? Yes. Easier to do? Perhaps. Easier to control mistakes? 100%. And no welding on the damaged area with little warpage at all if your dollying is pretty good.

That’s what I’d do, but I’ve never looked at the backside of a 64-66 hood before. I have one photo of that green hood completed sitting on my buddy’s 72 suburban.

Check the link for in progress photos.

https://photos.google.com/share/AF1...U0NXU3V1ZlBEd3Q3d3NPMW1FYi1INnoteUZKWEt3

Yeah, Robert would look at that and go "PHSSH! Piece of cake!"
Phil and Fox's idea of removing the brace is also a good idea. But that depends on how big a piece that brace is. With the brace removed it would be simple. You'd just have to get the brace welded back in place in the correct location. Not hard, but a little more work.

Many ideas I would have never thought of. Appreciate all of them.

Started playing around with the stud puller with some coaching from a body guy. He forgot the plate which allows him to pull more than 1 stud at a time so he showed me how to use it and I attacked some of the other dents and the creases from a boat sitting on top of the roof. Had a couple small tear outs, but I was surprised how this little gadget works.

When he comes back with the needed tool I am anxious to see him get this big one out.

Looks like you're getting there.
On your picture #4, I would have made the first pull in the very center of the dent, although it's hard to tell where that is from the picture. Looks like your studs are off to the left of center.

Pic 4 hasn't started yet. Dale has a plate to pull multiple studs at once. Going to do that one hopefully this weekend.