The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Dents in cab

Hey I was wondering if anyone could give me a tip to getting the dents out of my cab roof. They are mostly in the very front of the cab where the sheet metal is stamped into the curve above the windshield. I don't really want to fill with bondo and forget it while I have the truck all torn down.

How bad a dent are you talking about? Small dents, medium dents or large dents you need to tell us or show a pic.of the damage
There are several ways to fix them by welding a stud or drilling a hole and using a slide hammer on the two or shrinking them if they are not to big with heat and a damp cloth,leading them if not to big etc. or cut out a piece as a last resort and weld in a new piece.
62Blue
Don

sask, I'm not sure what year of truck you're referring to but I imagine the dents are at a 'double skinned' section and you can't gain access from the inside.
As Don said,pics would help,but his suggestions are what I would recommend as well.

I use one of these to pull dents out of spots that are not accessible from the inside. http://www.dentfix.com/viewItem.asp?idProduct=42&item=DF-1_Deluxe_Stud_Welding_Kit

I saw somewhere a fitting that adapts your MIG welder to do the same job.
It replaces the gas shroud and allows you to tack studs on to pull out the dent with a slide hammer.
I'll see if I can find out more info,it might be a cheaper option.

http://good-times.webshots.com/album/562588622NDAfkF

The proper method of dent removal.

If you dont have backside access the best thing to do is get a stud gun which welds a small nail to the dent and allows you to pull the dent out.

I certainly would NOT drill holes in the dents or cut it out and replace with a undamaged piece of metal.

Why would you cut out a dent and weld in a new piece? Now you have to deal with the warpage from welding, plus the corrosive hot spot on the backside of the metal.

With a stud gun and a body hammer you should be able to darn near fully remove the damage. Weld a stud to the dent and apply light pulling pressure while tapping the surrounding high spot with a hammer. This surrounding high spot is the reason your dent is there, its holding the dent in place with tension. Slight upward pressure on the dent and tapping with the hammer on the high will relieve the tension and allow the metal to return to its natural state.

Start welding the studs to the shallower portions of the dent first working towards the deeper areas. DO NOT start in the deep area first, this will cause additional creases within the dent!!!!
Start on the outside and work inward towards the deeper regions of the crease.

You also do NOT need to melt the stud to metal, just enough of trigger pull to get the stud to stick. Any time to heat metal you shrink it, by melting the stud to the dent and having a huge blue spot surrounding the stud just caused a huge shrunken spot and in return harder to repair.

Hey thanks guys my truck is a 42 chev 1.5 ton and in the early 90's there was a hail storm which dropped baseball sized hail and the front of the cab took the worst of it after it smashed out the windshield if I could figure out how to post pics I would

http://s811.photobucket.com/albums/zz40/sask42/ here is the link to the pics I have to get some more done soon of how it is going on the resto

All of the dents I can see can be bumped out without using a stud gun. All you really need is a low crowned dinging hammer, an anvil and possibly a shrinking pick. Buy yourself one of these books. http://www.autobodytoolmart.com/martin-key-to-metal-bumping-instructional-book-p-13673.aspx and read it carefully. Some of the parts of the book are no longer relevant. Using a little bondo instead of lead won't hurt anything. But the basics of body bumping haven't changed. Then find an old junk vehicle, preferably 50 years old or so and knock some dents in it. Practice bumping the dents out. The vehicle you have pictured is too nice to practice on. Bumping is kind of like welding. If you really try, you can get pretty good at it with some practice. Becoming an expert takes years of practice.

Ah welding I know! Thing is what I learn while doing my truck will go towards properly restoring my dad's 1929 1.5 ton gmc so this is why I am asking plus any idea's or tips that could help movie it along will just be like the cherry on the cake