Bodywork Help needed

[dahoyle]

As the title says, need a bit of advice here on some bodywork. Headed out of town to a job in Green River WY, and thought I could actually get something done on her on the weekends, so I loaded her up on a trailer, swung by Tool Zone to pick up some hammers and dollys, and hit the road.

The problem is that I tried said tools on the fender flares, and if they were doing any good, I couldn't tell. I'm pretty sure that I will have to drill out the spotwelds on the front flares, and work them over a buck, so I'm not to concerned about them right now. The rears will obviously have to be repaired in place, since there is no way to remove them without really hacking the bed up.

I'm really motivated to do the best body work possible on the thing, but I'm really not sure how to straighten those things out and have them come out looking as if they have never been bent. Bigger Hammer? Heat? any suggestions welcome. I hate the idea of taking a rosebud to them, as I'm afraid that heating them might cause problems down the road, but at the same time, I need to get them smooth.

Any ideas?




Thanks
Doug

[Fastfrankie]

Well depending on how bad your fenders are, you may be able to get them back in shape. I have done bodywork for the past decade and getting those fenders straight isn't easy. I have used heat and dollies with body hammers. If you notice, there is a slight depression towards the outer part (edge) of the flared fenders. Getting that straight is tough. NOS fender flares do not have this depression - I have a NOS flare that I bought a few years ago from VPW.
Post a pic...my flares were in good shape. I have seen some that are beyond repair - kinked up etc.

[randyscycle]

I worked my flares on the truck, but I wheel it, so they didn't stay perfect for long.

They are pretty thick stuff and take a fair amount of heat and hammer time to get them looking good again.

[Snuffy]

I made 'fender menders' to fix mine. Removed the wheel - jacked it into place. Allowed me to repair the flares and the associated body bends.

I got some 3/8 flat bar rolled to the radius needed and had two 'center pieces' laser cut out of 11 ga. I welded them together... and then had something that forced the fenders out to the proper radius and allowed me to beat the raised wrinkles flat again.

[fisherman]

You will need to use heat, keep a bucket and a wet towel handy for shrinking. You will figure it out as you start. I also used a couple 2lb. sledge hammers with the heat. If I can straighten mine as well as I did, anyone can do it if they set their minds to it.

[Hetzer]

I've tried beating on mine with hammers and they just don't want to move.

So I'll have to move on to the heat and beat. Those flares are thick.

[Doug]

It would help to see pics.

One thing I've used repeatedly in PITA spots is a old foot ball, or inner tube to push or hold blocks in place. Air it down and wedge your block in with it, and then pump it up to hold the block in place. Gives you a much firmer hammer back up than you can do by hand.

[randyscycle]

Like Doug said, a good back up under the part you're trying to wail on helps.

I've used a combination of jacks, wood blocks, straps, chains, etc to get things back into place body-wise. Pretty much whatever it takes.

[fisherman]

I had great success with heating the metal with a torch, I think map gas would work really well. Heat until you can move the metal easily with light blows. Shrinking the hot metal with a rag and cold water as well. I had never attempted this before working on my trucks bed fenders. They were pretty messed up. They look almost perfect now. You will get the hang of it once you get started. It actually was pretty easy for me.

[dahoyle]

Well, finally had a bit of time to upload some pics, and actually had some limited success on some of the damage.

[IMG][/IMG]







It looks pretty rough, but after today, I'm pretty sure I was exaggerating how difficult the repair was going to be.

Also straightened out the angle brackets, and they came out very well considering how bad they were bent.



Also, it isn't terribly difficult to remove the flares from the front fenders, and will make it much easier to straighten them. Also should make it easier to handle the fenders, flareless, but the truth is, that except for where the rear angle brackets tweaked them, they are in remarkably good shape.



Thanks for all the advice so far, and beware of additional questions coming.

I'm a pretty decent fabricator/wrench, but this bodywork stuff is pretty new to me.

Doug