Just want to share a few experiences with hammering and dollying on my TR4A.

First, this is the first time for me. Basis some sage advice from the forum, I rented a few videos from Smartflix.com, including one from the "famous" Ron Covell. It is good to watch people fix dents, to get a feel for how long things should take / how hard to hit, etc. I also bought “a guide to metal bumping” from eastwood. Finally I bought a forged hammer/dolly set from harbor freight. (I do not mean to endorse any company, only mention where I was able to find stuff.)

First time I tried fixing a dent, it took a few weeks. I started hitting gently, and nothing happened. Hit harder, nothing happens. Study some, hit some, and repeat… Then I got to the point where I would tap-tap-tap for a while, and suddenly the dent moved! And so on…. Patience, patience, patience!

What I find works for me:

1. Make sure the panel is rigidly fixed; for example leave it on the car.
2. Clean the panel – sand off all paint in the area of the dent. Both sides, if possible.
3. Use the palm of my hand to feel out the dents. I find to use my hand, light, and my fingertips (despite warnings against fingertips) all together works the best. Cloth gloves help, but I find them not necessary.
4. With a sharpie, I mark the creases, high and low areas. This allows me to aim my hammer. After each step, I wash the panel with alcohol and re-mark.
5. Use a dolly behind the dent, and hit the dent with it to get things into rough shape. This takes a little muscle.
6. Finer work is done with dolly on the “high” side of the dent, and hitting on the “high” spots on the other side. (E.g. if a dent is inward to the sheet metal, the dolly sits on the backside, and the hammer hits on the outside.) Start with a lot of muscle, i.e. firm pressure, on the dolly. Hammer hits are medium hard; gentle, but firm.
7. Fine work is done with little pressure on the dolly, and gentle taps. A flat file works to define the high/low areas.
8. I did only a little "metal-finishing” work. My panels are straight within less than 1/8" (closer to 1/16, maybe). I will end up using some filler. I could get a “tapper” type of device to precisely hit high/low areas. (I forget the technical name, and cannot find a link to post… a big c-shaped device, a hammer on one end of the ‘c’ and a dolly at the other, with a hinge in the middle. When the hammer hits, it hits directly on the dolly and allows fine metal shaping to happen.)


My overall plan is to fix the major body dents, repair rust damage on the tub (floors, and a little bit in each footwell), then remove the body parts and fix whatever “exposes itself” on the body or tub. When all metal is sound, blast the tub, fix newly exposed problems, and finally prime/paint. Then remove all the paint from the panels, fix, fill, prime/paint.


Just kinda telling my story to the world, I hope it helps someone out there! I am starting to like this hammer/dolly work! Pretty neat how metal moves around.

have a good weekend,
mike

A little trick I use .. put a piece of paper between your hand and the metal. It reduces the friction and you can feel the high/lows better. You can use a piece of sandpaper (with the grit side towards your hand) since sandpaper is always in abundance when doing body work.

Sounds like you are making good progess. Have you tried shrinking metal yet?

Another tip I learned from a true panel beater. Close your eyes when feeling/finding dents. Seriously.

Scott, I learned the same thing, years ago! It does make a difference, too.

John, one advantage to using the sandpaper, grit to palm, is that it won't slip around under your hand like regular paper will.

Mike, it sounds like you're taking the right approach. As to how the metal moves, a few years ago, I took a class from a famous panel beater, and we spent the first two days going over the periodic table, the crytalline structure of steel, how it moves under heat or pressure,etc., before we ever even looked at metal.
A week well spent, and my employer picked up the tab!
Jeff

Thanks for the tips! (Now if any of my neighbors catches me with my eyes closed and gently feeling my car... I'm dead!)

Shrinking... yes I have, but in small quantities. I made a disk out of an old stainless pot ($2.00 at Habitat for Humanity ReStore). Drilled a hole in the bottom and gently bent the edges to give it a little crown. (Hardest part was making the crown even around the disk... spinning at 10,000 RPM in my grinder meant any little imperfections manifested themselves as a nasty buzz!)

The disk works OK. It is slow but I prefer it slow. I used it on the door, where I had a gentle crease; the "area" of the dent was large. I reparied the dent such that it was a little high, then hit it with the disk to shrink it down.

mike

P.S. Probably the most helpful link I used:

http://www.jag-lovers.org/xk-lovers/library/removing_dents.html

Hi Guys
Hope this might help.