TR2/3/3A TR3 Rear inner fender dent repair

[mallard]

The inner sills on my car seem to have been a bit to long when new at the factory. I've looked at other cars and some have the same dents in the inner fender that mine has. And being as anal as I am I want to remove this dent. It looks like at the factory they just hit the inner fender with a hammer to get the body to sit over the sills. Has any body else had to do this repair? Is the end of the inner sill boxed? If not I would like to try to trim the end somehow so I could hammer back the dent. Please look at the picture to see the area of question just below the tape. Thanks

 

[prb51]

Keith,
I suspect you could do it the old fashioned way, drill and pull then plug.
Why do all of that though, if it is a factory event then it's concours ready.
I have a license (to kill) as an auto inspector for a national appraisal group and we look for the known factory imperfections per marque when appraising and they raise the value of the car. Their absence indicates a restoration by someone that didn't really know the marque (i.e the fibergalss body seam in early vette's is often ground off when someone over restores them thinking it's a flaw when they came from the factory in that manner).
OTOH if it really bugs you have at it.

 

[alfa33047]

Hey prb51(Pat), Mallard was over looking at my 58 TR-3 that I am restoring and it has the same reverse dent at the bottom of the inner fender well. It looks butt ugly, most of the rusty cars you see have a rusted out hole in the same place. If it was rusted out you wouldn't feel too bad about putting in a patch and smoothing it over. I, like Mallard haven't figured out what to do yet? Good Luck, Bill C. Mesa, Az

 

[tdskip]

I have a license (to kill) as an auto inspector for a national appraisal group

Quick - everyone be super nice to PRB51 from now on! But act casual about it... LOL.

 

[prb51]

Bill,
I have slight indents too, and a few other little whacks to make everything fit properly....hey, that means we have hand made coachwork...that will look great on our ebay write ups.


tdskp...not to worry, I have to ask my wife first and she hasn't let me whack anyone in years.

 

[Don Elliott]

I can't remember if my 1958 TR3A had a similarly deformed inner wing at the rear of the inner sill before I did my restoration from 1987 to 1990. It was all rusted away. I had stored the TR during the first four winters, but then from 1963 to 1972, I drove it winters and summers. Since I was doing a full body-off, I made it all smooth again. No judge at TRA or VTR said it was wrong. Being smooth means it's easier to wipe clean when cleaning there just before a concours. BTW, I've driven it over 100,000 miles since 1990.

If you want it smooth, you could sand it down to bare steel, then use body filler till it's smooth.

 

[TFR]

I think you can purchase a suction device from Ronco (as seen on TV) that will help you to pull it out...

 

[TR3driver]

Years ago we had a speaker at a club meeting who had visited the factory "back when". He mentioned that by far the most common tool in evidence was hammers of all sizes and descriptions. "Bash it til it fits" appears to have been the rule of the day.

He also mentioned seeing both body parts and semi-completed cars sitting outside in the rain, "pre-rusting"

 

[mallard]

The problem with the dent is that it sticks out because the inner sill is to long. They had to hit the back side of the inner fender out so it would fit. It seems that the only way to fix it would be to some how shorten the sill and hammer in the dent. I was wondering if the back end of the sill was boxed in and if it is is it at the very end or recessed. I believe the car came from the factory with the dents on both R&L sides, but it would bother me if I did not try to correct it. Thanks for all the feedback.