[Shiny]

Thought I'd share my struggle to learn some body work skills and get help from those that know.

My front valance started less than perfect, then got folded by some careless movers:

https://forums.maxperformanceinc.com...d.php?t=869485

So here was the worst of it after it was assaulted:



My limited understanding of sheet metal repair came from an old book by Sargent that I think is great. I started by assuming this crease was where the load was applied and the bending happened as a result. So I started by just pushing it back to this:



Then I started hitting it with a dolly and used a shrinking disk on the fold, assuming metal had been stretched there. I got it back to this:

[Shiny]

Next session, I worked on the fold area a little more with a hammer (off dolly) and a "slapper". This helped smooth it out "locally" but there is still a "macro" profile problem to address:



I then started sanding with a block to ID other "opportunities" and found several. I hope to go after these one at a time.

Here's a section with some "ripples" and a larger depression:



Here's a tear I will have to weld:



...along with this spot weld rupture:

[Shiny]

More damage to try and fix...

Here's a hole that doesn't belong and will need to be welded. The only time I did this before I didn't understand how welding can shrink and it wasn't easy for me to recover. This one will get planished:



And here's a weird bunch of ripples... not sure what would have caused this so will think before I jump:

[400 4spd.]

My suggestion on the split would be to sand blast both sides of it to remove the rust, then weld it from the back side. You'll have a heavier, stronger (and unseen) weld that you won't risk grinding through.

[Shiny]

Originally Posted by 400 4spd.

My suggestion on the split would be to sand blast both sides of it to remove the rust, then weld it from the back side. You'll have a heavier, stronger (and unseen) weld that you won't risk grinding through.

Good timing and suggestion, thank you! I definitely would have welded from the outside so this is the kind of help I need!

I had actually planned on welding next, so spent a couple hours unpacking my welder and searching for welding stuff after our move last fall.

It has been several years since I welded anything on my car and I never had any skill so I'm approaching this with a known need to practice.

Naturally, the welder needed a new plug... does this happen to anyone else? You have to fix something before you can use it to fix something???

Anyway, the welder works, my auto-dim helmet worked, and I'm ready to practice. I'll watch some Youtube videos on how to set it up and buy some sheet metal for practice. I remember it was easy to burn holes through it

[Shiny]

I'm making some progress. Like usual for me, 2 steps forward, 1 back, but I haven't given up yet.

I have now welded it twice. I spent time on my practice piece, had it dialed in, made lots of small welds that looked great. With all the confidence I could muster, I moved right to the valance. The settings proved too weak and I had cold-looking welds. Note to self: find 20 ga practice metal, 22 ga is not the same.

So I walked away, regrouped, and went after it again. It wasn't pretty, but I feel like fusion happened.

I took the advice on another thread and cut a small disc to fill the hole. I'm declaring this good enough.



I could not reach the back of the tear in the corner so welded it from the front. This went better than the hole.




So on to the seriously hard stuff for me - dollies and hammers..

I spent an hour working on "rough" shaping. I did OK on most of it, but still have a challenge where the big fold happened. I also found two other messes that are cooperating better. They both have a bunch of work damage now. This is where I struggle. The metal whisperer gene did not get passed to me.

Here's one of the messes... I have to get the overall curve better, then deal with the dimples. I'm sure I can get it closer, just have to be careful not to stretch it out.



I like trying to learn this and the worst that happens is I find a used one and start over.

For some reason I keep getting flashbacks to a Mechanical Metallurgy class in ~1974 about tri-axial stress states.... didn't sink in then, either!

Mike

[Cammer-6]

Could be worse
Could be 80s Japanese,thin as rice paper.
At least you have some real metal to deal with.
rather than hammer and dolly try using a slapping file.
old timer taught me this about 40 yrs ago,guess that means Im old timer now.

[Shiny]

Thanks Cammer-6

I have both a smooth and a "file"-type slapper. I struggle to get a dolly positioned well on the low spots but the slappers do seem to spread out the blows and reduce the damage I cause with a hammer.

I worked on one area today, dolly under the low spots, slapper on top.

Went OK, just slow.

Started here


Ended here


I'll spend a little more time on this section but have uglier areas to try and straighten before I get too picky.

This is definitely a challenge for me but that's a good thing.

Mike

[Shiny]

I'm in awe of anyone who has a knack for this. Let's just say I find it challenging, difficult, tricky, and a few other words...

I'm plugging away about an hour at a time every few days.

After 3 sessions on one side, I was feeling like I was making progress and had smoothed out a lot of bumps and ripples:



Then I looked down the length and found smooth is not the same as straight. I had created about a 1/4" dip. The crown that runs the length of the part was too flat where it dipped, so I figured I needed to stretch it to try and restore the radius. I did this slowly, using the slapper on dolly, not the hammer that gets me in big trouble.

I also used a short length of pipe on the back side, a dead-blow hammer, and some manual pursuation to try and restore the radius. This all worked well enough and the panel is much straighter:



The curve is now close to matching the other side. I'm not saying the other side is a good model, but it's what I've got:



The other side is where the part was folded but I'm learning a lot as I fumble through this... filler will be my friend.

Mike

[79 Phoenix]

Wow! Looks good. Nice job!

[Shiny]

Thanks!

But trust me, it's far from good.

We moved and I haven't touched it since end of July. I have a nice big garage now but it's filled with boxes.... I'm hoping to get settled soon and get back to this.

I suspect when I line it up with the fenders, I will find out how looking good is not the same as fitting right...

Fun to try, though. Metal whispering!

Mike

[Jack Ferris]

You did a nice job. On something like a valance do the best you can and find a stopping place. They sit so low a minor imperfection will probably drive you nuts, but will go unnoticed. I couldn't get the one I was doing 100% perfect as it was pretty beat up. But, it will look good.

[Shiny]

Finally trying to finish this valance project and it's starting to feel like the gift that keeps on giving.

Body work is not easy for me, but I'm definitely learning.

I had the metal back to what I thought was "close enough" so primed it with SprayMax 2k epoxy. It stuck but didn't level well and it sprayed "dry".. not a big issue after I sanded it but I won't use it again. It was fun to see it primed after messing with it for so long, though.



I found some slow-curing filler (Rage Ultra Xtra) to cover the big area and started what is proving to be a painful path to getting it flat.

First thing I did was not use enough hardener and had to scrape off the entire valance to start over. Doh!

Then I sanded the next filler pass with a 17" semi-rigid block, which made me feel good until I concluded I had filled some "local" ripples but still had some "macro" waves.



So I ordered a 24" rigid block off eBay (took 2 weeks to get it) and am now on my 3rd pass with the filler. This tool seems to be the right answer, as I'm finding high spots where I didn't expect them and will be encouraging them to go away before continuing.

I also decided to man up and ordered some SPI epoxy to cover the filler after I get tired of sanding it. This typical snowball decision led to replacing the piston and valve body on my small compressor and ordering a cheap low-cfm spray gun that won't humiliate my compressor....

Party on, Garth.

[Shiny]

I'm calling it good enough for now and happy to get this far. The 24" rigid block was the ticket. I knew I had a couple "bows" in each leg. The long block got me back to straight, but it took a few more bending encounters and multiple filler passes before I declared enough was enough.

Here's how it ended up after blocking the filler. Could be better, but I'm happy I could save the part.

It took some work to get the "nose" looking reasonable.

My only concern is how much distortion might happen when I bolt it onto the car but I now have some filler sanding skills... like barely some.

[Shiny]

Got the SPI epoxy on today. I figured out how to use the spray gun and the temperature was just above SPI's 65 minimum so I went for it.

Good enough for now!

[rwfisher]

All your work has paid off and it looks great! For anyone who is questioning their body shop’s estimate / bill they should look at the work you put into this piece and it may help understand the work involved..

[Shiny]

Thank you!

My car is worth way more as an investment in myself than as a vehicle. As easy as it sounds, it would just be irrational to pay someone to do the body work.

A pro would have had it this far in a day or two or, but to your point, would have told me this NOS valance on eBay would be cheaper than fixing it.



This was obviously a vertical challenge for me but proved to be a rewarding learning experience and a way to collect some tools I'll use on the other creases, dents, and dings. My process is "try it", buy a better tool, try it again, do it different, buy a better tool, start over...... usually with several weeks between each step and in this case, a couple house moves.

Mike

[VCho455]

Your valance looks great! Probably better than that NOS(???) Ebay one especially if you were to lay them side by side!
Congratulations on a job well done!

[Rachelsdad]

Truly nice work. FWIW, Sargent's Key to Metal Bumping is still the gold standard in learning how to manipulate mangled sheetmetal.

Kudos. You should feel really good about yourself. This stuff is not easy (easier for the guys who do it day in and day out, surely, but never *easy*).