Changing metal corner on top quarter

Hey folks,

The tip of the inner edge on my LH quarter panel is somehow pointing inward too much. You can see it bending inwards too much when looking at it. So I'd like to correct this. In the included picture I've tried to show it, basically the red line should be corrected back to the purple line.



What's the best way of doing this? Heat it up and hammer it back? This is my first time doing sheetmetal work, any advise is welcome

Cheers,

Vincent.

I wouldn't even use heat. Just a flat body hammer and a nice flat body dolly on top. Hammer the side and lay the dolly on top to keep the line crisp. Just work it little by little. Keeping pressure down on dolly on top as you tap body hammer along the inside. May need to hit that high spot in corner with hammer to get it down. Hope that makes sense!!

If the metal starts to push in and make a hump, it may be stretched too far and will not go back by simple hammer and dolly work. Good chance that is going to happen.

If this happens, I would make a relief cut with body saw or whiz wheel, then get the inner flange where you want it and tack weld it back together. Sounds bad cutting into the car like that but a lot of times its easier than beating on a panel all day just moving metal around if its stretched too far already. By cutting it, you give the metal somewhere to go. Then you can grind the weld down and make a nice crisp body line. It looks like it was just dinged in the back corner and caused the metal to pucker. After you make your cut you will still need to straighten up that corner with a hammer and dolly.

Probably take an hour or so with a whiz wheel , grinder, welder, hammer and dolly.

Good luck and let us know if you have any questions.

First I'd start by removing paint on entire top surface. To see what kind of work as been done before and may be go plan B afterwards.

As hammering the corner flat and create a new sharp one less than 5mm away would likely not be easy. Chances you'd end up with an ugly line are high.

So you could try cut vertically mid top, then using a wood piece + heavy hammer to see if you have any effect at the end, but I think the wrong angle is the result of a faulty alignment of an ancient patchwork. So top surface would likely go up or down, and you would likely make the problem bigger.

I see two options.

the first and most easy, is to ensure that the end is free of welding and cut with a 1mm thin disc left of the blue line by 1 or 2 mm till the point and even cut a bit the fold there. You'd end up with a sort of triangle, and you could then push it outward en tack weld it.

The second is similar except, you'd remove the triangle and cut vertically at the point where the angle start being wrong and and replace the entire section with a 90 degrees folded new piece. I'd do this only if the metal is very corroded from the other side.

The area that you are trying to realign is extremely tight to the 90 degree bend or flange.  This point of the panel is the strongest and not as easy to push back with a hammer and dolly without heat; as would be the case where a dent is out in the middle.  You'd basically be bending or torqueing the outer main body panel as it tries to aleve the in-line pressure from you pounding the flange back down.  Then you'd have to bang new dent back in which would send the flange back out again.  Pressure has to go somewhere and the panel has to bend to aleve it.  I also would suggest you do a relief cut along the outer edge of the main panel adjacent to the smaller flange and directly 'behind' the 90 degree bend.  The single cut alone will more likely allow sufficient space to push the smaller flange back down to the blue line where it can be tack welded.  if you can do the cut from the 'inside' with a small Dremel the flange would act as a guide for the cutting wheel resulting in a straight cut.  Cutting from the inside will also keep you from digging into the flange and causing another mess.

Just my two cents. 

Thank you all for your thoughts on this. I think I will make the cut as it puts the least stress on the surrounding metal.

Cheers!

Vincent.