cudak888: 1971 M-code "Soylent Green" - Jan ‘25: Frame welded! (almost)

[cudak888]

I went to town on the lower section of the panel today.

Not perfect, but one hell of an improvement:




However - shrinking disc or otherwise - I can't seem to get the surface any smoother. I'm at a loss about how to go about getting the crease back in the lower surface before working the metal too much (as if it hasn't been already)





Lots of gouges in the bumper recess (and a reverse bump I still have to bang out). What should I do about them?



-Kurt

 

[Mister 4x4]

Looks awesome, Kurt! ::thumb::

I have no idea how to proceed... but I will say I'm impressed with the work you've done, your eye for detail, and your perseverance. Well done, Sir! ::beer::

 

[Totalled]

Use the straight edge of the heel dolly from the inside. Put it in the ridge of the body line, hammer off dolly to try and crisp-en it up some... You're gonna have to sculpt it some with filler, since you aren't replacing that lower section.

 

[cudak888]

Looks awesome, Kurt! ::thumb::

I have no idea how to proceed... but I will say I'm impressed with the work you've done, your eye for detail, and your perseverance. Well done, Sir! ::beer::

Thank you, Eric. I'm not sure if I mentioned it before, but it was your early photos of the Redneck Gas Tank Hanger and overall of the car that spurred me on in the first place.

Use the straight edge of the heel dolly from the inside. Put it in the ridge of the body line, hammer off dolly to try and crisp-en it up some... You're gonna have to sculpt it some with filler, since you aren't replacing that lower section.

Problem: I did exactly that with the angled edge of my multi-purpose dolly (see top left):

The result:

That area wound up stretching outward rather than adopting the crease again. I'm beginning to believe that the lower half is too overworked to salvage or bother with, and it'd be easier to simply butt-weld a Spectra lower quarter patch a bit below the reflector line.

Thoughts?

-Kurt

 

[Qcode351mach]

Kurt it isn't over worked..Get a 3" 4" (bed frame) piece of heavy angle Iron Use a piece of tape to mark out the line on the outside..Make a template from card stock to mark out the inside (use the good side as a reference lay the card stock in the lower part to make the template) Your going to need 2 people..one holds the edge (where the angle Iron 90's) on the inside.. use a smooth face body hammer to make the line hitting with a SLIDING motion to move the metal..finish with the shrinking disc. looking at the last pic seems your very close I think I would put some pull on the otr (tension) to help.. remember the qtr was pushed in from the rear ..Hook a vice grip or c-clamp on the recess for the bumper..hook up a come long put a small amount of pull on it & KEEP IT THERE while you continue the metal work..It will give the metal room to move the rest it needs to go

 

[cudak888]

Kurt it isn't over worked..Get a 3" 4" (bed frame) piece of heavy angle Iron Use a piece of tape to mark out the line on the outside..Make a template from card stock to mark out the inside (use the good side as a reference lay the card stock in the lower part to make the template) Your going to need 2 people..one holds the edge (where the angle Iron 90's) on the inside.. use a smooth face body hammer to make the line hitting with a SLIDING motion to move the metal..finish with the shrinking disc.

Makes perfect sense. Got it.

looking at the last pic seems your very close I think I would put some pull on the otr (tension) to help.. remember the qtr was pushed in from the rear ..Hook a vice grip or c-clamp on the recess for the bumper..hook up a come long put a small amount of pull on it & KEEP IT THERE while you continue the metal work..It will give the metal room to move the rest it needs to go

Can do. Question though: "move the rest it needs to go" - I take it you meant "move the rest where it needs to go?"

Or does something here have to be chopped off and replaced with new steel?

-Kurt

P.S.: Haven't even had time to PM - thank you for the shocks, and especially the shackles!

 

[Mister 4x4]

"The rest it needs to go," I'm pretty sure Q means that there's only a little bit more for the crease to "come back" to where it needs to be. Keeping the tension on it from the rear will allow the crease to happen without deforming the panel outward. I'm still truly amazed by his knowledge and experience... and willingness to share.

Man - you're SO close. No giving up on it now [like I did] - you got some mad skills, Brutha! You WILL prevail! ::thumb::

 

[Qcode351mach]

Can do. Question though: "move the rest it needs to go" - I take it you meant "move the rest where it needs to go?"

Or does something here have to be chopped off and replaced with new steel?

-Kurt

P.S.: Haven't even had time to PM - thank you for the shocks, and especially the shackles!

Correct on the above nothing needs to be removed or chopped off your super close better than most would do before filler.

 

[cudak888]

Just came back in from trying this a few times over. I think I might have misunderstood the "tension" part - I put a clamp and pulled to the rear, in the reverse direction of the damage.

Should I have been pulling to the right?

Photos in a bit. Going to spin the car back around.

-Kurt

 

[Qcode351mach]

Just came back in from trying this a few times over. I think I might have misunderstood the "tension" part - I put a clamp and pulled to the rear, in the reverse direction of the damage.

Should I have been pulling to the right?

Photos in a bit. Going to spin the car back around.

-Kurt

In a straight line with the marker light no left or right take a string tape it in front of the marker light opening right through the marker light opening that's the tension line you need

 

[cudak888]

In a straight line with the marker light no left or right take a string tape it in front of the marker light opening right through the marker light opening that's the tension line you need

That's pretty much what I did. Will post photos in a few.

-Kurt


This is how I tensioned the panel:





I chose to clamp from the bottom, because clamping from the bumper recess tore the steel.

Now, after a rainstorm out of the middle of nowhere...



...I got to work. This photo shows the progress just before I closed up; hence, no tensioner.

Honestly, I'm not sure I accomplished much of anything. The panel absolutely refused to take the curve. I used a 90 degree piece of steel as you suggested, Q - no luck. I then resorted to using one of those huge, blue wheel chocks that you see piled in the trunk as a dolly. That seemed to work better.





I don't see much improvement. Granted, I didn't work on the bottom that much, but all I have is an indefinite bodyline with a huge low spot above it - which may or may not be an improvement.

Thoughts?

-Kurt

 

[Qcode351mach]

that line looks alot better than the previous pics..Ok I think the line is more than acceptable..so you need to move on to the low spot above it first..tension the qtr again (weld the tear up) this time move the clamp to right behind the back of the marker lamp opening..you shouldn't be tearing metal that's way too much tension..Put the tape on again to define the line so you don't hammer into it..Dolly out the low spot using the hammer from the inside dolly on the outside or 2x4 on the outside might be better the wood has "give"..then shrink keep repeating don't be scared to hammer it out too far you can always shrink it back as a matter of fact you may have to go a hair further out to get it..once you have that repeat the procedure on the lower half..I would also block the primer as you go with 80 to use as a guide it will show you highs lows..do some work prime block keep doing it you do know when using the shrinking disc it has to be on bare metal

 

[cudak888]

that line looks alot better than the previous pics..Ok I think the line is more than acceptable..

You sure? It's not quite straight, and there's a couple of poorly defined areas of the crease, IMO.

so you need to move on to the low spot above it first..tension the qtr again (weld the tear up) this time move the clamp to right behind the back of the marker lamp opening..you shouldn't be tearing metal that's way too much tension..

Will do.

FYI, that bit of steel tore very quickly under very minimal tension. The accident + working the dents out of the steel must have work hardened that area, leading to the tear.

Put the tape on again to define the line so you don't hammer into it..Dolly out the low spot using the hammer from the inside dolly on the outside or 2x4 on the outside might be better the wood has "give"..then shrink keep repeating don't be scared to hammer it out too far you can always shrink it back as a matter of fact you may have to go a hair further out to get it..once you have that repeat the procedure on the lower half..I would also block the primer as you go with 80 to use as a guide it will show you highs lows..do some work prime block keep doing it.

Got it.

you do know when using the shrinking disc it has to be on bare metal

All the shrinking has been done so.

I know what I'm doing next weekend.

-Kurt

 

[Qcode351mach]

that line looks alot better than the previous pics..Ok I think the line is more than acceptable..

You sure? It's not quite straight, and there's a couple of poorly defined areas of the crease, IMO.

You can perfect it more if you like ..but I would get the other areas done first then revisit the line finesse it

Kurt you do have a contour gauge right ? If not get one.. take your shape from the good qtr using the gauge to check your work as you go

 

[cudak888]

Spun the car around and welded up the split.

10 minutes later...



Looks like fate is telling me to go buy a USB 3.0 card and forget about the car for today...

-Kurt

 

[71_resurrection]

Kurt, I haven't looked at this thread in a while. I do, however, agree with Scott in that the line does look a lot better than before and the upper portion of the panel is beginning to look a lot straighter. If only your south Florida weather would accomidate your schedule! Keep up the good work man, you are doing excellent!

- Nik

 

[DK73]

Hi Thats need's some Hard work on the rear end! Regards DK73

Regards DK73

 

[cudak888]

You can perfect it more if you like ..but I would get the other areas done first then revisit the line finesse it

Kurt you do have a contour gauge right ? If not get one.. take your shape from the good qtr using the gauge to check your work as you go

This time, I worked around our weather this morning, and was highly rewarded.

Morning tensioning:



At work:







The results. Lines are from the spray paint:





-Kurt

 

[Totalled]

Nice. That's looking pretty good.

 

[DK73]

Hi that's looks great;-)

Regards DK73