On Thu, 8 Apr 1999, Cameron Greig wrote:
> I hope the dent will push out,put as it is so large an area I think I
> will have to remove the wing to accomplish this.Has anyone any
> suggestions?
Since this was a slow-speed dent, I would think that the best way to pull
the dent would be in a similar fashion. Do you have a come-along, or a
bunch of good hydraulic jacks? If so, you should be able to grab hold of
the fender and ease it back to shape.
(this is all that a good body shop would do- except that they'd have the
$$$ spent on porta-power (hydraulic ram) and maybe even a drive-thru
puller.)
The trick here is not to stretch the metal too much by bashing it (hammer
& dolly) - it will probably be a bit stretched anyway, as that's what
happens when you deform steel - but it can be shrunk with heat or careful
hammering.
You'll probably need to paint a lot more than you want to ;-)
> happier if I'd gone mad.The kids reaction was amazing,they are 10 and 12
> and both went white and serious,waiting to see my reaction .I must give
> the impression that this car is important to me,where as as we all know
> it's only a car,right!!
I think one of the things that always strikes me about the TRs is the fact
that they have removeable wings- other LBCs (Sunbeam Alpine) also have
removeable wings that are glued on with lots of lead. Try welding with
that stuff on- You soon have a lot less car and a lot more work!
Those wings are removeable for a reason- so that they can be fixed when
something happens. True, it's not fun, but it's less fun if you have to
fill all the seams afterward!
-Malcolm
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