Sheet Metal Question

[34ford]

I spot welded the brackets on the inside of my hood side panels and have a little problem I need to remedy. I clamped the brackets on the side panels and backed it up with a 3/8" aluminum on the back side as a heat sink. All is well except the shape of the bracket is ghosting thru on the outside kinda like a small blister. I assume the spot welds pulled the metal when it cooled and caused the raising up in the middle.

Do I hammer it to shrink it? Or do I heat it up and put a wet rag on it to shrink it back. It is just about 1 1/2" square.

One picture is the bracket and the other is the raised part in the circle which is not easy to get a picture of.

Thanks  bob

[enjenjo]

Well, you have a problem there don't you? I think you are going to have to work hammer off dolly, with the dolly held outside the warped area, and hammer on the area over the bracket. A lot of light hits, no heavy hits, and keep going over it until you get it where you want. you may have to support it all round the warped area at the same time, a U shaped hardwood dolley would do it.

[awsum34]

Is it the heat that cause that?  What could you do so it won't happen?

[phat46]

Is it the heat that cause that?  What could you do so it won't happen?

 I put brackets just like that on the side of my '40 truck hood. I drilled a couple holes through the hood and plug welded them. After grinding them down there's no sign of it.

[enjenjo]

Is it the heat that cause that?  What could you do so it won't happen?

What caused it was the heat. With a double thickness of metal, and a heat sink clamped on the back side, when it cooled, the movement was concentrated in the area right next to the edge of the bracket.  Which also makes it difficult to repair. Plug welding would make it more easily avoided, that type of warpage will show up on pieces 1/2" thick or more, it's the nature of steel.

[34ford]

Well, you have a problem there don't you? I think you are going to have to work hammer off dolly, with the dolly held outside the warped area, and hammer on the area over the bracket. A lot of light hits, no heavy hits, and keep going over it until you get it where you want. you may have to support it all round the warped area at the same time, a U shaped hardwood dolley would do it.

Thanks, well give it a try. Not all of them are bad only 2. I did think about plug welding them and should of asked before and might had avoided this.

bob

[Bruce Dorsi]

I realize this will not help Bob, but are adhesives such as Fusor suitable/appropriate for attaching brackets as in this instance?

[Bruce Dorsi]

I realize this will not help Bob, but are adhesives such as Fusor suitable/appropriate for attaching brackets as in this instance?

BTTT  ----Hopefully, for some answers.

[enjenjo]

For these brackets, Fusor would probably work, it looks like they are for alignment pins. I would worry about  latch brackets that had constant tension on them.

[Bruce Dorsi]

For these brackets, Fusor would probably work, it looks like they are for alignment pins. I would worry about  latch brackets that had constant tension on them.

------------------
Thanks, Frank!

I have no experience with today's adhesives, so I'm trying to learn more about their usage and limitations.

[Dave]

For these brackets, Fusor would probably work, it looks like they are for alignment pins. I would worry about  latch brackets that had constant tension on them.

They are for the pins but they can see some pressure from cowl welt etc when lining everything up to fit smooth and not stick out anywhere. I welded mine the same way but i only put 6 welds on the brackets then i ground the out side of the panel with my grinder then the d/a in grind mode and i just sprayed the panels with dp90 then hi fill primer and after sanding they dont show. It really doesnt take a lot of heat with the mig to get em to stay put and not break loose. I did the hood on the 34 the same way and its still going strong last i knew.. Oh ya im on my second set of side panels too cause we changed to louvered panels.
My Nickle
Dave

[34ford]

Well I got the blisters to go down some and ground them off. Plan on doing like dave did and smooth them out. Should have asked 1st and leaped later. Thanks for the help.

bob