60 Biscayne

[chimp koose]

Had a student years ago that was missing the tip of his finger . Ends up he lost it when fencing on the farm . He was holding a fencepost wrong and his dad took it off with a post maul !

[idrivejunk]

Yeah folks don't think much about all the dangerous energy involved in everyday things and they get comfortable with it. Then luck says hello the pain and regret flow freely! Maiming one's own son would be extra awful.

Hows this for metal gore? Spent most of today trying to push / pull / persuade the giant pond that formed around that diagonal patch. Can't say for sure how much is previous dent and how much is warpage but most of the trouble was above the patch.

This is the deepest spot now. Will that mud?



Mr. 1/8" fineline tape says its within the filler's spec-



Who knows if it fits the door? Not me!

I did get this patched and ground today but the clock outran me. Fenders both "done" though. I had to stop 5 minutes from finished, let somebody spray epoxy on everything but that, then continue welding. Time was up and that was that. A pushy, negligent wall of people surrounded me all day even after work so I walked in a circle three times, laid down and took a nap. Thats all I could muster, dog behavior.

[idrivejunk]

It seems that the "hammer heads" have taken over this thread.

Can't believe I left out mentioning that I gave myself a beauty of a blood blister early in the week with one of them cutie pie hammers. Fortunately, those and knuckle bonks are less frequent these days, and I learned to deal with them for minimal annoyance afterward. Either thing happens, I walk directly to a freezer immediately. This time no ice cube so just held blister on frost buildup for a few minutes. Washed with soap then found the nearest stick pin and just barely lanced it on an edge. Pushed out all the blood, waited for one refill and repeated, then a dab of ant-bio ointment on a bit of tissue placed on it covered by masking tape first day then just tape for the rest of the week, and its just a fading dark spot rather than the open mess I'd have made of it when I was twenty.

Meandering thread fluff? Yes. But man if you bonk yer dome on on a lift rack arm, save yourself some pain and melt an entire ice cube on it. Might hurt like fire then but tomorrow you may not feel it. As opposed to it being sore the rest of the week.

Listen to me giving school nurse advice to seasoned shop veterans!    Just remember "ouch=ice right now". Best first aid I've found.

[idrivejunk]

One more  on the other hand.

Your hand is not a hammer. When I got off work at 1 Friday, I had a flurry of "business hours only" errands cued up. First order of business involved me juggling phone and tablet in the car for a few minutes before taking off. I was a bit flustrated, having felt rushed to finish and leave, and the shade on my sunroof stuck when I saddled the noble GTP. No biggie, it usually sticks a little then flops open under boost. So- Yank, nope. Both hands, pull! Nope. Dangit. Put everything down, got in the back seat and reefed on it. No budge. Nifty. Whacked it with the edge of right hand. Ow. Shake, rub. Huff back into shop for tools.

I had to wail on a pry bar stuck in the handle with the dead blow 3lb. It took several licks and finally gave. I peeked around for why but was burnin tax errand daylight and one of the coworker younguns was headed over to me, grinning at my despair. I was just about mad by then and just zoomed away to get down to business. The shade was just hung up, it works.

But today, my hand... wrist swole up where that dang bone chip sits. Badass. I pinged it and now I pay. Fun for Monday. That thing will control my moods for life it seems.  


Speaking of Monday and as a segway yanking the wheel sorta back on topic... I may be on the Trans Am Monday, which may have KB doing the parental bird behavior again.    If not, I guess I'll ask if theres a boss preference for which Biscayne part to start on. The decklid rust is downwind from the Vom-a-Rama also. I've got half a mind to suggest that a guy hack all the rivets on the '60 body and pull out the panels which are attached that way. Then maybe strip the dash components and get the blaster dude back out to do some work inside and maybe under. Or have a dude go ape with wire wheels and stuff. Boy that sounds good. I could get a week on the TA if we did that. We shall see.

Thanks for putting up with me gents. Your technology won't never be obliterated  

[idrivejunk]

[kb426]

I like that better than rust.

[UGLY OLDS]

You're gettin' pretty handy with that puller gizmo thingie ....  Shrink with dolly ?  

Bob..

[idrivejunk]

Hey, no dry heaves!  

Thanks, guys. No extra charge for two foot pictures  

Whats this about shrunken apple head dollys?    I wanna play.

I started there on that door because ________ :?:  :?:  :?:  Pop quiz.

Followed my instict on that. Where would you begin on that panel if you were doing it? Anybody? Seriously, for the sake of techno-fluff.

The amount of shrinking required there was    minimal   but done using the copper lookin sticky uppy thingamabob on the blue dealy bobber with the (timed zap) knob on the box set to shrink (just above studs). I may actually finally demonstrate wiggle wire, which also uses the copper end., in tomorrow's act.

The deep dent at the outside end of that gouge today was a booger bear. Mainly since that metal was so "dirty" inside it. But I snuck up on it and finally there was the "Gotcha!" heard across the shop, of course with profane embellishment. Now I had like a little low volcano top shape. Inside the door with a light spoon jammed into the folded door skin seam I went, to bump the volcano rim flat using both ends of li'l Miss Dagmar (the pointy hammer) gently. Shrinky Mc Spitznagel passed over once more for the finish and I was pleased so I buzzed it.

It was a good day    but with a difficult task to perform while protecting wrist. Did you notice my new metal bench top?  

My good natured shop nemesis reckons I'll need two days on this panel. Tick Tock. Started it at 2:30...

[UGLY OLDS]

I never knew that you could shrink with the puller .. Does it just heat one small area & shrink the metal like with a small torch tip  :?:
No hammer/dolly work required   :?:
 I hope that KB is paying attention so's when my fenders get to him he will know what to do...
Your photo that you took 2 feet closer is more detailed & easier to understand...  
You mentioned a "spoon"....Did you do this work AFTER lunch  :?  

Bob..

[idrivejunk]

I never knew that you could shrink with the puller .. Does it just heat one small area & shrink the metal like with a small torch tip  :?:
No hammer/dolly work required   :?:
 I hope that KB is paying attention so's when my fenders get to him he will know what to do...
Your photo that you took 2 feet closer is more detailed & easier to understand...  
You mentioned a "spoon"....Did you do this work AFTER lunch  :?  

Bob..

Sorry about that, Bob. Meet my friend, Maxi face to face-



He could probably use a checkup. It was a half the price of new, a lucky CL score. But it won't do pull rods on the pull rod setting unless maybe you're fixing an Asian car. It has to be up on the pins setting to work 18 gauge. The knob was always crooked, the Sharpie mark is mine. I have blown air through the box but never opened it. Pretty much any time I use it, I go beyond what it's intended amount of usage probably is. Y'know, for body shop dents rather than all day pulls such as this. After 20-30 minutes of going at it, a good cooldown is needed because it stops sticking good. FYI grinding the pull tip to a pencil point (you want about an 1/8" flat on the tip and sides angled like a sharp pencil) is a constant thing, every half dozen zaps or so. More if you flinch! The way its made, material from the steel tip is sacrificed with each zap. So those are "consumables".

The shrinking feature is best kept to zapping down the little knots from pulling, but can be useful for poochy outy spots such as the existing lumps where the crease was bumped out. You have to hit a sweet spot with it but it can cure blomp-blomping (oil canning?) once you've flattened a mess out. I just plain don't like torches so its tough for me to compare. I used one of these for five years before I came here though, and have more experience with it than anybody I know. Bear that in mind if this looks too easy!

Again, today's work needed little or no shrinking. To my suprise.    Access to the backside is decent. Let's begin

I wanted to try wiggle wire and show you that, so  I attached a piece. Starting at the left end because as I read the damage, this car was in motion and the other car stopped during the sideswipe, bouncing it's bumper down as the door went by and as this car swerved. Either that or the other car was stationary and bounced on the springs. So my "first in, last out" approach begins where the last damage occurred. I counted the gouge from yesterday as a seperate dent but it may have happened at the same time as the crease. It seemed to me that it would interfere during the crease fix so I got that one first. Here's wiggle wire and a hooky thingy... notice how the hooks are in a fairly straight line.





The shrink tip is used to connect the wire at each dip, mash and zap. And its re-usable. Notice the line of hooks again now.



Heres the entertaining part for me.    

To avoid hurting myself (based on my experience with this, and in consideration of my weak spot) I used a couple special tools...

Asked boss if I could borry the 300+ pounder to assist for a few minutes. Yes. Let's go. I explained that I'd like him to pull on the wiggle wire with the clamp while I hold the door. He and the newest guy agreed that the heavy man should lay on the door while the light, strong one  pull the clamp. So be it! I coached. First clamp width came on out but with considerable force. Even by hand, those hooks bend.   :?  They are designed to use with a chain or bar but the hooks aren't stronger than a man hand.

He got another bite, one step to the right, and pulled that up also. That was all the wire I had down, so I had them scat. About three minutes had passed and I had a good start. But like I figured, the hooks bent and I'd have needed to borrow too much labor to attempt the whole length of it this way. Not only that, I didn't have enough control of the touchy metaly part this way and didn't want to make it worse and lose ground. So thats all the wiggly story.  

Lets go out to the lobby and have ourselves a treat.  :T)  Don't miss today's exciting conclusion though, come right on back

[idrivejunk]

Gosh, I wonder if the bottom edge is straight...




BAM! Gotcha KB  :!:        No barf on lobby carpet.

[kb426]

I keep my trash can right next to the chair. LOL

[idrivejunk]

Awright, enough foolishness. Playtime is over  

Fire up your imagining hat because I didn't look up I just fixed door until here-



First I used the Maxi to smooth out the wiggle wired area. Then he gave out on me.    Just for awhile though, to cool off.

So, determined to keep the momentum, I laid the door face down on the floor with it propped up at the body line at the right angle to roughly position the crease over the grandest of dollies, the concrete one.  

With a heavy slapping spoon and especially with my favorite forged and rounded, nice and heavy anvil dolly I bumped a bunch of it out. Continuing in the same direction I went. It went decent and after awhile I got curious how the front looked. Not bad so far. Tossed the door back up on the bench and Max was ready for another round so we went again. Along in there, I took these.

Continuing







I reached a point where the front corner was working against me so I began to ease it out as I went along zapping and planishing. You may notice tracks from a shrinking hammer. I used the 11 oz and it actually did a little something in some places. Also used the red handled one in the top pic which is heavier but less sharp. Y'know, these are the ones with a cross-hatched face like a meat tenderizing hammer.







By about 4 I had pulled all the way across, straightened out the bottom edge, and discovered that the door's front lower corner was folded over and that the skin is split back about 4" from the front on the bottom. Aaaand the whole front lower corner of the skin is soft. I'll need to patch there so I didn't get carried away chasing that area. I know you can't run your hand over the repair from where you sit, but it feels OK like its gonna work. I'll be working my way up the door skin next, with straightening as needed. Then will come the barfy patchy part. Boss man was gonna check to see if theres a lower door shell patch. I reckon nobody spotted the rot or just didn't know to mention it if they did.

[idrivejunk]

I keep my trash can right next to the chair. LOL

         

[idrivejunk]

Well I fussed over it quite a bit more. You know how it is... taking it to one level with the studs, hammer, and tiny bit o grinder. Then buzz with 40 grit and find the next level of finesse, then down to 80 and repeat. A couple other dents did pop up but me and ol' Spitz got 'em. The cool thing was that in places theres enough room to get a short hammer swing inside the door. That sure helps.

After lunch it got serious and I finally whipped out a straightedge. THEN came quite a bit of work with the shrinking tip and some with the puller plus here and there with the hammer. It wasn't off by a lot but each area where it had initially been knocked out, there was a little wild zone needing to be tamed. Its hamburger overall but the high spots are minimal and its usable. I didn't see any place it would come close to 1/8" deep mud but it probably will end up that way somewhere. I referenced the other door as to how much crown the skin has. During the whole deal, I only heard one blomp from one spot midway through a dent. Seems to have decent tension on the metal now, no soft spots. Pics of this chase to "victory" follow-

The dots with the light colored center (metal from pull rod) are pulls, the dark ones are shrinks (often done in clusters of 3-5 at once but watch out for that sweet spot that needs just one). I'd make a pass, smooch the dots with a purple wheel or roloc disc, re-buzz and re-check. Several times. FYI to release the pull rod from the panel, twist handle 1/4 turn and it snaps off.





I quit here at 2:30 so my coworker was exactly right, it took two days to straighten. "Quit studyin on me" I says. :!:

Handed him this






...and then we saw it shiny. :oops:  Boy that doesn't leave much to the imagination now, does it? Like them yoga pants the women like but maybe not all should wear  









Welp, its a far cry from what it was and I'm confident it will look OK once the rest of the crew has their time with it.

Heres how that worst fender spot is going for good ol' big 'un. Yes I am being chased my mud men and they are catching up fast-



To shed a little more light under that bottom edge, lets stand the door up-



Hic-Woop! No, just a burp    Planned this fix. Gonna be REAL simple. Trim shag, lay patch behind, plug weld. Repeat about four times. The very front part, I'll do when patching the corner of the skin.

Is it suppertime in Kansas?    We all best go have a mouthful or two to eat right fast, eh?  ~:) Thats whut I'm a gonna go do. Have a 7up from the lobby if you feel queasy at all. Or Pepsi :T)