Dents, Dimples and Body Work

[JRinElginTX]

Working on the hood now in between the cold spells that we've been getting. What methods are best in removing these dimples on the hood? The paint has been stripped down to the bare metal. I tried using a propane torch to heat the metal, but didn't have much luck in getting it to smooth out. I was toying with the idea of using JB Weld to fill the low areas and then sand down and primer. Let me know what ya'll think! Happy holidays!

 

[BeaverIslander]

How's about a lil bondo?

 

[souNdguy]

body filler....

 

[TheOldHokie]

(quoted from post at 21:18:38 12/12/13) Working on the hood now in between the cold spells that we've been getting. What methods are best in removing these dimples on the hood? The paint has been stripped down to the bare metal. I tried using a propane torch to heat the metal, but didn't have much luck in getting it to smooth out. I was toying with the idea of using JB Weld to fill the low areas and then sand down and primer. Let me know what ya'll think! Happy holidays!

Body hammer and dolly followed by some auto body glazing putty and sandpaper.

TOH

 

[Colin King]

A couple of those bigger ones could be worked with a small ballpean. Then body filler to smooth everything out. You can also leave them as a part of the tractor's 60+ year story.

Colin, MN

 

[Ken-Pa]

I've done a couple with similar scars by using various body hammers & dollies (I had collected various shaped dollies & hammers thru the yrs). Then if you have a dent that doen't wanna work out with the dollies , I've used my dent pulling slide-hammer tool . Since I've learn to do leading , I don't use as much body filler . Time , TLC & lots of patience proves to make a nice jon . God bless , Ken

 

[souNdguy]

ps.. harbor freight sells an affordable dolly set..

just be carefull.. you can stretch metal..

 

[rustyj14]

Might i suggest taking the hood to an auto body shop and pay them to fix those dents?! you will no doubt mess it up by trying to do it yourself!
It probably won"t cost too much to fix it right. I know, from years of experience in auto body work, that an amateur has a 100 to 1 chance of messing up big time. Might look easy, and yer buddy might tell ya that you can do it, but take my advice and pay an accredited body man to fix it.
At our shop, a man brought in his 1970 Dodge sedan with the quarter panel pushed in. It was an easy fix for an experienced person, but this guy got in there with his hand sledge hammer and roughed it out, thinking it would make the repair cheaper! Such a mess he made-stretched the metal, and all! I tossed him and his car out! I told him i could have fixed it before, but not now! He left in a "huff"! His repair looked like a big bag of walnuts!

 

[Bob Harvey]

I concur.

 

[L.B,]

JR I would never discourage anyone from trying, I have fixed some worse then yours. The hardest one I did was a real mess someone had tried to fix it by pounding it out with a claw hammer it had to be seen to be believed . If you have the money I would take rustys advice and see what a shop would charge. This is much more then Bondo and sand paper job and how bad is the rest of it? Heck if ya got the money I think this site sells aftermarkets. To do it right yourself and do a presentable job you are looking at a lot of time but the labor is free!

 

[stansab]

find a body shop to do the metal work you can do the finish work sanding filler and primer is the easy part

 

[Dollar Bill]

Body repair is an art/talent much like singing - You either have it or you don't.

If you want it done right, like others have advised, take it to a pro.

 

[NoNewParts]

good metal, no seam damage
made for filler repair
dolly/hammer it flat as you can leaving it a little low.
remember, no metal high spots when using filler.
your choice on filler, bondo, glass, etc
multiple thin coats, finish with putty, and multiple priming.
fog on some different color primer for your last sanding to
show any spot that isn't perfect.
takes time and lots of sanding
don't trust your eyes, use your hand when you think you're done,
if you can feel Anything, it will show

 

[Frank in VT]

I would echo Colin's last statement. The dimples tell a story. Looks like you have the same rust issue many of these hoods have between the script an the headlight. I repeat my appeal for repair panels for these problem areas for folks who don't want to drop too much coin, don't need showroom restoration. And want a nice structural, reasonably presentable repair.

 

[showcrop]

(quoted from post at 04:24:20 12/13/13) find a body shop to do the metal work you can do the finish work sanding filler and primer is the easy part

Sanding and filling a compound curve is the tough part!! It is very easy to take off to much at the top of the curve, but you don't see it until after it is painted.

 

[ericlb]

at this point thats a pretty simple fix, go get a small can of filler, some sandpaper, [one of the mulitpacks should do it] from what i see knock a few of the high points in the center dent down you cant have metal sticking up taller than the filler will be ,mix the filler in small amounts, golf ball size or smaller, and use several coats to build up to the original surface,lay it on as smooth as praticle in the damaged area, sand level between aplications of filler that will show you where you need more, starting out you can use your power sander to rough it in then switch to a hand block so you dont remove too much, use your hand to feel the high spots and low spots. when the surface feels the same all the way across the damaged area use some auto glaze putty one last time,and sand it off this fills the tiny holes that filler has in it and makes the primer coat lay out smooth if you dont use that you will see tiny holes in the primer coat. once you do it, youll be fixing your own dents like this, it takes pratice, and these dents here are perfect to get a feel for the process

 

[ericlb]

forgot something, before you start, take the area on the dent down to bare metal before applying filler, the filler will not stay on paint it must be on bare metal, extend the area beyond the actual dent itself so you can blend the area into the undamaged portions

 

[arnold z]

If you need to shrink a stretched spot, you can heat it and hit it with a cold wet rag or cold water. You don't want get it red hot, but kind of blue-gray. If it's been stretched in, you'll have high spots or a big high spot when you pound it out. The main thing is get it as close as possible, bare, clean, and roughed up before you bondo. Most fillers aren't made to be put on too thick.

 

[WW2N]

Looks like a lot of advice, my advice is there is a farmer repair and a professional repair. The farmer repair involves working the dings and dents out best you can bondo, prime and paint and for a working tractor its ok. Heating and cooling metal this thin will not fix the dents it will weaken the metal. Too much hammer work and it will strech, thin and weaken. If you have rusted out spots on the hood also they are a time consuming fix. I have fixed a lot of N tin on a lot hoods and I am a picky tin bender. One I repaired and painted 6 times and when I got it done it was very good but took alot of hours. You have nothing to lose if you try to fix it yourself. I would recommend for less then $30 you can buy a cheap set of hammers and dollies at Checkers for the dents and get a couple 3M sanding blocks there also. If you sand bondo down without sanding blocks you will get dips in the filler. Good Luck

 

[WW2N]

Arnold, I did'nt mean to step on your toes about heat and cool the dents and I may be off base or wrong, I just never had it work or seen it work. I live where it hails a lot and a lot of folks here say it dose so you could be 100% correct. I know the insurance companies wished it did. There is what they call paintless dent removal or PDR and it works real good.

 

[JRinElginTX]

Thank you all again for the advice. I'm working on the hood now and will post pics once it's completed. Take care!!

 

[01BIRDDOG]

I agree with Colin's statement unless you just want it pretty and new looking. I guess in the N world a perfectly restored tractor is worth more than a survivor but i know you can take a track beaten KR Harley and "over" restore it and cut value almost in half. Who cares if the screw heads are all lined up anyway??