Bodywork Progress - 11/02/10

I'm making it to the vo-tech about 2-3 times a week now, and am making progress in small increments.  I've got until about Nov 20th to make as much progress as possible, and then 'class' is out for the holidays.  At that point, I'll probably bring the car home, so that I can clean/prep the underside somehow, in anticipation of paint.  I may even be able to do some 'bondo' work.

Last night, I addressed the crease in the passenger

door pillar.  You can clearly see the crease in

the photo to the right. The crease is the result of a 'learning opportunity'.  When somebody is helping you load your car on a trailer, and it's your money you just spent having it soda-blasted, make sure they tie the doors shut.  Especially if you load the car on the trailer facing backwards.

Initially, I wasn't sure how I was going to get the crease out.  But then I saw the Stud Welder Dent Pulling System in use, and figured I could do it.  The school has one, so I fired it up and tried it out.  It took 2 'passes' with the stud welder, but it's surprisingly easy to use. 

First, grind down to bare metal.  It's essentially welding, so you have to have a clean surface.  Once you've identified where you're going to place the studs, you plug in the welding gun, insert the stud in the tip, much like a pop rivet, and press firmly against the clean area of the car.  Pull the trigger, briefly, and the stud is affixed.  For the crease, I had to create a row of studs.  Then, working slowly and patiently (not my usual style), I tightened a slide hammer to each stud, and with a somewhat delicate, and progressively firmer hand, worked up and down sequentially, until i had
pulled the crease out. 



Then, I clipped off the copper studs, and using a die grinder, ground off the heads, until i had a (relatively) smooth surface.  Next, I welded new studs in the 'gaps' between the previous studs, and pulled some more.  The dent was really coming out, now.

Clipped studs



Clipped off the studs, ground off the heads.



Ground/Blow out







You can see just how thin this MG sheet metal is.  Some of the stud heads actually pulled out when I was using the slide hammer.  This left a hole that I had to MIG weld up.  My poor welding skills caused me to 'blow out' the sheet metal, making the hole bigger.  You can see this in the pictures.  I plan on correcting this week, with a more competent hand at the welder.