Good evening,

I have a 53 Mercury and need to repair the hood. The car has been brought down to bare metal and there's a dent that I'd like to repair. I've attempted using the hammer/dolly and wanna know if there's maybe another route? I will upload a picture and show you what I'm working with newbie here so any advice would help.

Is the hood popping in and out (oil canning) when you apply pressure?
Do you have clear access to the back side?

It looks like someone used the pointed end of the body hammer to cave in a high spot.
You should be able to smooth it out a little better with the hammer and dolly. Are you planning to use filler or trying to get the metal back in perfect shape?

It actually isn't oil canning, but I did notice the high spots and just figured maybe I wasn't doing it right. It's hard to tell but when I was trying to hammer the dents out I ended up popping a hole through it. What would you suggest, heat it up and go at it with the hammer/dolly or use the filler? Thanks for your prompt response.

53 Merc Hood = Unobtanium

Stop! Loose Pick hammer! Go read stickies on how to do metal work and then do even more research. Get a Copy of the Book "The Key to Metal Bumping" You need a Medium size Dolly with a Mid size crown and a Almost Flat low crown Hammer to do Panel work.

Check out this Sticky thread :
viewtopic.php?f=6&t=18781

The Time to learn Body panel repair is not when your playing with a 53 Mercury Hood, Thats the time to show off your skills not learn them.

Could be Worse I suppose Could be a 49-51

Thank you for your feedback. Ive read into the forums and seen that sticky, but I know metal work is def an art...I will continue reading. Thank you.

This is a Jeep project I did a while back.
Check page 5 for some pictures of the hood and repairs made.

viewtopic.php?f=12&t=23656&start=40

Basically working the metal back into shape and then skimming with filler (since I am not a high caliber metal working guy).

That's an awesome job you did. I'm going to do some research and get my head wrapped around it. To be honest, this is a project for me to learn on and hopefully I can learn some skills. Will post pics. Thanks again!

Hey Ed
Do you have a copy of the book "The Key to Metal Bumping" ?
Its really good, shows the basics of straitening panels removing dents and a bunch of other tricks Its not very expensive and not a very big book either if its 40 pages I would be surprised but its packed with Valuable basics.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3W3mJJbnwNg