Automobile Door Damage Advice Needed
Posted: Tue Apr 03, 2012 5:11 pm
Have been reading this forum for a couple months finding it very interesting. Now need some questions answered on how to fix a long dent in the passenger front door! I've body worked off and on as a hobbyist for 20 years so it's not all new.
The car, an 01 Accord, was struck by another car backing up alongside it. Other car's left rear bumper gouged across Accord's passenger front and rear doors as it backed up--stopping about midway across the back door.
I shaped out the back door by the time the car was photographed so it looks kinda ok in the pic. This is as far as I am able to go and can't get the final gouge out. I know I can bondo and fill but would like smoother metal if possible. The dimples are stretched areas and get shrunk in last so not too worried about them. Have been using straightening techniques of Ron Covell and Kent White but they might disagree since I'm not having total success.
Heat was used very carefully yet has not allowed me to "soften" the metal to make it more workable. I water quenched; used a Victor 100fc with #0 tip. The paint is barely burned so you can see there wasn't much flame used, mostly to fix oil canning. Leaving flame tip on for any time only warped everything around.
The panel dent from the inside shows the metal was "hammocked" between the two inner tube supports and they are NOT bent. All the weird scratches are from cold galv spray paint I used last time's attempt; dark spots are where simple heating/quenching (no hammer work) was used for shrinking.
So, Can this repair go further as far as straightening metal? Would more heat do and what about the rest of this panel in that case. Is the metal work hardened? Can it be annealed? I'd like to bondo as little as possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated
The car, an 01 Accord, was struck by another car backing up alongside it. Other car's left rear bumper gouged across Accord's passenger front and rear doors as it backed up--stopping about midway across the back door.
I shaped out the back door by the time the car was photographed so it looks kinda ok in the pic. This is as far as I am able to go and can't get the final gouge out. I know I can bondo and fill but would like smoother metal if possible. The dimples are stretched areas and get shrunk in last so not too worried about them. Have been using straightening techniques of Ron Covell and Kent White but they might disagree since I'm not having total success.
Heat was used very carefully yet has not allowed me to "soften" the metal to make it more workable. I water quenched; used a Victor 100fc with #0 tip. The paint is barely burned so you can see there wasn't much flame used, mostly to fix oil canning. Leaving flame tip on for any time only warped everything around.
The panel dent from the inside shows the metal was "hammocked" between the two inner tube supports and they are NOT bent. All the weird scratches are from cold galv spray paint I used last time's attempt; dark spots are where simple heating/quenching (no hammer work) was used for shrinking.
So, Can this repair go further as far as straightening metal? Would more heat do and what about the rest of this panel in that case. Is the metal work hardened? Can it be annealed? I'd like to bondo as little as possible. Any help would be greatly appreciated