I have a set of BLC headlight buckets I want to use on my project and they have a few dents, I want to get rid of the dents, but my metal working skills are kind of lacking. What is the best way to fix them?
Before hammering, try pushing them out with a wooden dowel. Otherwise get out the hammer and dollies and go slow.
Hey, Moe info please...................... How big are the dents, any rust on the buckets& what if any tools do you have to work with? A peeture would help, also. " Humpty Dumpty was pushed "
no rust at all great metal 1 golf ball size dent and a few the size of a quarter. I have no specialty metal working tools, but I can go get some if I know what I need to buy.
Hey, If that's where you are, you could go with the ol' broom stick trick. Clamp a broom stick in the vise with the handle pointed up. Place the bucket over the end of the broom stick and locate the center of one of the smaller dents. Press down gently and watch the metal respond to your downward pressure. Now take a small ball pein hammer or small plastic/rubber malet, and tap around the outside edge of the dent whyle continuing to press down on the bucket. With alittle pratice on the smaller dents you should be able to nail the larger dent with no problem. Go slow, and don't press or hammer to hard, all at once. When you can see or feel no more damage take a single cut file and file across the area you just worked on in a crosshatch pattern. The areas that still have paint or rust in them are low and will need to be raised, just as you did before only this time replace the broom handle with the small end of the ball pein hammer, and tap with another hammer over the low area. Do this until further filing shown no more low areas. Using this method you should be able to get 90%+ of the damage out and require little or no plastic filler to finish. " The ice cream truck in his neighborhood plays Helter-Skelter "
pimpin paint nailed it again. run whatcha brung, no need to buy specialty tools, especially when alot of us in the business either use what is lying around or build something that serves the one purpose. no room for traditional hammer and dolly in alot of headlight buckets anyway.
you can also stick an old shovel in the ground and use the end of the handle...same concept...works good outside if its a nice day!!
x3 no special tools...and...headlight buckets made of painted steel are probably the most user friendly for a beginner dent guy. It's 2 small parts that respond very well in dent removal. Take your time and it will be fun to see those dents go away. To elaborate on what pimpin paint said about the outside edges of a dent; a dent will cause the outer area to raise up a bit, so you are knocking the dent out by holding a dolly or whatever at the edges of the dent. When you remove most of the dent, you will likely feel a high spot around the edges, so work that in.
The only thing really special about most body work tools is the comfortable way for the operator to hold on to them. What most boil down to are "hard thing" and "hammer". I have done body work with some of the most basic things you can find around the house. http://www.metalshapers.org/tips/covell/
Hey, 'bout thirty years ago I was workin in a shop and had about 10K tied up in my Snap-Off tool box, hammers, dollys, s****s etc. The cat workin in the stall next to me was from South America or somewere's down there and his "box" consisted of an old Sioux grinder, several "idiot sticks" a claw hammer with the claws broken off and ground to a point, and several chunks of iron ground to weird shapes, he also had several smouth river rocks for early fender work! The guy did incredable work and used almost no plastic filler. In the year I worked at that shop, I learned alot about what I don't need! " Meanwhyle, back aboard The Tainted Pork "
I use baseballs bats. Not the grip end. Adult and child size. No, not to hit the buckets, but used when placing the bucket against a hardwood surface and then using the rounded end or the bat to "roll" the dents out. It's take a bit of practice. But, all the replies above will work. Just depends on what works for you. Go for it and then let us what worked and how it did.
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