we are working on a 40's ford pickup cab and the roof had been squashed down i guess from being sat on. we got the majority of it poped back out but there are areas that still oilcan. we are considering welding some flat strap on the underside of the roof to help the oilcan areas but thought we would ask if there was a method that worked before we went ahead.thanks
You need to shrink the metal, the best way to do this is to heat a dime spot cherry red with a torch quickly, hit it with a shrinking hammer with a dolly behind it, then quench it quickly with cold water. you may need to do it a few times in various spots. Alss If youv'e never done it befor I suggest practicing on a scrap door or some other metal as you can mess it up...
heres an easier way, i had the same problem with my new 52, some kids jumped on the roof and hood... i just popped them out the best i could and to stop the oil canning, i hit the surrounding areas of the big dents with a pick hammer.. it puts little dents in it but it stopped the oil canning and then i presumed with the body work. thing looks cherry now...
Post some pictures. Thats got a lot of crown in the roof. Oilcan shouldn't be an issue unless the damage was really bad.
yep ^^^^ what he said,, And the first guy isnt correct anymore either. Not trying to be a douchebag, but, this was the prefered way for a long time, a shrinking disk is much better at doing the job.
You don't shrink anything with a dolly behind a hammer (on dolly), it only stretches the metal. If you are going to attempt hammer and dolly shrinking, heat the high ridges, or the "upsets", and gently bump the high spots (work hardened, or stretched) areas down, using off dolly technique. Never heat beyond light orange, and quench with a cold rag only after you have shrunk the ridge(s). A finishing disk will help you identify the minute highs, and lows. Use a pick and file to finish with, or just wipe everything down with shmoonda, if you happen to be a newb...
Just what they said, a hammer and dolly and a shrinking disk. the easiest and fastest way to get it done. Thanks, Jon.
if you cant get it to stop weld a bead on the back or cut it with a cut of wheel and weld it back up th weld will shrink when it cools
Show us some pictures and diagram where the oilcan areas are located. Like several other guys mentioned, use a shrinking disc; otherwise if you don't know what you are doing, you'll have a hell of a mess. Contact John Kelly and get one of his disc's and his video. The problem that you have is some loose metal, you need to tighten those areas up. Now that you got the metal back up, you need to make sure that all of the buckled areas are smooth and all of the creases are hammered and dollied. I've hot shrunk metal for over 40 years and believe me a shrinking disc is a lot easier.
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