In my opinion shrinking hammers are a waste of money. As MC&P said much of what you have done will need to be stretched to shape. David
I finally have it welded in and the bow is gone. I still need to finish out the work and break the edges of the skin. Since I could not get to the back side of the welded area, I used a crow bar that I snaked through the window opening. I measured to the seam and marked the bar so that I could find the seam as I moved down the panel and applied pressure. I applied pressure up and stretched the seam while using a bit of hammer off the "dolly" on the sides and the bow came out pretty flat. As I started to fold the edges, I seem to be getting some upward movement of the panel near the break point. Time to stop and think for a while! Thanks, for all the help!
Hey, As you turn that flange at the edges, be sure to hold a toe or heel dolly against the skin so the flange will fold over tightly. It sounds like you've got a handle on this '' The ice cream truck in his neighborhood play Helter-Skelter "
Keep going on your flanges. When you take a crowned skin and fold a 90 degree into it, it's going to want to flatten out and follow the "straightness" of that 90. That's what got you into this mess in the first place with putting a flange down the middle of a door skin; Remember? As you turn that 90 down more to say a 180 degree turn, the shpae will again begin to follow the arc cecause it's no longer resisting it... I'm not sure I explained that very well...
Just thought I would give an update. I have both doors pretty much done now. I cut the flange out and welded the two pieces with a 16th or so gap. I stretched the welds with a hammer and "dolly". due to access to the back I actually used the neck of a large crow bar inserted through the window slit. I measured the distance that was needed to get the neck of the bar right on the weld and marked it. I inserted the bar and pried up while striking the bar through the weld and a little tapping off of the dolly on the top and bottom. Crude is suppose but, after a lot of time, I was able to get the metal back out and restore the curve to the door. Its not perfect yet but pretty good all things considered. Thanks to all of you that responded to my call for help!!
The Jalopy Journal
