Bodywork question: flat surfaces

[Doug in NJ]

Hello,

One of my splash shields got a bit banged up at the rear, in the area where the metal is almost flat. Is there any special trick to fixing dents and bends on flat pieces, as opposed to crowned areas? It seems like I ought to use a perfectly flat anvil or dolly, but I have not seen such a thing. BTW, the splash shields are off the car.

Thanks,
Doug

 

[gunmetal blue]

If I was you take it to a body shop and have them fix it.

 

[BruceUpstate NY]

Any metal between a dolly and a striking hammer will stretck. It's difficult to straighten a flat piece of metal and have it look strraight. A piece of flatsheet should be struck off the dolly.

 

[Tinbasher]

Your Best bet is a wood block a 2X8 about 12" long is good and a plastic hammer. This will move the metal without stretching it as easy. The hard part with a straight or flat panel is, that it is easy to stretch it and you end up with a "Oil Can" Go easy and you should be able to smooth it up.

The Old Tinbasher

 

[J Franklin]

there are tools and specific techniques for shrinking metal that are used to make flat panels flat

 

[d.j. moordigian]

Doug,
I'm with Bruce on this, then use a shrinking disc.

 

[Doug in NJ]

Thanks to all for the advice. The splash shield isn't quite as bad as I might have suggested- much of the bent part is actually the invisible horizontal section. A lot of the damage is some classic dents, as if somebody had whacked it a few times with a ball-peen hammer. I have a shrinking disk, so I'll use that as much as possible.

Doug