Carburetor stud damage on hood

[73sportsroof]

I need some advice on a repair on my 67 Mustang hood, I installed a spacer under the carb and thought I hade enough room, I didn't, and now have a dent about 5/16 diameter and 1/4 high. Can I shrink a stretched area like that with heat or will that damage the surrounding flat area? any opinions are welcome.

[John Kelly]

I would back it up with a dolly that closely matches the curve of the hood, and using a broad faced (1-5/8") hammer or a slapper, start hitting the high spot with medium force to get it to flatten out. Multiple lower force blows are better than a few hard hits. As the metal flattens out against the dolly, you have to hit a litle harder to get it smooth. Then shrink if necessary. If you plan to do a lot of this type of work, a shrinking idsc would be a good idea. If this is a one time thing, you could create enough heat with a sanding disc mounted backwards on your grinder. Here is an article with a description of shrinking:

http://metalshapers.org/101/jkelly/index.html

John www.ghiaspecialties.com

[68-chevyman]

I fixed one of these stud outies 3 weeks ago. It was about 1/2" out. I repaired it with out heat or srinking of any kind and when it was done it neaded no filler. It took about 15min. of metal work.

I sharpened a nail set punch to a nedal point then dulled it on an anvil a little so it would'nt mark (make pits). I used the punch to knock down the sharp outie placing it on the highest points and useing light taps moving around on the high points only.

If the metal is flat your done. Most likely you will still have a high point in the center with a low mote around it. Go ahead and keep taping down on the center untill you have a nice round botom dent.

Then start taping up from the back side with the same punch and hammer watching the out side (you may need to use a pic hammer to watch the outside). As you tap the dent up try to tap all around the center. If you acsidentaly hit the center stop, tap it back down lightly then contenue taping up on the mote area around the center.

If the metal is flat your done. Most likely you will still have a few high places. Tap them down with the punch until it is almost flat.

Then you can lightly smouth the area with a slaping spoon backed with a dolly. If you hit the dolly to hard you WILL sterech the metal. Which in my experince you do not want to do on a large flat panal.

Sory to disagree with ya, John. But I guess it gona happen from time to time. By the way thanks for all the great info on metal work, its been quite helpful.

[73sportsroof]

Thanks a lot for the information guys,I have been watching this site for a couple of years now, and it is really helpful. My brothers and I have restored three cars completly, including paint and bodywork, doing all the work in house with what we learned here,and all the cars came out great, thanks to everyone who posts here.

[John Kelly]

"Sory to disagree with ya, John. But I guess it gona happen from time to time."

There is more than one way to get things done! We are all just speaking from our own experiences which are bound to be different.

John www.ghiaspecialties.com