Straight like in flat

[wisconsinjimmy]

Hey guys and gals, (politically correct)
With these old classic cars that have more bumps then a zit faced teen how in the who who do you get the car straight? Maybe a real pro can hammer and dolly all the blips out but how does the majority do it without laying a bunch of plastic on the body, my thunder bird is wavy and just when I thought I had the deck lid down two high spots showed up not much but it is there after running the flat board, can I bump these in with out hurting the rage or do I grind the area down and start over. Keep in mind not a show car just a good looking driver.
Thanks
JimG
Cushing, WI

[J Early]

I am not a "pro" but I would approach it from the back side if you have access. Dolly on the high spot and hammer on the backside around the perimeter of the area to shrink the metal down some. Rage should be OK.
If you have to go at it from the top then just be gentle! If the rage cracks then you know what you have to do..

[silentdub]

hammer and dolly, if it is a large area, Len here has a shrinking disk that you can use.

I had a nice dimple after I shaved the fuel filler, I basically just heated the area with a simple propane torch and then spray some cold water on it, it will shrink right back.

As for the dimples, grind it to bare metal, work it with a hammer and dolly. Always keep a nice piece of straight aluminum around too, something with a straight edge, this way you can check to see how flat the area is.

[wisconsinjimmy]

Well my main problem is the rear of the deck lid, it took a pretty good hit at some point in its life almost on the lock hole and I have just now punched the dimples down a bit and filled them, trying to keep filler as thin as possible. What I should have done is sent the lid out to a good welder and have a new piece of metal welded in. The other is the car is quite straight but after 49 years there are waves in the metal and I would like to see how straight I can get them. I am not going with black of any type more on the blue tone in an enamel.

[Len]

Well my main problem is the rear of the deck lid, it took a pretty good hit at some point in its life almost on the lock hole and I have just now punched the dimples down a bit and filled them, trying to keep filler as thin as possible. What I should have done is sent the lid out to a good welder and have a new piece of metal welded in. The other is the car is quite straight but after 49 years there are waves in the metal and I would like to see how straight I can get them. I am not going with black of any type more on the blue tone in an enamel.

After using a filler then block sanding you will sometimes hit metal before the filler is level. In most cases you can just tap down the high spot and apply more filler and block again.

When a car has waves there is no better method of achieving straightness than spraying on a filler like Slick Sand or spreading on a thin coat of Quantum 1, guide coating then blocking the surface level using a long block.

If you decide to go with Quantum one be sure to get 4 tubes of hardener per gallon and use it. Don't skimp on the hardener or it won't harden properly. The advantage of the Q1 is that it give you a longer working time so that you can use it over a large area before it starts to harden. Quantum's hardener is sold separately

Filler Materials Link (scroll to bottom of page)