How to get dent out of crusher corners?

REDLYNER

REDLYNER

Mall Crawling Race Rig
Joined
Oct 31, 2008
Location
Mountain Island
So I bought some stretch corners from TNT Customs over a year ago. When they arrived, I sanded off the rust, primed them and sent them to be painted. Well, in the bare metal and primed phase, I either couldn't see it or didn't notice this tennis ball sized indention in the armor. Once the gloss black went on, it was pretty obvious.

I believe they are 3/16" steel, is there any way to get it out? TNT claims it happened during shipping, not on their end. So I lived with it for the past 12 months. The corners are getting repainted and I want to get rid of the indention. Any ideas?

Could a shop fix this?

Some angles you don't notice it, but head on it is pretty clear:

TNTDent1.jpg


TNTDent3.jpg


TNTDent2.jpg
 
That thing is a race rig now. That dent is the least of your worries, lol.

Seriously though, if that corner can be removed without too much work, I'd put it in a regular shop press and flatten it out.
 
Ha!

Just trying to make sure it looks good at the start/finish line.
 
I'd take it off and lay it facing down on a flat surface and smack it with a BFH. Always can use a little bondo, thin layer shouldn't crack or chip if applied correctly.
 
remove it, put it in a press with a flat bar/plate on both sides and flatten it out. Move the bars around a little hitting each area as needed...
 
Jay I've got several press options to work with, if needed. Might be a good time to accomplish some of the other stuff too.
 
Another trick that works pretty well is to use a torch and get the center of the dent red hot then pour water on it to cool it fast. It'll shrink the metal as it cools.
 
Yea it should work. Just might get too hot in that one spot and make it look worse. You'd have to be really careful with the heat.
 
your right mars the heat required ro get that kind of reaction out of 3/16 would result in the whole panel warping. I've tried almost every trick in the book. My first job was fabing and repairing a type of concrete mold that had to be true and smooth to break down properly. In other words repairs had to be consistent and spot on with no alternative to use filler where it wasn't perfect.
Even on thin sheet this teqhnique (Heat/Rapid cooling) only works on slight dimples and only those that have no sharp creases at the edges or throughout where the molecular structure hasn't changed dramaticaly. I-Beams are pretty neat to straighten this way by working the flanges.
This little job would best be handled by cold working the metal in a press. Isolate the dimple by using something like a pipe with just slightly larger diameter than the affected area and press out the dimple with a suitable diameter bar stock or large socket. Looks like something roughly an Inch accross should work.
If you use a hammer it should still be blocked up the same as you would press it or the whole area will distort into a larger dished space. Plus several blows will leave lots of "pecker tracks", made worse by to small a hammer. To little weight and to small a head wont get it done no matter how hard you swing it. Also the more blows you use compacts the metal and cold works it to a thinner dimension. This translates into forcing the metal out around the area causing elongation of the surface area and once again warping the piece.
Hope this helps Andrew
 
^^^ yea at my old jod we used to straighten handrails that way. We'd assemble 20ft sections in the shop and weld them together in the field. They'd almost always pull to the side you start the weld on. You could just go to the other side and heat a dime size spot red hot and hit it with a wet rag. It would straighten right out. Pretty cool little trick.
 
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