Thread: warped car bonnet

You will have to shrink the metal in some way i.e. by heating cooling and hammering, or using a shriking disk, if you have never done any shrinking then a good book and lots of practice on some scrap is the way to go.Other wise finding a good panel man is the answer, who ever did the sand blasting knows nothing about body work stear clear of that establishment in the future.

If you are unable to find anyone to help and you are going to do it yourself then be careful with shrinking the panel.

You need to use the flat hammer, and the flat dolly (or a piece of wood is ok)


Method of shrinking is: put heat on the panel until it red then put the dolly under, use the flat end of the hammer to tap it around the spot ently then get a wet rag to put on top (you can use oxygen torch or propane torch)


-Remember to knock out the dents first then shrink where it stretched.
-Start from the edge and work toward to the middle
-Heat one spot at the time in small area only, do not move the torch around. if you heat too much it will distort the panel and make it worse

Jackaroo

Was it sand blasted?? Looks more like it might have been shot blasted, that is some severe damage.

Given you can't pop down to the local "Pull & Pay" wrecking yard to get a replacement I would look for an old school panel beater (a retired one would be perfect) and bite the bullet and pay him to shrink it.

Too much to go wrong and it would very expensive to locate, purchase and ship a bonnet from the States.

Better still if you find a retired panel beater pay him to teach you how to do it

Originally Posted by China

Better still if you find a retired panel beater pay him to teach you how to do it

Now there is a VERY good idea!!!!