2008 at the Hammond Barn

[Alex Blair (RIP)]

Originally Posted by Grant Bowker

As Bob said, there are still some areas that need work but the roof is much better now than it was a few weeks ago. Some are in places that can't be reached from behind for hammer and dolly work so I will either have to live with those or apply a thin swipe of Bondo to level the low spots, I refuse to take the reinforcing ribs off the inside of the roof so I can remove a minor ding and then create more mess as I wel the rib back on. There are also some gentle waves that might be from the original stamping process, but more likely were made worse or caused by decades of use and abuse. There was so much paint built up on the outside of the roof that I used a grinder to remove the bulk of the paint, otherwise I would have used a massive amount of sand to clean off the roof. Sandblasting followed and revealed a couple of areas (over the door, surprisingly not the drip rails) where all that had been making a smooth surface was paint, no metal. The rear lower edge of the assembly has suffered rusting where the sheet metal had water trapped by the angle iron frame. There is no cure except replacement along there. Red oxide primer was applied to preserve the metal. as the remaining dents get worked on, I'm going to have to apply more to maintain protection.

Grant
When you have little dings like you described using the red wrench with a slightly oxidizing flame,and a pin point flame envelope,start heating the ding about 1/2 inch out from the ding and using a quick movement ,start heating around the ding working your way into the center..The metal expansion and contraction should level out the ding..Works well on hail damaged vehicles..Ask any farm boy from Saskatchewan..
If that doesn't strike your fancy,screw a sheet metal screw into the center of the ding,,then grab the screw with the old vice grips ..then grab that set of VG's with another 90 degrees from the first so that you can impact it with a hammer to pull the dastardly ding out..then spot weld the hole closed and grind smooth..

"Beater" Blair