Body work pulling dents advise needed

[WorkingOnItStill]

Hello again folks! Finely got most of my mechanical issues sorted out on my 73. Now its on to the body the cars rear  left and right wheel well lips have some cancer that needs to go and the one thing that has bothered me since I got the car a nice dent in the drivers side quarter panel. I am no body man but  willing to try to fix them. So now I am looking for advise on how to start the process on fixing them, getting tired of people walking up to the car at shows and fingering that dent!!       

[jimynick]

OK, not to be rude, but the dent is in a fender, the 1/4 panel is the one that's rotten in the rear of the car. There are 2 ways to repair a dent- push or pull it out. Either take the fender off and knock the dent out from the inside OR you could "porta spot" it out using the weld on pins. Don't use the old slide hammer- those days are gone. If you remove the fender, you should be able to hammer and dolly it to the point that only a wee bit of putty is req'd. The 1/4 rot will likely entail either patch panels or full/partial 1/4's. The outer whlhouse is likely perforated and the trunk extensions were also made out of tin foil. Quick and dirty? Pop the frt fndr out, you could "tiger hair"- short strand fibreglass the 1/4's and get away with it for a couple more years; after painting them, of course. Don't be cheap with the rustproofing, either. Good luck 

[Skunkworks Challenger]

I agree with jimynick on his comments.  Looking close at the front fender photo I see cracked paint all around the front which indicates putty underneath.  Take the fender off and remove paint/putty down to bare metal.  Then you can better determine what kind of and how much repair is needed.  PK

[elitecustombody]

No need to take the fender off to work the dent out,it seems that there is something hiding under the paint,I'd take it down to metal and see what's causing the cracks, same goes for the quarters,you won't know what you're up against till the problem areas are cleaned to bare metal

[buddydog]

Howdy,

In my humble opinion you are probably looking at a repaint in order to do it correctly. You will need new quarters and at least the outer wheel well half. For the front, assuming the headlight backing plate isn't in the way, you can easily bump it out from the inside. If indeed it is in the way, stud gun and puller would be your best bet. If you can find a painter to color match and touch up, great! Otherwise, the car should probably be completely resprayed.

Not the cheapest or easiest solution but the car show/concourse correct in my opinion.

G

[WorkingOnItStill]

Thanks for the input guys sorry it took so long to reply. Sounds like a project for the winter months so I will start planing. The Weather here in Wichita has been in the 107 range and should drop to the 80's next week so I will wait until after the fall. So the car can get some miles on the new engine and rear. If its anything like aircraft sheet metal I should be fine, just like the mechanical portion buy the book. Speaking of books anyone know of a good one on body work ?
Thanks again, Charles 

[Chryco Psycho]

I am the worst bodyman , but I have tried enough to know that working metal is an art , there are ways to stretch & shrink it , it can be learned ! I know that if you see a bit of damage it will be a whole lot worse once you open it up !!
 I once spent an afternoon working a panel to remove a dent , finally a guy come over & tells me has a friend who can fix it & he shows up & with a few taps removes the dent like it was never there , I had spent 4-5 hrs & he fixed it in 10 mins LOL

[WorkingOnItStill]

Lol Chryco I know how that works, they do what you said or look at it and go w.t.h. are you doing and you stand there and blink! I have 10 year working on Aircraft not to much steel in them so this will be some new ground for me. I may ask around at work and school and see if anyone knows how to work steel !
Thanks guys!!

[jimynick]

Mild steel- your body material, is much easier to work than aluminium; it doesn't work harden, crack nearly so easily and can be welded/heated much more easily as well. Piece o' cake. 

[Topcat]

Speaking of books anyone know of a good one on body work ?
Thanks again, Charles

http://www.autobody101.com/content/training-videos/

also do Youtube search...auto body dent removal. Some (not all) of those are worth watching.