Tough dent, try to fix or cut out?

[kljfamily]

Hello all,

Have a tough dent I’m going to try and work on. It’s on a 65 c10 stepside. The truck was rolled on its side on gravel so the dent is rough.

I’m solid on welding and have a stud welder and have performed some good bodywork but this one is perplexing me on mode of attack.

My thoughts are:
1. Try and bang it smooth for the inside
2. Cut it out and hopefully find a rusty donor tub to cut from
3: cut it out and smooth it out and weld back on


Also have to repair the roof and gutter. I’ve attached pics of what I’m up against.
I don’t think I’ve seen new sheet metal pieces for this part of the cab.

Thoughts?
Posted via Mobile Device

[msg]

You should try posting this in the bodywork forum. The guys there are amazingly helpful.

In the meantime,

I had a little trouble in that area of the cab myself trying to correct some dents. I dont think there is a patch panel for it either, but in my attempt I used a long handle metal bit with a rounded end to it to place against the metal interior and slowly tap the top of the bit little by little while a helper took the dolly on the outside and kept pressure on it as I tapped. I couldnt hold the bit in place and tap with a hammer on the inside..and hold a dolly on the other side, so help was needed. Once the tapping out happened I could manage on my own to place a dolly that mimicked the inner arc of the panel on the inside and tap flush from the outside what may have popped out a bit. It didnt come out perfect and in the end body filler smoothed it out. But we were able to knock out a series of dents to at least reduce the amount of filler needed.

I am definitely no pro so hopefully posting to the bodywork section will show you a better way.

I didnt have any roof issues so I havent had experience there. Looks though that you have what many of these models have is the interior rusting inside the roof panels. Ive seen guys remove the entire top panel and sandblast (if possible) or at least try to clean out as much rust as possible and treat the rusted areas with an encapsulator paint or por-15 and weld it all back together, seam seal and then paint.

[kljfamily]

Thanks,

I'm in no rush so Ill try your advice. I don't mind slowly tapping to try and smooth it enough so body filler can get the job done. Not looking for show quality here just acceptable.
Ill post this in bodywork as well.

[mongocanfly]

That's gonna be a tuff fix without access to both sides at the same time...would be fairly simple fix with hammer and dolley...if your good at welding sheetmetal, I'd look at cutting it out and repairing or find some donor metal..
But I agree...in the body and paint section, mp&c are the go to guys for hard repair work

[1968C30]

I actually have a cab cut in that area that I will not be using. I will look for it and post a picture. If you can use it just pay shipping and it’s yours . Not sure if it will be big enough .

[1968C30]

Sorry I don’t think this piece is the the area you need.

[franken]

It looks like someone's been beating on those areas already which may make it harder.
Since I have them, I'd be looking to use a stud welder and shrinking disk in addition to hammers and dollies. I'd think that getting the gutter and door frame edge/corner closer to where they belong while working things back.
I'd also suggest looking into the various concepts of metalwork. They may not be as simple as we might like.

[rustyrodknocker]

Originally Posted by 1968C30

Sorry I don’t think this piece is the the area you need.

This looks like the piece to me and that's the way I would go about it if the piece was available. It appears that section has been hammer out in rough fashion. There will be substantial stretching that will need to be shrunk by whatever method.

The roof is already blown apart at the seam. I would consider pulling the skin and fixing or replacing. I would look for a replacement. I am not a body and fender guy by any means but I've straightened and replaced a fair amount of sheetmetal.
None of it really intimidates me except roof skins.

It seems your always up against the tension in the original stamping. Once it has been effected it's hard to get back.
This is why I cut off the entire roof of my suburban at the pillars and replaced it, rather than fill in the 70's sun roof (rain roof). 8 linear feet in the middle of that panel would have been an epic battle and required a person to work both sides of the panel. Whereas I did the whole roof by myself in a weekend. Ill be doing the same this year on my 69 chrysler.

[kljfamily]

That piece may work perfectly. The damaged area is just t the right of the door handle. If thats it just let me know how much to send you for shipping.