[mr48chev]

I've got the "good" Eastwood set and several body hammers that were bought one at a time over the past 48 years since I got married. I think I bought the first one at Sears 47-1/2 years ago and it is still my go to favorite hammer. I've had the 20 buck cast iron hammer sets but those just make you mad in the long run.

The best part is you can't ruin what you have unless you really mess up beating on the metal. Don't be afraid to dig out the big hammer and dolly either. You might have to have a helper hold an 8 lb sledge hammer head to the outside while you hit the inside to move the metal and not cause more damage but that might be the simple way. Every thing I have read says you should work your way in on a dent from the outside edges and I agree with that. You don't want to hit one of those big dents in the middle with a big hammer and hope to shrink more metal because you stretched it there. Some of those dents will take quite a bit of shrinking work anyhow but that is just part of it.

If you have a small bottle jack you might push some of the bigger dents out with it by working your way around the edges of the dent. I did that on my step father's 54 pickup years ago when it had a dent in the rear fender. First dent I ever worked on come to think of it.

Read up on it and maybe watch some videos but I'd say the older the body work book you find the more useful info you will find. New books deal with new cars and methods and you want to know how to deal with old trucks and methods that work on them.