1937 Chevy Coupe

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Thanks everybody!

Do yourself a favor and get a 230mm shrinking disc. ;)

On my wish list as well, dutch. I'll look forward to the learning curve. [S :confused: :D

A lot of what you are doing was the way that I was taught way back when. (Pick hammer. etc....)

Since I chose NOT to stay in the trade, I rely on my primitive education and methods. Need some lead work done?

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Doc, outsmarting metal is intriguing. You are certainly doing it. I can't wait to see the video of you with the shrinking disc, as I have been wanting one for a while now.
Keep on tinkering.
 
Thanks everybody.



Since I chose NOT to stay in the trade, I rely on my primitive education and methods. Need some lead work done?

.

Sounds like me Crank. I shot that epoxy primer with my 40 year old Binks spray gun, that was hanging right next to my 41 year old Devilbiss.:eek: :D [cl :cool:
Some times the "old ways"are still the best. At least for me.:)
Torchie
 
Mac: I've never tried to create a "working" video, but I promise to keep it in mind. ;)

Torchie: Many things refuse to stick in my memory and some important things at that, but I can tell you this without stopping to think about it...

I bought my one and only spray gun in 1985 - Devilbiss JGA 502. :p

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looks amazing doc
 
Back for another round.

Looking straight down, the tailpan does not follow the shape of the lid. It sticks out about 1/4" through the "middle"... so, after some head scratching, we cut it at the highest point of the crown...

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The cut, surprisingly, all but cured the issue and it fits much, much better! We still have some work to do before we graft it in, but it's coming along...

We now have a shrinking disc, so we had to drop everything and play with the new toy. As seen below, we have two large dents, around our makeshift handle and in the right corner...

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Both those dark spots were quite deep, nearly 1/2" at their worst... anyhow, the disc, repeatedly applied, drew them both out to near perfection. (We did have to perform a couple small welded tab pulls, but otherwise, it worked as advertised.)

I'm cheesed these pictures show so poorly... it's baby butt smooth all around the handle hole, but it sure doesn't look like it. :mad:

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We got a start on all those left side tits, but I'm going to need a long spoon or a hunk o' leaf spring to slip inside and do a little hammering...

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Looking good Doc! I know I sound like a broken record but hopefully you can find time to fill those old tail light holes soon!!! LOL.
 
How much pressure did the disc require to get the metal hot and move?
Is there a color to look for like when using a torch?
 
Nice work with the disc, Crank.[cl [cl [cl
I learned with a torch, but if not careful it caused more damage then it fixed.
The first shrinking disc I ever saw was one a friend had. He made it out of a old fine tooth table saw blade. He ground off the teeth. and put it on his angle grinder. :eek: :eek: :eek:
Always made me nervous when he would use it.
[P [P [P
Torchie
 
How much pressure did the disc require to get the metal hot and move?
Is there a color to look for like when using a torch?

no pressure and no color. You just want the high`s to heat up and not the surrounding areas. cooling with a spray bottle and if a bit of steam comes off the surface ,it`s plenty hot to shrink.
I rub the surface of the disk with a bar of soap to prevent tearing it up.
 
no pressure and no color. You just want the high`s to heat up and not the surrounding areas. cooling with a spray bottle and if a bit of steam comes off the surface ,it`s plenty hot to shrink.
I rub the surface of the disk with a bar of soap to prevent tearing it up.

Thanks for the info Dutch. I'm always amazed and pleased at the amount of knowledge here and that is so freely shared.[cl
 
Thanks guys!

Looking good Doc! I know I sound like a broken record but hopefully you can find time to fill those old tail light holes soon!!! LOL.

Sorry, Bill! I'm still not sure we can salvage the skin, so the holes are last on the list...

How much pressure did the disc require to get the metal hot and move?
Is there a color to look for like when using a torch?

Having no idea how fast, slow, easy or hard to apply the tool, I took the chicken approach. (To my surprise, it took a few tries to create enough heat.)

I'm with the understanding... when you quench the area, it should be hot enough to produce a little steam, which seems an effective and accurate indicator. The metal does indeed move at that point, but not before. On the other end of the experiment, I've leaned HARD on the tool, which so far, has only heated to the point where the spray boils off instantly... clearly too hot, requiring more spray to cool and shrink.

Sorry for the long-winded explanation. I have not seen any color change, nor do I expect to. It would be my opinion at this point, you can't blue the metal on the highest, sharpest tit (I tried that, too) unless you're awfully determined to make it so.

The "heat to steam" method keeps the temp too low to discolor the metal. It also makes for slow progress when abusing the idea as we have. (Torture test or no test!) I surmise, the low controlled heat is the key to repeated shrinks, because the movements are small and hardening is minimal, if not eliminated...

EDIT: I was writing when dutch posted!


I learned with a torch, but if not careful it caused more damage then it fixed.
The first shrinking disc I ever saw was one a friend had. He made it out of a old fine tooth table saw blade. He ground off the teeth. and put it on his angle grinder. :eek: :eek: :eek:
Always made me nervous when he would use it.
[P [P [P
Torchie

My "stepfather" once had himself a nice, wavy hood on a nice Ford PU... it had a few hail dents before I got my hands on it! :eek:

Is your friend still alive? Did you meet him at the prosthetic clinic? :p

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