Okay, against the advice of others, I took a bunch of my 32 parts to an inexperienced media blaster because of price. He warped the crud out of the center of the door skin. The fenders, shell and other parts faired okay. Now I was faced with trying to find a replacement I could stomach paying for. I got some good advice from Gary at Cornhusker about locating a replacement skin at a local junk yard. He said to cut the warped center section out of my door and lay it on the roof of various cars at the yard. When you find the right one, it will almost suction in place. Sounds good, but since it would take me a few hours either way, I tried to fix mine. I made a template from the other door, then flipped it upsidedown to use on the bad door. The hammer and dolly were good to a point to find the warped areas. I made some cuts through the center of each stressed area with a sabre saw. I used the dolly again and got it to all lay flat. The cool thing is that the 1/16" saw groove was gone in a few spots and that was all it took to relieve the stress. I then tacked it back to gether in the right position and as long as I don't warp it welding it up with the mig, it will come out great. Saved a couple hundred bucks, cost myself several hours work. Live and learn! Any advice on what I should have done (after the door was warped)?

Do you own a torch? I shrink metal on my car useing a torch by heating up a small dot in the center of the stretched metal. The cold metal wants to go to the hot spot and the hot spot get compressed from all sides. A few of those "spots" is the right place works wonders. I know, I have 19 pounds of welding wire on mine, and needed to srink alot of times. Dave
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Life's too short to drive an ughly car!

I do not own a torch, but used propane in a couple of spots. I guess it didn't work cause it took so long to get hot the heat was everywhere. Wish I would have explored that a little.

Use a tig welder to weld it back up, I use a wet rag to keep it cool as possible, good luck
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she didnt accidentally get good in bed

Advice on What you should have done is Kick that stupid hose jockey back to where he came from and got the shop to pay to repair your door skin. Other than that I think you did a excellant job in Hot Rod class 101.
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If you want it yesterday, then call me tommorow and I will have it ready today.

Nathan, heat the metal to a small red spot about a 1/2" diameter and immediately rap the cherry red spot with one strong blow from a body hammer while firmly supporting the panel backside with a metal dolly block. This will tighten up the metal & repeat this procedure around the panel, as necessary. Don't use water to cool the panel as it will stress and warp the metal.

Your car buddy from Ontario.......LARRY

hey thats what backer57 said
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she didnt accidentally get good in bed

If the weld doesnt get enough heat it'll crack, keep the area surrounding it cool, but otherwise you need a hot weld. Definetly agree with using a tig, much better weld for this.
My dad's been a welder for about 30 yrs and uses Tig on small stuff, and mig on things like frames where you need to put down a pretty large bead of weld.

If you guys have any specific questions, he is the man for welding, i can ask him and get back to you guys.

I bet your dad knows what he is doing, when I said (I use a wet rag to keep it cool) if you have ever chopped a top on a car or truck you learn stuff, I wet the rags and lay them down the path that I am welding to keep the heat confined as much as possible to stop the warping as much as possible I know there are some scientist and engineers here that read it in a book one time that will disagree but I know what works for me
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she didnt accidentally get good in bed

Clearance, my advise on how to shrink stretched metal differs from Dave's explanation in that I added the cherry red spot must be peened with a hammer & dolly. This gets fast and controlled results and I have never heated metal just to watch it cool. I am not saying the method I learned is the only way but the one I had been taught at a local auto body college and Works for me.

Your car budy from Ontario...LARRY

Dad always told me there is more than one way to skin a cat, you should try Daves way once, I found out about 25 years ago that no matter how well you can do something there is always someway to improve it and there is usually someone out there that can do it as good or better, but there are some people that think they have the only solution and if you dont believe me ask your dog
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she didnt accidentally get good in bed

Two pickles and a jar of Peanut Butter would go well with that Red Hot Cherry.

Make sure the cat's pleanty dead prior to skinning it! :)
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MrWillys aka HRB
Member: Dipstick Street Rod Association
Paint don't make 'em any faster!

we dont chop tops overhere, and since that works for you do it, but it would suck to start seeing cracks in the welds after a couple years of cruising, so i'm offering my advice :)

34prostreet
You said you are offering advice. Did I miss something? what is your advice? You were giving advice on welding the other day. Are you saying that anybodys welds are going to crack after a couple of years?
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Digger
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DSRA Member

I threw it away yesterday, now I have to go buy one

If you can't beat em, arrange to have them beaten.

a37GMC, when I responded to this thread, you comment "hey thats what backer57 said". Had you read my comments a tad more complete you should of realized that I gave a second opinion by noting the forging step (which I wanted to add) and I said it's not the only way. So chill with your dog and give him a bone to chew on!!!

Earlymopar, when the metal is badly stretched like from a dent, the metal can pop back & forth like an accordian. With the stretch in the concave position, find the approx. center of the largest crowned area and heat this spot cherry red and rap with one sharp blow with a hammer and dolly. I would cool the spot with compressed air, if needed, and repeat this procedure several times as the stretched areas get worked smaller & smaller, until the metal is finally tightened up and flat.

Your car buddy from ONTARIO.....LARRY

digger,
i missed the meaning of your post there, explain.

My advice was to keep the welds hot, if possible.

Sir: You mentioned that you heat 1/2" diameter spots to cherry red in various locations as necessary. What do you find is the best way to determine the locations "as necessary"?