Hail damage woes...

I know I haven't posted much so far, unlike some people ((DEB)), but it's the best place to get info, so I'm wondering about a few things... I have a 67 hardtop LTD, and it's got some hail pimples on the hood, trunklid, and the trim. I'm not as worried about the hood and trunk because I have an excellent body shop and they assure me that they can take care of that when I have it painted. But how do you get the dents out of trim pieces? Hammer and block of wood? And is there a good place to have them re-chromed without costing a fortune?

You could always do like the blonde and roll up the windows and blow into the tailpipe and pop them out. LOL

Yeah, tried that last year... As it turns out, that method's better for commiting suicide than popping dents out.

Specifically, what trim?

I've heard of putting the trim piece on a sandbag and pounding the dings out that way. The sand gives you some resistance so you don't raise the dent if that makes sense. The sandbag and the resistance makes it easier to stop pounding when the dent is flush with the trim surface and not go too far and raise the surface.

Hey, quit picking on me!
There was a guy that was telling me how to straighten out my mashed trim and part of that was to make a little peice of wood to the shape of the inside of the trim and then tapping and working it out.
The sand idea sounds like a good one though and use, if they have them, a small rubber mallet maybe.

Deb

There are specialty shops that do trim restoration. Just this afternoon I droped off 8 pieces from my 66 at just such a shop. This will seriously lighten my wallet. 4 wheel opening moldings: $550.00 2 rocker mouldings and 2 lower quarter panel pieces: $700.00. The guy explained that taking dents from aluminum pieces is a matter of peening the dents out with hammers, punches and dollies and then sand and polish. He said stainless steel requires heating the piece until it is glowing and then removing the dent. If you are interested he is Vintage Vehicles Inc. of Wautoma, Wi. 920-787-2656. Website is Vintage Vehicles, Inc.. I've seen samples of his work and he is good, real good. Expensive, yes. But I've shopped Ebay for a year for nos parts and they sell for more money and more often than not are flawed. You don't say what pieces you need but hail usually takes out the trim around the glass, and all that is stainless on your car. The good news is that those pieces should be available on E-bay at a reasonable cost and should be rather plentiful.

You can also use a drill press, (POWER NOT TURNED ON), and a wooden dowel. Using different diameters of wooden dowel rod, round over the ends of the rods. The different sizes of rods are needed for different size dents.

Place the trim upside down on a sandbag type surface and slowly PRESS the dents out. This way allows you to control how much pressure is applied and exactly where. You might try the technique on one of the less prominent areas first.

Fred

That's a cool idea fred!

Well, the hail got the trim around all the windows, the rockers, wheel wells, and doors. So, damn near all of it except the trunk, headlight surrounds (thank God) and the bumpers. I really like the drill press idea... I think I'll try that and some light hammering, then send it off somewhere to have it rechromed. Thanks for all the advice! Anybody know of a good chromer in North Carolina?