Fix 66 Cuda fender

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That looks a little deep to start with a hammer and dolly. I would pop it back out with a rubber mallet or ball of my hand from the inside first. Looks like it already has some hammer marks on it from the inside. I bought a hammer dolly set from pep boys for like $20 and it has 3 hammers and 4 dollies.
Although the hammers look similar, don't be fooled, you will have a shrinking hammer and an expanding hammer both of mine are round on one side and square on the other, the shrinking hammer will be flat on the front or slightly concave the expanding hammer will be more round on the face.

Ok so now onto the fun part. hammer that sucker, nope tap like you are trying to crack an egg without crushing it. Basically you want the metal to move but not with a single blow, many many many taps and you should see it start to get better, If you beat it, it will look like a sack of nuts (walnuts) when you are done. you should only be working on the high spots, after all low spots on the outside are high spots on the inside. Start at the highest point and work out from there, SLOWLY tapping around with the hammer. you'll notice I haven't said much about the dolly, well here it is, pick the dolly that has the closest contour of the panel you are working on, it wont be perfect but you should be able to maneuver the dolly to match the panel. there are tons of sites out there to help.
When you are done it should look almost shiny where you hammered it not pocked.

I would also suggest getting a piece of scrap and smashing it with a hammer and then trying to remove the dent. hammer/dolly work is a learned skill and I have a beat up fender to prove it, or I'm just a slow learner :lol:
hope that helps
 
I had a '74 Charger when I was a kid and I used a hammer and dolly. I seemed to get the best results by useing them both right off the get go and working the dent from the outter edge to the center going around it in a circle motion. It took along time and I did go slow so that I wouldn't do any more damage than what I was trying to repair. I would recomend ear plugs since my ears were ringing for what seemed like hours.
I would consider player1up's idea of practicing on a junk panel until you are more comfortable with the hammer and dolly.
 
I'd look for another fender but if you really wanted to fix it:

You work it out the opposite of how it went in, like 68-340 said from the outside working around towards the midlle. The metal is stretched and you are going to shrink it back. If you just start banging away at the3 highest point you'll have a bigger mess than you started with. Further to that, you use the dolly to support the metal just beside where you are hammering, you don't hammer on the dolly, that will just further stretch the metal. Take it slow, you don't have to hammer very hard, just keep working it slowly around towards the center. If you use a stud gun, it's the same principal, you start pulling from the outside edges moving slowly towards the deepest part of the dent.
 
that is behind the headlight bucket...

if you are serious about fixing it, and I'd use a hammer and dolly myself, I'd remove the headlight bucket, DRILL the spotwelds, and it will be ALOT easier!
 
DJVCUDA said:
that is behind the headlight bucket...

if you are serious about fixing it, and I'd use a hammer and dolly myself, I'd remove the headlight bucket, DRILL the spotwelds, and it will be ALOT easier!
Click to expand...


i agree.. djv did it to a fender for my 69 dart.. turned out great.
 
I have 2 fenders with the same type of dent. I decided to get a stud welder. Where do you start to pull after studs are installed? Some say lowest point of dent, others say start at highest and work towards the lowest point. I'm new to this , so the more information the better.
Thanks
 
As I said earlier, the metal is stretched, you need to shrink it back. You start at the edge and work around towards the center or deepest part of the dent slowly shrinking it back to shape. If you use a stud gun you will have to put a lot of studs in there, it's a very gradual process. If you just try and bang it or pull it out haphazardly the metal will end up looking like a crumpled piece of aluminum foil.
 
Thanks Rob. As you can see, I tried a little hammer and dolly. Didn't do to well, that's why I thought I would try the stud welder.
 
I didn't see a picture? It isn't the easiest thing to do and you're starting with a rather difficult dent which doesn't make it any easier. It really is a slow and steady process, you can't just get in there with a big hammer and wail on it. Use a lot of studs and spaced quite close together or youll end up with highs and lows all over the place. If it makes you feel any better it's becoming a lost art, it's cheaper to get another fender than pay someone numerous hours to beat yours straight. I doubt you could find many people even in body shops these days that can really work metal. Even if you don't get it as good as you want you'll have learned something and finding a replacement fender shouldn't be all that difficult, depending on where you live I suppose. Good luck
 
If you are using the stud method I would recommend installing the fender on the car. It will give you a much steadier platform to work with. Don’t forget to check how the lamps fit at the corner.

Good luck and keep us posted!
 
might try a toilet plunger first. it might get the most of the dent pulled out.
 
Thanks DJVCUDA. I was not aware of that book. I will order it. Congratulations, I saw your write up in Mopar Enthusiast. That magazine is really good and I sent in my subscription.
 
No problem and thanks!!

That book helped me out alot.
 
DJVCUDA said:
that is behind the headlight bucket...

if you are serious about fixing it, and I'd use a hammer and dolly myself, I'd remove the headlight bucket, DRILL the spotwelds, and it will be ALOT easier!
Click to expand...

that is exactly what i had to do to my cudas fender (69 though) its kind of a pain but its MUCH easier to fix it this way.
 
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