seekerfkf Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 Can anyone advise how to "shrink" sheet metal with a body hammer? I have a '73 that the previous owner had banged out the wheel wells to "flare" them. I have bought some ZG flares, but need to shrink the existing bodywork back to near-stock shape to make them fit right. I have the "metal fabricator's handbook", but it's info on this is sketchy, and my experiments don't seem to work. Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Z-TARD Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 As far as I know, you can't shrink metal with a body hammer once it has been stretched. I've seen it done before with a torch and a spray bottle of water. Heating the metal up with a torch and then rapidly cooling it with the spray bottle will make it shrink. I have never actually tried this myself though, so I can't give you any advice on how to do it correctly. Maybe try it out on some scrap metal for a few days to get an idea of how the metal will behave as it cools. Mike Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Owen Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 The ZG flares are pretty big, and if you need to shrink the metal, it sounds like the original flares were banged out pretty far? Why don't you just cut the fenders, I have the ZG flares and 17" wheels and actually have to...just don't want to yet... Owen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tim240z Posted May 14, 2004 Share Posted May 14, 2004 Super duper shrinking disk: http://allshops.org/cgi-bin/community/communityalbums.cgi?action=openalbum&albumid=9980121727059 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tannji Posted May 15, 2004 Share Posted May 15, 2004 I checked that out, and that forum just got added to my links. Great info there, and they seem like a good bunch. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Leadfoot321 Posted June 7, 2007 Share Posted June 7, 2007 Tim's suggestion of the shrinking disc is a excellent suggestion. I've been using the shrink disc for about 10 years now and works well for most instances. It won't work on areas that have been heated with a torch or ground with a grinding disc. The metal loses it's "memory". FYI! RacerX First post on Hybridz and might as well bring one back from the dead. For those of you who have used a shrinking disc, have you ever tried one of the smaller discs like this 4 1/2": http://cgi.ebay.com/4-1-2-Shrinking-disc-Kit-sunchaser-english-wheel_W0QQitemZ220118752013QQihZ012QQcategoryZ633QQssPageNameZWDVWQQrdZ1QQcmdZViewItem Would this small of a disc be effective? I'm very comfortable with body work and have painted several cars but have never tried one of these before. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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