Moltar Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 I'm building a SBC powered Z for my old man, and finally got it up and running today after installing a new carb and intake manifold. First time out with the new parts and he plows through a speed bump. Attached are pictures of the damage. What are the chances of pulling the dent with a slide hammer? I'm not much of a bodyman, but I figured should be the same procedure as pulling a dent in a fender (only this time it is exhaust tubing). ~Thanks Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
johnc Posted June 4, 2010 Share Posted June 4, 2010 I'm building a SBC powered Z for my old man, and finally got it up and running today after installing a new carb and intake manifold. First time out with the new parts and he plows through a speed bump. Attached are pictures of the damage. What are the chances of pulling the dent with a slide hammer? I'm not much of a bodyman, but I figured should be the same procedure as pulling a dent in a fender (only this time it is exhaust tubing). ~Thanks More difficult because of the thicker metal and the short surface area. After that you'll have to weld up the holes. Probably better to cut out and repalce the dented section. I would also try to re-do the exhaust and move it up a couple inches. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moltar Posted June 4, 2010 Author Share Posted June 4, 2010 More difficult because of the thicker metal and the short surface area. After that you'll have to weld up the holes. Probably better to cut out and repalce the dented section. I would also try to re-do the exhaust and move it up a couple inches. Sounds like a convenient excuse for a header swap then. Thanks johnc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
grumpyvette Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 (edited) I could be wrong, but the pictures seem to show the crush damage is low enough that theres not going to be a huge restriction to exhaust flow rates,so its probably not critical to the car, and can wait until you get long tube headers . but If I was repairing it ID cut that section out and weld in a new section, but then Id probably have used long tube headers, and you would be working on a semi-dented header collector . Edited June 5, 2010 by grumpyvette Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NewZed Posted June 5, 2010 Share Posted June 5, 2010 I'm building a SBC powered Z for my old man, and finally got it up and running today after installing a new carb and intake manifold. First time out with the new parts and he plows through a speed bump. Attached are pictures of the damage. What are the chances of pulling the dent with a slide hammer? I'm not much of a bodyman, but I figured should be the same procedure as pulling a dent in a fender (only this time it is exhaust tubing). ~Thanks I saw an article in one of the hot rod mags a few months or more ago where they blocked the ends of a dented header with a wood plate, heated the dented area up red hot, then pressurized the tubes to push out the dent. As I recall, it worked fairly well. It took a little bit of fabrication for the air supply and the blocking plates. They had to closely control pressure and heat of course, but it didn't sound too difficult. The idea might work on your dent. I was just browsing the racks so don't remember which magazine it was. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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