M.Brane
ALLIANCE MEMBER
I remember many years ago walking into the Ford dealer to get one of those for my Ranchero. Before I was done describing what I needed the parts guy had one in his hand.
MP&C Shop Projects
- Thread starter MP&C
- Start date
Had an insurance job in the shop, a collaboration with a local collision shop. One of those fancy, old-time looking hearse had a backing up run in with a yellow pole. The mirrors on this thing are on top of fender mounted spare tires, and let's just say they leave a lot to be desired. There is also a backup camera installed in the rear tag frame. So one end of the bumper wrapped slightly around the yellow pole and just barely hit the rear fender. My job was to straighten the rear bumper, which is made from flat polished stainless.
(file photo)
This close up shows how much the end moved.
Not having a tree in the yard the right diameter, I opted for some 3" diameter wooden hand rail and some flat strap to make a leverage tool.
This worked well to remove most of the damage, but the end where the vertical rod is welded still wanted to curl outwards. So our tool was modified to hold the rod end, the other hand rail moved over snug, and this held things sufficient to unwrap the end. The relief cut was added using a rounded router bit..
There was a slight crease by the outer mounting bolt, so a suitable punch was made from a scrap 2x4
A profile template was cut out of an old shipping box and used to monitor our progress...
The damaged end was wet sanded up to 2500 grit and polished out on the buffing wheel to remove any trace of the yellow paint and subsequent scratches.
At the collision shop, waiting for the hearse to come out of the paint shop...
(file photo)
This close up shows how much the end moved.
Not having a tree in the yard the right diameter, I opted for some 3" diameter wooden hand rail and some flat strap to make a leverage tool.
This worked well to remove most of the damage, but the end where the vertical rod is welded still wanted to curl outwards. So our tool was modified to hold the rod end, the other hand rail moved over snug, and this held things sufficient to unwrap the end. The relief cut was added using a rounded router bit..
There was a slight crease by the outer mounting bolt, so a suitable punch was made from a scrap 2x4
A profile template was cut out of an old shipping box and used to monitor our progress...
The damaged end was wet sanded up to 2500 grit and polished out on the buffing wheel to remove any trace of the yellow paint and subsequent scratches.
At the collision shop, waiting for the hearse to come out of the paint shop...
Last edited:
zimman
Well-known member
Nice work. I've spent a lot of time at PAX River. Camped on base a few years ago too.
Zim
Zim
Bowtie4life
Well-known member
Awesome work Robert. You can't even tell that it was ever bent.
larry4406
Well-known member
The guy can even raise the dead!
Great work Robert!
How would you go about manually bending a 1x3/16” flat steel bar into a hoop with 22.5” inside diameter without a roller? Bbq project for a friend.
Great work Robert!
How would you go about manually bending a 1x3/16” flat steel bar into a hoop with 22.5” inside diameter without a roller? Bbq project for a friend.