More Hammering

Last week the shop was closed for Veteran's day. Today the news was that the plasma cutter is still broken, so I spent my time finishing that little patch I started last time.

This is a patch for the lower right corner of the left tail light. The opening in the body is flanged, and the corner appears to have been radiused to follow the weather striping. I cannot say for sure because both sides have rusted out. The sections that remain have sharpe, 90 degree "Z" bends. The left side of the opening is curved to follow the form of the light fixture, and there the angles are less severe.



My guess is that this corner also was not as sharp as the section that remains. Even so, to get a good fit my patch needs to start with sharp bends. The top part (right side of opening) is easier because the indentation is only3/16 in. The bottom is harder because it is deeper, 3/8 in.



The photo below shows the result of a day's work. Basically I shrank the upper surface and streatched the lower, working the softly curved bends with the pick hammer to sharpen the bend. The shrinking hammer is the one with the teeth, which leaves the surface sparkly.



The next photo shows a side view of the deeper side, which will go at the bottom of the tail light opening. The top bend is sharp, but the bottom is stubornly soft and the narrow piece in between runs at about 45 deg. instead of 90. Even so, this might be good enough. All I need is for the light to fit and the bends to be covered by the light fixture.