Removing dents from headlight bucket

[coupe1942]

Unfortunately, the photos probably don't show the dents as well as I'd like, but I have one headlight bucket which has a couple of dents and dings in it. The worst dent just does snot show up well in photos.

What is the best method to remove them? They will be blacked out and not re-chromed when done as they are going on a daily driver or will end up being some extra parts in the future. I hate to toss them as I feel they can be salvaged.

I wanted to try to repair them at home instead of taking them to a painless dent removal place or body shop and paying a fortune to do this work. However, I find it a bit difficult to work inside the curved bucket.

Any tips on the best method to use in hammering them out a bit better?

Thanks.

[C26Pinelake]

You would be surprised how much those dent removers actually charge, some are actually very reasonable. Usually an amatuer ends up with an obvious Amatuer looking job. This in my opinion is where you should let a professional do his work because the end result will be very obvious. Wayne

[RonC]

Sell them and buy better ones. Use Brattons reflectors they are better than the originals

[coupe1942]

Not interested in selling them, but in repairing the bucket to this one. I have a good set on my pickup. These are just spares and I want to repair them good enough to keep them around in case I ever do need them. Reflectors are not the problem.

Question remains how to best repair them?

[wrndln]

There was an article in one of the model A club's magazine sometime back that showed how forming babbitt to remove dents in headlights. I took pictures of the 2 pages in the magazine. I am pasting them in this response. I think you can read the text, but if not, I can email the pictures to you if you can't.
Rusty Nelson

[ronn]

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I have used wood, such as dowel and tapped from inside-but your right one is fubar.

[Indiana A. Lover]

I used a cut off wooden Broom handle the upper part that is rounded. Make a pillow out of what ever to cradle the bucket and tap lightly with a light hammer. take your time and you will be suprised how nice they turn out. I enjoy trying to fix something that everybody says not worth it.

[Ted Duke]

Originally Posted by Indiana A. Lover

I used a cut off wooden Broom handle the upper part that is rounded. Make a pillow out of what ever to cradle the bucket and tap lightly with a light hammer. take your time and you will be suprised how nice they turn out. I enjoy trying to fix something that everybody says not worth it.

Amen!

[Bill Wright]

Amenx2 and a hallelujah Brother!

[Larry Jenkins]

3/4" Carriage bolts.

[coupe1942]

Good ideas and I had not thought of most.

Thanks.

[C26Pinelake]

Originally Posted by Larry Jenkins

3/4" Carriage bolts.

Smart idea for sure! Wayne

[Synchro909]

I once repaired a pair of Chrysler headlight shells. They turned out very well. I filled a box with brick mortar and scooped out a hollow large enough to accommodate about half of a shell. Once that had set, I poured Plaster of Paris into it and after spraying the UNDAMAGED part of a shell with WD40, I pressed it into the plaster. Once this set, I had a perfect shape to aim at. By GENTLE and judicious use of pieces of wood etc (like those mentioned about by others) and a small hammer, I gradually closed in on a good shape. For those very slight imperfections, I used a piece of broom handle with oil on the end and rubbed the interior of the shell till it conformed with the shape of the plaster mould. Very time consuming and I don't think I'd bother for a pair of shells I could by new for a reasonable price.
If, as you say, these are to be painted, a little filler applied to a roughed up surface (for grip) would save many hours of work for no real gain. Remember, this is all time you'll never get back!

[Mike V. Florida]

Originally Posted by Larry Jenkins

3/4" Carriage bolts.

Polish the heads and your good to go!

[BRENT in 10-uh-C]

Actually, I feel those shells are indeed repairable however you are going to need to build some specialty tooling, and study up on the principles of metal straightening.

To begin with, you need to fabricate a post dolly stand with a couple of anvils made out of Grade 8 one-inch bolts. I don't believe it needs to be elaborate, and something that can be clamped into a large vise would work well. The heads of the bolts need to be spun in a lathe to the radii shape of the different areas inside of the headlight shell. Then the heads of these anvils need to be polished. The key to these anvils is mass. Next you need a Jewler's Chasing hammer with a polished face, --and you need to fabricate a small slapping hammer out of an old Model-A spring.

Next you need to understand how to shrink metal without inducing warpage. This is more artform than science, but you need to understand that a dent or a crease is stretched metal, and just 'pounding it out' from the inside is doing nothing more that rearranging the shape. In reality, you will have a wrinkled bucket shell. Using the slapper or hammer on the outside while having anvil on the inside is the proper method. You do not want to use a 'hammer on-dolly' method, but instead use an 'off-dolly' method to raise the damage as you strike around the damage with a glancing or sweeping blow. This creates friction which will help shrink the damage. You will also need to manually heat-shrink the metal however you need to be able to control the heat to concentrate it to a precise area. A small shrinking disc for the 4½" grinder would work well if it is well lubricated with bar soap. From there it is just labor intensive progress at a slow pace to correct the damage. Once you are close, then using a fat Sharpie to blackout an area followed by lightly sanding with a blocking pad will show the imperfections.

I could go on further as this is not a simple process that can be explained in 100 words or less however this should get you started.

[C26Pinelake]

Does it really sound like it is worth it when replacements are available at most flea markets and literally dozens at a place like Hershey. Sometimes money saved is not money well spent. Wayne

[cp5491r]

There is a great article in Volume 2, How to Restore your Model A:
I've done headlights, cowl strip, and radiator shell and found wooden dowels work well. Buy a couple feet of 3/8 inch dowel and cut into about 6 inch pieces. Round over the end and tap out dents from the inside. I used a piece of heavy rubber to rest headlight against as I hammered. A piece of 1/4 inch or so rubber works well- like a piece of a truck's mud flap.
Once hammered out, use a points file and lightly file areas punched out too far (careful- it's thin metal). Then sand with progressively finer sandpaper. Down to at least 600 grit but probably finer. After that, the stainless steel ones can be buffed out with 2 grades of compound an buffing wheels.
Good luck- they'll look great.

[coupe1942]

Thanks for the tips. I appreciate it.

[BButturff]

I do realize this is an 8-1/2 year old thread, however, there's another option for those that may come along and read this thread. Bert's Model A Store in Englewood, Colorado has thousands of reasonably priced, used, original Ford Model A parts for sale. I contacted them (1-800-321-1931) for a dent-free headlight trim ring and it arrived in a few days (dent-free) and all I needed to do was polish it. I prefer to fix things myself but for what this used one cost I couldn't pass it up.

[rich b]

Father-in-law had a couple ball peen hammers with the heads cut off; on one the ball was ground to soft point and the other had the ball polished.

They fit easily inside a couple of headlight shells I had and he made quick work of the dents using the two hammers, a couple different dollies, and a body file.

He had been body man in the mid-fifties when everything was metal finish. Said his boss used to holler at him if he had to use more than a touch of lead.