Bodywork on aluminum?

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Author Message   TCarr Posted on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 02:07 pm:    Have a couple dents in the hood (aluminum) of my 94 Disco 1, and my wife is unhappy...getting estimates... Couple bodyshops have said "there's no way to fix it, you have to buy another hood", but 2 said "no prollem"... Is there an issue w/ doing bodywork on aluminum? Thanks.   james Posted on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 02:43 pm:    I was told as well that there is nothing that could be done about a dent in my hood. I figure that since the dent occurred with very little pressure that it should be able to bend back.   Anonymous Posted on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 03:10 pm:    aluminum, unlike steel, has a memory. If you pound on steel you can eventually make it flat again. Try flattening a bent beer can, the crinkles won't come out. the guys that told you there was no problem fixing it were probably going to fill the dent and repaint.   TCarr Posted on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 04:36 pm:    Well, it needs to be repainted, too, it's scratched down to bare metal... is there a problem with filling the dents?   doug james (Dgj95lwb) Posted on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 05:53 pm:    Find a Restoration oriented shop, not a 'body-shop'. I have had MANY alloy bodied cars worked on, never by a 'body-shop'. Neither should you. (As far as an alum bodied LR goes. Hondas and Camrys'-hell yes) Ask that they have done alloy work. A pro will shrink the alum, by drilling a hole essentially, pounding('shaping') the alum back to orig contour/shape, then alum welding the hole 'remnant'. They do it all the time. How do you figure that Cobras, Astons, Maseratis, etc of the world, get repaired? At 'body-shops'? Fix it right. Or don't do it. cheers- doug james   doug james (Dgj95lwb) Posted on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 05:59 pm:    Forgot to mention: you want it 'metal finished', NOT FILLED/bondoed. "Metal finished" means that zero synthetic filler added. That's how I like the women, no filler added. Make sure they will do it that way, inspect before any prep paint is applied. Do however, remember it is an LR, not a DB5. dgj   Dee Cantrell (Disco_Dad) Posted on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 06:16 pm:    Picture a RR hood after the fan exploded, many many large dents. The shop that fixed it did an outstanding job. Not one bit of bondo or filler was used , not one trace of dammage. It can be done but it takes a skilled body man not a bondo king Find a body shop that knows how to heat and shrink the dents out   Dee Cantrell (Disco_Dad) Posted on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 06:49 pm:    This should explain the process http://www.tinmantech.com/html/repairing_aluminum_article.html   Larry Grubbs (Larryg) Posted on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 09:08 pm:    Range Rover's have steel hoods and steel tailgaits along with Aluminum roofs. Disco's are different. Their roofs are steel and I think the hoods are AL. So a RR Hood is very easy to fix. Larry   Ron Posted on Thursday, May 23, 2002 - 11:16 pm:    Larry is correct. RR hoods are steel. LEAVE IT ALONE! dents add character. Small dents can be taken out manually, though, big ones and the alum tears or work hardens. Beating alum is a PITA. By the time you pay for the high end alum repair discussed above you can buy a new hood. Ron   TCarr Posted on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 01:38 am:    Hmmm, so it might be cheaper to buy a hood, or find a used one and repaint it?   Greg French Posted on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 08:02 am:    Ron is right. Tell the wife to ride in her own car and leave you alone. Every dent tells a story. The good thing about it is that if you don't like the "Real" story you can make one up. Like the time I dented the passenger side door in. I took my Rover to Spain, and didn't realize I was driving right where they were doing the "Running of the Bulls". Well, let me tell you that Bulls have no fear of something bigger than them. One real big one saw my buddy's red shirt and charged. The crowd was going wild.... See what I mean? Or you can probably find a new one for fairly cheap. Greg   Greg French Posted on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 08:12 am:    Ron is right. Tell the wife to ride in her own car if she doesn't like it amd leave you alone. Every dent tells a story. The good part is that if you don't like the "Real" story you can make one up. Like the time I dented in my passenger side door. See...I took my Disco over to Spain to do a little tourning of the countryside. I was driving down this street, and nobody told me it was where they do the "Running of the Bulls". Well, one real big one saw my buddy's red shirt and charged. Luckilly, he hit low and missed the window...the first time. The crowd was going wild. Every time he hit me, they got louder and louder. The runners were a little upset because all of the sudden I was the center of attention, but I didn't care... See what I mean? Or you could find a used one for a good price. Post it on the wanted board. Also check out LRX.com Greg   Greg French Posted on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 08:14 am:    I swear that wasn't there when I checked. Sorry for posting the same thing twice. It isn't as good the second time!   Dee Cantrell (Disco_Dad) Posted on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 01:54 pm:    Larry, and Ron Your right The RR Hood is all steel, The Valance behind the hood is Alum that is what was costly for me to have fixed, I hit it really hard with my fist and kicked the doors after the dam thing left me stranded. The Dog was too small too kick at the time, oh wrong string.. The Hood and 2 right Doors and Valance were repaired using the heat and shrink method, a new outer Skin was installed on the Drivers Door, It was the Valance and Hood that needed a ton of work, The hood had a ton of large grapefruit sized dimples in it. All were fixed with the same Heat and Shrink Method, The doors were a PIA to fix and took almost as much in man-hours as a replacement would have been, But none were available at the time, I had the skin on the left front Driver door replaced, The shop was never able to get it that good with a heat and shrink there was a nice rock crease in it from a trail modifications done a few years prior to my kicking it. The RR the door skins are Alum steel inners, I think the Discos are the same The RR roof is Alum I believe the disco is steel due to red rust on the Alpine windows. Tailgate is steel, Just did a magnet on the Disco hood. it appears to be Alum and I looks to have an inner panel this would make it hard to work the outer surface. I can be done but the labor would be more than the replacement Hood. I have seen Alum replacement's for the RR upper tailgate frames and there used to be Fiberglass or ABS replacement wings and hood about 8 or 9 years ago, I think it was in Australia? Not sure if Disco panels are made of other materials, A carbon fiber hood would be nice. No need for the black out trim... The link does provide some interesting reading on Alum repair http://www.tinmantech.com/html/repairing_aluminum_article.html   TCarr Posted on Friday, May 24, 2002 - 05:54 pm:    Hey, the Disco is wife's car! I have a RR. Anyway, I told her I'd get it fixed (awww, what a nice guy) and don't want to spend a $$$$$. thanks.