Topic: Pro Spot Aluminum Repair Station

[754]

 I work a little bit at a buddies body shop  keeps me off the street.
 A while ago he got  a Pro Spot Aluminum Repair Center.
 For repairing dents in the new Aluminum body panels.
 The rep came to give him a quick training session, I sat in for part of it.
 I especially  liked the stud spotting gun.. it welds on the alloy threaded  studs that you then pull on to pull up a dent. Pretty slick and easy to use . I got a bit of insight on the process.

 I have a dent in an alloy tank I have, i hope I get to use that to pull it out.
 Anyone work with this kind of stuff ?
 
 Here's a shot of the stud welder takes under a minute per stud.
 And a shot of some of the pulling rigging.

[scunny]

I'm interested in how you get on. I've got an alloy tank with a few dents, but haven't done anything about them yet.

[754]

It's a bit hard to reach,  at the front corner of tank. Which I am not using on anything right now.
You can try a big ball bearing or rounded pad we led to a 5/8 bar , bent to fit thru the gas cap..
Then tap around  it . A laser pointer or plumb Bob can be useful to line it up..

[scunny]

Mines unpainted and shall stay that way, I figure  leaving the dents looks better than some half arsed attempt to repair it. Stretching is the biggest problem I see, without cutting the bottom out to get a good go at it. Have looked at heating and cooling cycles but, what do I know.

[calj737]

Frank - take a piece of 3/8 round bar, put some curvature to it, and grind the tip into a blunt/rounded nose with a taper. The smaller you make the point of it, the more “delicate” the result. With alloy, I’d make the tip about the diameter of a pencil.

Use a light source casting across the face of the tank. When you push from inside, you’ll be able to see where your tip actually is. A small welding mirror helps if you get out position and can’t see. Work slowly and don’t try to move too much too quickly and it will come up pretty as you please.

Work from the outside perimeter to the center. A small amount of propane to start will make it easy. You’ll likely need to tap down some high spots afterwards. A simple small brass drift 1/4 or better. Gentle taps down.

You could anneal it afterwards if you want it to get more stable. I’ve done dozens of our SOHC tanks and they can come out really well if you can get to the spot. The tunnel on that tank is the toughest part of your repair. It’s right in the way of getting any leverage and clearance to work. I’ve had to drill holes in bottoms (ala Scunny) and then weld those back up.

[754]

Interesting .  I would think 3/8 bar would be pretty flexy. I think 1/2 inch can still get in most spots.
 The pro spot guy recommended heating to 450  before pulling, he said at that temp , you can see it expand and start to rise.
  I have some 1/2 round 1 inch slugs that we used to cap ends of frame, and some 3/4  inch I thought them tacked to the side of the bar, would be good to push against.

[calj737]

Oh gosh, 3/8” bar as a push tool is plenty strong. It won’t take much to move that metal anyway. The only thing about a 450* preheat is it will force the dent “into” itself a bit. Once cooled, it will rise, but dents like that tend to collapse if heated in my experience.

The real reason for 3/8 vs thicker is you want a point that you can control and you need to bend the bar to reach the area. You can certainly use thicker, but 3/8 is plenty capable.

[bear]

If you have some stretch after the repair, spot heat the affected area with a tourch then wipe over the area with a wet sponge to shrink it.

[BomberMann650]

Could a poor farm boy use a stick welder and vice grips in lieu of fancy stud tool?

[754]

 Stud spotters for steel are quite reasonable.
 These particular aluminum ones are threaded, , i think some steel ones are not..

[J-Rod10]

Could a poor farm boy use a stick welder and vice grips in lieu of fancy stud tool?

I've tacked a nail on and used a slide hammer a time or two.

[calj737]

Could a poor farm boy use a stick welder and vice grips in lieu of fancy stud tool?

I've tacked a nail on and used a slide hammer a time or two.

You tacked a steel nail to an alloy tank? You’re very talented 

[J-Rod10]

Could a poor farm boy use a stick welder and vice grips in lieu of fancy stud tool?

I've tacked a nail on and used a slide hammer a time or two.

You tacked a steel nail to an alloy tank? You’re very talented 

Ha, on a steel tank. I could have swore I saw steel in his post, I was mistaken.

Though, it could be done, easily enough. You can buy aluminum nails at Lowe's and Home Depot.
https://www.amazon.com/Aluminum-Potato-Spud-Baking-Nails/dp/B002UC9JC6/ref=asc_df_B002UC9JC6/?tag=hyprod-20&linkCode=df0&hvadid=198068498826&hvpos=1o1&hvnetw=g&hvrand=2437140694119931311&hvpone=&hvptwo=&hvqmt=&hvdev=m&hvdvcmdl=&hvlocint=&hvlocphy=9026116&hvtargid=pla-348348538300&psc=1

[754]

Could a poor farm boy use a stick welder and vice grips in lieu of fancy stud tool?

Did you mean aluminum ? A lot of people use glue on studs.
 Because this system  described above is made for this apllication, it works well and is not too invasive. But it uses carefully designed alloy pull studs that should work every time. . So it works.. but it's very expensive. 
 Plastic glue ons May be the only cheap alternative, or work the  dent out from the back with a homemade tool.

[BomberMann650]

Could a poor farm boy use a stick welder and vice grips in lieu of fancy stud tool?

Did you mean aluminum ? A lot of people use glue on studs.
 Because this system  described above is made for this apllication, it works well and is not too invasive. But it uses carefully designed alloy pull studs that should work every time. . So it works.. but it's very expensive. 
 Plastic glue ons May be the only cheap alternative, or work the  dent out from the back with a homemade tool.

I heard a rumor that an old arc welder could be tricked into welding aluminum by reversing the polarity at the leads.  If you have a proper aluminum stick.

[calj737]

Could a poor farm boy use a stick welder and vice grips in lieu of fancy stud tool?

Did you mean aluminum ? A lot of people use glue on studs.
 Because this system  described above is made for this apllication, it works well and is not too invasive. But it uses carefully designed alloy pull studs that should work every time. . So it works.. but it's very expensive. 
 Plastic glue ons May be the only cheap alternative, or work the  dent out from the back with a homemade tool.

Nope. Welding aluminum requires more than EN, it requires AC. Unless the arc welder provides AC current, you’re stuck with steel.

I heard a rumor that an old arc welder could be tricked into welding aluminum by reversing the polarity at the leads.  If you have a proper aluminum stick.