body work question rear valence, can I fix this? Progress with boring pics Options

[theleschyouknow]

I've had my car for about two years first year -what I call the year of living dangerously
I drove it whenever the weather allowed including a 914 weekend in the talimena hills
after a brokenclutch cable clevis it's been wheels in the air for close to a year I've been cleaning the engine and trans and suspension arms and cv's/axles and shocks & springs and engine tin I can reach of 40+ years of grease and dirt -a bunch of it likely from the leaking cv's which I'm sure I'll ask about soon in another thread
so here's my question for this thread:
my rear valence has one 'big' dent in it and couple small wrinkles in the bottom 1/4" or so 'return' flange that defines the bottom edge
pics following

having never done any kind of body work before this seems fairly straight forward to repair
what are the minimal tools required?
what kind of results could reasonably be expected?
could I (easily)screw it up beyond repair?

thanks for any comments or suggestions





(IMG:style_emoticons/default/beerchug.gif)
cjl

[Darren C]

Thanks, posting the pictures saves a 1000 words!

The two vertical brackets look as if they’ve been ever so slightly twisted from the original impact.
The very first and last picture, to me, show the centre vertical bracket slightly twisted anti clockwise.
You could initially try pressing the lower return lip where the bracket attaches in a metal vice (where the metal is 2 layers thick) and gently work the length of the “flat” section of this return lip from left to right. Place a couple of bolts through the slotted fixing hole, use a bolt shank if you can (free from thread) or two drill bit shanks that are a tight fit. This will keep the slots perfectly aligned while you crush press the return flange back in shape.
If you have a couple of bits of similar gauge steel off-cuts, place them each side of the bracket on the return lip while pressing for a better result.

The bracket over the muffler cut out is a little more complicated but a similar fix can be made. It looks again as if the two layers (valance & bracket) have slipped/moved upwards.
Again you need to use two tight fitting bolts or drill bits in the slotted hole first to locate the two pieces before you begin to work the return lip.
Once the fixing slot is aligned you can gently tap the return back to shape. You can do this with a “teardrop” dolly or over the end of any metal pipe or metal bar of similar diameter or anything solid with a close (but slightly smaller diameter than the job). Alternatively you can gently pinch the two return lips back close to shape with long nose molegrip pliers using some bits of aluminium scrap as jaw guards. This is a long winded way but possible with patience.
Once the two return lip edges have been worked back into shape you can take the two bolts or drill bits out the slotted holes and they should be aligned. Again you could put a small tack or spot weld at the slotted hole (when the bolts/drill bits are in) to positively secure bracket to valance if you so wished.

Good luck