Good ideas for unbubbling a skidplate?

1/4" aluminum, must have came down hard on a decent size rock, it bubbles up about 2" high over an area the size of a soccer ball, like a dome.

Still bolts in fine does its job, but any pressure on it it cracks my exhaust. Havent tried to work on it yet so i'm just trying to get ideas. Heat it up and just hit it with a big sledge? Think that will do the trick? Or is this a lost cause without some kind of hydraulic force.

No heat just a big sledge. the heat disipates to fast to do any good. That should do the trick if not press it.

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Yeah, essentially "assemble in reverse order". Sometimes it hlps to have some assistants to stand on the thing so when you wail on it with the sledge it doesn't just bounce and jump up..

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Yep, sledge....if it is dimpled up in one local area, then place 4 2x4 or 2x6 boards arranged in a square or rectangle under the pate and surrounding the dimpled area. This will allow all the force to work into the dimple as you hit it and not be stopped/absorbed by the ground underneath, and will also allow the dimpled area to 'overdeflect' below the level of the plate, which you need to do to get it really flat.

For such a large, deep dimple, try to work it in from the edges; the material is probably stretched and so you may need to work it with a lot of moderate hits to get it 'unstretched'. When you get it close to flat, then take out the boards, and lay it flat on a hard surface, and whack it more and maybe peen it all over with a heavy ball peen to get it flattter. With a lot of material strech, you may end up with an arch across the whole plate.

I have to wonder if heat may be useful to shrink the material if needed; just heat it a lot in a limited area and then let it cool, and it should shrink up in that area. That is standard for thin stuff but I dunno how well it works for thick stuff.

Quote
starion887
Yep, sledge....if it is dimpled up in one local area, then place 4 2x4 or 2x6 boards arranged in a square or rectangle under the pate and surrounding the dimpled area. This will allow all the force to work into the dimple as you hit it and not be stopped/absorbed by the ground underneath, and will also allow the dimpled area to 'overdeflect' below the level of the plate, which you need to do to get it really flat.

For such a large, deep dimple, try to work it in from the edges; the material is probably stretched and so you may need to work it with a lot of moderate hits to get it 'unstretched'. When you get it close to flat, then take out the boards, and lay it flat on a hard surface, and whack it more and maybe peen it all over with a heavy ball peen to get it flattter. With a lot of material strech, you may end up with an arch across the whole plate.

I have to wonder if heat may be useful to shrink the material if needed; just heat it a lot in a limited area and then let it cool, and it should shrink up in that area. That is standard for thin stuff but I dunno how well it works for thick stuff.

With industrial size tanks and a big ass rosebud tip it probably would help...but who has that.. A sump guard really leads the heat away fast...


When I've done anything like this it really helps to go apeshit and imagine you're crazy and scream KILL!!! KILL! a lot...
It was the weight of a whole car ramming into the car that made the dent, equal and opposite force to straighten---except it is stretched and a dome so its stronger... Eat some raw meat before had, get some veins in your teeth, maybe smear some blood around..
It ain't art.

---

John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Yah, sledge.

Wear hearing protection.

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Self-righteous douche canoe

Quote
hoche
Yah, sledge.

Wear hearing protection.

Whaaaaaa?

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Quote
john vanlandingham

Quote
hoche
Yah, sledge.

Wear hearing protection.

Whaaaaaa?

I SAID, "WEAR HEARING PROTECTION".

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Self-righteous douche canoe

Alright, we'll be giving it a shot today. I just thought some heat due to the fact that it looks stretched, so it probably wont deform back as well, but you're probably right too big of a piece to heat up without some kind of industrial equipment.

My favorite types of "to dos!" Get to just beat the shit out of stuff without really any critical thinking. A task like this one would normally get put on my "to do ......while shitfaced list."

WEAR HEARING PROTECTION!

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John Vanlandingham
Sleezattle, WA, USA

Vive le Prole-le-ralliat

www.rallyrace.net/jvab
CALL +1 206 431-9696
Remember! Pacific Standard Time
is 3 hours behind Eastern Standard Time.

Quote
john vanlandingham
... you wail on it with the sledge ...

While there is some dispute as to whether it should be "whale" or "wale," it is definitely not "wail."

Yes it is.

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Pete Remner
Cleveland, Ohio

1984 RX-7 (rallycross thing)
1978
Silence is golden, but duct tape is silver.

Academics...

Urbandictionary.com agrees 'wail' is appropriate here.

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First Rally: 2001
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Last Updated, January 4, 2015

Quote
john vanlandingham
Blame is for idiots. losers.

Two things.

You're both wrong.

You're both interfering with my attempt to troll.