How to get the rain gutter straight (1 Viewer)

[jp_waltz]

I posted this in the "paint and body" forum but figured I'd run it by you guys as well.

So I flopped my 80 and did plenty of damage that I'll be attempting to repair on my own. My biggest hurdle will be the bent rain gutter. I put it over on the PS and the gutter got pushed in in a few places where the roof rack was attached. Any suggestions on how to get it pulled out? I'm new to body work and don't really have the money to pay someone to do it for me. I'm not looking for perfect, just goodinuf. The water containers were empty BTW.
Thanks
Paul

 

[jeffro109]

Pulling from the outside will just move the truck on its suspension mostly, perhaps some sort of braced jack on the interior if you're taking down the headliner. Brace it to the floor area and push the bend up and out...like lifting a house.

 

[dirtyboots]

Pulling from the outside will just move the truck on its suspension mostly, perhaps some sort of braced jack on the interior if you're taking down the headliner. Brace it to the floor area and push the bend up and out...like lifting a house.

Same same...pull the headliner (or not) and jack from the inside...depending on how frisky you feel you could create a T piece of 2x4 or similar, and rough sand / shape it to the contour of the roof line, then use the the T to push out with a bottle jack from the floor and wheel well corner. As you're pushing it out tap rapidly and lightly around the outside of the damage...finish up by reaching in through the window pushing out with a body dolly and tapping with a hammer

After getting the roof somewhat straight, take a piece of angle as a template and tap on the gutter...I would buy some 3m or equivalent seam sealer made for a gutter and finish it off with that to seal it up

experience with body damage = atrocious driving

 

[Rockymtnfamily]

I am working mine with a porta power jack. It works much better than the floor or bottle jack with 2x4s. You might be able to get one through Harbor Freight with a coupon for a reasonable price.

 

[Golgo13]

 

[jp_waltz]

Great info guys. I'll be pulling the headliner this week and suss it out. I'll look into the porta power unit too.
Thanks
Paul

 

[jp_waltz]

View attachment 1122940

Ya Golgo...I might be able to just buff it out

 

[Golgo13]

Sorry, Paul, couldn't resist.

 

[jp_waltz]

Sorry, Paul, couldn't resist.

No prob. I got a good chuckle out of that picture.

 

[socallove]

Paul, did you get in contact with bluetribal in SD?

 

[jp_waltz]

Paul, did you get in contact with bluetribal in SD?

We talked via pm a few weeks ago. I'm still not 100% sure what direction I want to go. I think it'll all boil down to how good of a hack I am at body work. If I suck then I'll proceed with finding a donor. The thought of doing a body swap kinda makes me sick to my stomach though.

 

[Zimbwanabe]

Bummer man. Sorry. Post your pics regardless of how it turns out. It'll be helpful for the rest of us.... Or at least interesting to see how close you get to full contour.

 

[Rifleman]

Body shops us a tool called a stud puller. With it you weld small studs to the outside body and use a slid hammer puller to pull the body panels. After your done pulling you just snap off the studs and grind what's left flush with the body panel. You can use the stud puller along with the port a power as other members have said. The stud puller works great on panels where you can't get in behind the panel to use other body tools. Here's a link to some stud pullers. http://www.eastwood.com/welders/stu...tm_term={keyword}&utm_campaign=NonBr-Autobody

 

[jp_waltz]

Body shops us a tool called a stud puller. With it you weld small studs to the outside body and use a slid hammer puller to pull the body panels. After your done pulling you just snap off the studs and grind what's left flush with the body panel. You can use the stud puller along with the port a power as other members have said. The stud puller works great on panels where you can't get in behind the panel to use other body tools. Here's a link to some stud pullers. http://www.eastwood.com/welders/stu...tm_term={keyword}&utm_campaign=NonBr-Autobody

Thanks rifle! A stud welder is already on my list of tools to buy. I'm hoping that with a porta power, stud welder and some basic body hammers and dollies I'll be able to get it to a place where it looks ok. It'll get dinged again for sure so I'll have plenty of opportunities to practice the craft of body repair.

 

[slow95z]

i have seen way worse than that fixed with a slide hammer and some bondo.