A football is not a bad idea. It is sturdy and hard to puncture. I have used a variety of things to air pressure damaged areas. Hadn't thought of that one.
Previous ribbing was unavoidable. My Irish temperment will not allow me to pass up such an opportunity for smartass remarks. Not trying to get under your skin at all. With that out of the way, it may be interesting to see what can be done with your truck. When this one is done I will look for a club meet locally to bring it over, and maybe the van too. Maybe I can look at yours then. We don't want to think in terms of beauty. Yours performs best without getting too upset about the skins. Maybe we can improve things without having to work too hard.
On other biz: Kevin (tools"r"us) stayed around to help out tonight and we aced the windshield frame area on sunny belly. I had planned to go after it myself and do OK but hindsight says I couldn't have done it right with less than 4 eyes and 4 hands. And his eyes and hands are very skilled. We even got it straight without breaking the new glass! I appreciate the help very much!
Previous thoughts about relieving stress points proved correct again. After fits and false starts, pressing and pulling in several ways, we finally found the "sweet spot" where the stress was centered. We rotated (twisted) the left A pillar to correct the roof contours. I had the port-a-power pushing on the sweet spot on the left side while Kevin watched structure movement on the right. We were moving the entire roof as much as 1/2 inch back and forth, even in the back of the truck, from pressing on the front! The whole structure was moving all over the place. That 10 ton ram flat-out kicks ass & takes names!
With pressure on, I reached behind me and grabbed a 40 oz. soft face dead-blow hammer. I beat on the left rain gutter with heavy (6-7 tons) pressure from the ram just inches away and heavy tension across the windshield pillars.
(The process involves both mental finesse and physical brutality. It's kinda fun. Suits me just fine!)
While I was pounding away on the left side, paint started flying off of the right side roof pillar on the opposite side of the truck from where I was hitting. Both pillars warped and rotated. We were bending metal that much. The whole roof just gave up and moved to exactly where it should be. When ram pressure was relaxed, the roof was perfect! It just went straight and said "thank you!"
Next I will weld the structure to the skin to add rigidity, then smooth and paint. Good to go!!