T
tonywray
- Reaction score
- 1
- Thunderbird Year
- 1957
We have an issue that I hope someone here can give some guidance on. We are doing a complete restoration and we have taken the soft top off and disassembled it, stripped it and painted it. When we began to start re-assembly, we noticed a warp on the back middle piece of the frame. The entire top had been folded up and put on a shelf back in 1981, as best that we can determine. Could have been earlier than that, but 100% not later than then. We assume that over the years, with who knows what piled on top of it, that piece warped a little on both ends.
Th question for y'all is what is the best way to get it back right. We need to twist one end about 1/8" and the other end about 3/8". It is cast aluminum and we don't want to break it. Our thoughts are to heat up where the warp is and gently nudge the twist out. We have taken it to 3 shops and none wanted to deal with it. We were told not to use acetylene or map because it would heat it up too much. We were also told to be careful with propane as well, if we decided to use that. We were told that a heat gun maybe all we need.
Does anyone have any experience with this type of thing and, more importantly, have any advice on the best way to do this? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Th question for y'all is what is the best way to get it back right. We need to twist one end about 1/8" and the other end about 3/8". It is cast aluminum and we don't want to break it. Our thoughts are to heat up where the warp is and gently nudge the twist out. We have taken it to 3 shops and none wanted to deal with it. We were told not to use acetylene or map because it would heat it up too much. We were also told to be careful with propane as well, if we decided to use that. We were told that a heat gun maybe all we need.
Does anyone have any experience with this type of thing and, more importantly, have any advice on the best way to do this? Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
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