Identify & Remove Crowns

Let us discuss identifying and removing crowns using different tools and techniques. To start with we need to know what crowns are and how to identify them. So whenever we're working on medium or large sized dents it's almost inevitable that there is a crown.

This is what we refer to as a secondary crown. You can really see those lines pinched together but once we start to pull out most of this will disappear by itself.  It might need a little bit of tap down work towards the end. But it's not something we need to focus on at the start but definitely worth noting. 

Release the Tension in the Panel

Check on those reflections in the panel and how it reads the dent. This section here is what I would refer to as a primary crown. Lines that are really pinched together indicates that there's a lot of tension in the panel.

Throughout the repair this will have to be addressed. The tension has to be released at the right stages to allow metal flow whilst we're starting to lift the low and work on the main dented section.

As we take a look without the line board just in the reflection of the natural light you can see the crown within the green lines which shows the curve of the panel. You can also see how much tension is in there just above the dent. 

Make the Panel Nice & Flat

Due to lack of access to the upper section of the rear panel I'm going to go for the glue and see how much of that dents I'm going to lift in that first pull.

You can see I’ve pretty much removed that secondary crown and removed a whole load of tension out of the primary crown.

As  you can see, tapping down the highs in this repair needs a lot of blending. This is in terms of making the panel nice, flat and back into its original body shape. 

Learning PDR Steps