filler to use in this tricky area?

P

projectzj

Rear panel on my land rover defender I'm restoring needs a bit of filler to straighten it out. My concern is that main spot that will need a bit of filler is also where the rear hinge gets bolted to, so I'm worried any filler I put there will crack when I tighten down the hinge bolts. Depth of the filler will be less than 1/8".

Question is: Can I use filler here and if so what is the best filler to use for this spot? Standard bondo filler? Long strand reinforced filler? Metal reinforced filler?
Picture attached isn't my truck, but it shows the lower right rear hinge area that I'm talking about.

Thanks!
 

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No filler will stand up to having a door hinge bolted to it. The area where the hinge bolts to needs to be pulled flush before any filler work commences. That might take a frame machine, pulling post, or at the very least a come along.
 
Other ideas that may work in addition to what Crash posted. If you have something like this https://www.tooltopia.com/keysco-tools-77081.aspx you could use bolts of the same thread size threaded into the hinge. Then attach the hammer and pull it out. Most hammers like that have an attachment that will go over most bolts and allow to pull it out. You can also attach a Vise Grip to grip the bolt and attach the hammer to the Vise Grip. If that doesn't do it, chances are you are going to have to have it pulled on a machine. But I'm assuming it's just a local dent not crash damage. If so the 10lb hammer will pull it out. If it's just a dent in the area you could use a stud gun (https://www.tooltopia.com/search.aspx?find=stud+gun) to pull out the damage and get it close. If you don't have one you could try tacking a piece of sheet metal to the area and pulling it out with a hammer like the example above. Post some pics and we'll be able to give you a better idea of what you need to do.
 
Thanks Crashtec and Chris_H; I truly appreciate your expertise. Here are a couple pictures of the panel I'm talking about, you can clearly see where the hinge will go and where the dent is, the dent is about 1/8" thick. I was hoping i could hammer and dolly it out a bit flatter and then use bondo/filler before paint, etc. After paint is when I'll attach the door hinge back on and I'm worried when I tighten it down that I'll crack any filler that I might have to use. Oddly enough, the upper hinge on the same panel has about a 2.5" square 1/8" steel plate that sits under it and is attached with rivets, so one thought I had was to mirror that for the lower hinge and put a 1/8" steel plate over the dented area, attach with rivets, and attach the hinge on top of it. You can see what I'm talking about in the yellow picture below (normally the upper steel plate is also painted to match body color). Thoughts on the best way forward?
 

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It looks like the reinforcement behind the hinge might best be removed for access. I'd bet that both the outer panel and inner reinforcing is tweaked too, so if say a stud gun was used, it would only pull the outer panel away from the inner, and it would be crushed down again when the hinge gets bolted on. Alternatively, if removing the reinforced inner panel is not an option, I've drilled holes in the depressed area and used a small homemade pulling tool like the one shown below to pull the area flush. That requires access to the backside, and will pull both the inner and outer panels out at once, then the holes get welded up. There has to be mostly metal directly beneath that hinge or the filler will just get smashed.

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Neat little tool there Crash. :) Only thing I would add is that you could try threading a bolt into the hinge bolt holes and using the 10 lb slide hammer. If you don't have one I think you could get one at Harbor Freight that would do the job. Thread the bolt in, use the proper attachment and pull it out.
 
I think the thing about trying to use the bolt holes is that the worst of the damage is to the left of the holes, so the hinge holes would end up above plane while the dented in outline would remain to the left.

BTW, thanks Chris, I never dreamed I would ever post a picture of that. I use it mainly for pulling out radiator supports with 6mm welded nuts that hold brackets and headlamps, etc. It didn't need to be too strong for that, but for a job like that Rover, I might weld it up a little better. I've got bunches of those that I have made in various sizes lying about, one of them really big (5/8").
 
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