If you remember back a couple weeks, I was testing out a method of forming the van's sheetmetal for a recessed fuel door. The dimple dies I designed are hot off the CNC and ready for a test panel!
Mmmmmmm..... machined parts.... :drool: (these things are comically large and super heavy. I need to weld a handle on each one to make them easier to move around and doing this on the van will probably take two people).
One excess panel from a window cut out...
Lubed up the dies, protected the paint as good as I could and then hooked up the hydraulic ram. BAM! fuel door recess!
The paint didn't survive. I kinda figured this going in. It's being shrunk and stretched so much that you can't expect it to live through the process.
Really nice shape though...
Exactly what I was looking for...
The inner structure fits like a glove too...
Now I just need to get everything lined up from the inside on my van and finish off this part of the project. I'll have the paint touched up when I paint my windowless rear doors.
I have a couple other vans with aft of axle tanks lined up so this will make it easier to get the filler tube mounted correctly.
