a general question about alli springiness..

fitting my engine bay side panels, and the alli wants to spring back into its 'straight' form. I've clamped it into the bend that i want, and it goes easily, but springs back straight when i take the clamp off.
will alli ever 'take' to its clamped shape? how long will it take?
i know that you can heat the metal, but this is a whole panel I'm asking about. Do i heat the whole thing?

I had the same problem when I used the ratchet strap method on my boinnet, if you left it 50 years it'll still spring back as for heat youd need a lot of it and the expansion/distortion when heating ali is phenominal.
Ended up bending it over a length of pipe then managed to cock up the cutting so Ive got to redo it
Cheers,
Bob

[Edited on 11/8/04 by splitrivet]

Hi

Clamp sheet on and mark bend.
Measure degree of springback, i.e. 10deg.
Take sheet off and "overbend" by this
amount over a suitable length of something.
Heat will weaken the metal making it
prone to damage IMHO.

Hope this helps. Good luck.

Paul G

If you go here: http://www.7builder.com, follow the side menu to "Build Tips" and then select "Bodywork" I show how I used a wired front edge and my knee to do the front quarter panels. HTH!

[Edited on 11/8/04 by MikeP]