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Can't recall if I passed this on or not...

I bought a rear deck lid from an SOC member but the curvature was not quite right for my IM. The leading edge at the corners stood proud by about an inch on either side.

I fixed this by tracing the curvature I needed onto a 2x4 and then made the curve just a bit tighter to account for springback and cut it out. I then placed a 70 watt electric battery across the top of the deck where I wanted the curve to change, put an old piece of carpet on top of that, plugged in the battery blanket and after it heated up I clamped the leading edge of the deck to the 2x4...
increasing clamp pressure every 5 or 10 mintues as it heated up until it was clamped right down. I then let it cook for some time eventually unplugging it a few hours later.

I remember checking it last fall and it fit but then I just left it sitting around all winter..even at minus 45. Last night I test fitted it again and its still spot on.

Relatively easy way to get your deck lids and panels to fit if they are a bit out and since battery blankets do not heat up a whole lot you don't have to worry about melting the resin to the point of destroying the part.
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Can't recall if I passed this on or not...

I bought a rear deck lid from an SOC member but the curvature was not quite right for my IM. The leading edge at the corners stood proud by about an inch on either side.

I fixed this by tracing the curvature I needed onto a 2x4 and then made the curve just a bit tighter to account for springback and cut it out. I then placed a 70 watt electric battery across the top of the deck where I wanted the curve to change, put an old piece of carpet on top of that, plugged in the battery blanket and after it heated up I clamped the leading edge of the deck to the 2x4...
increasing clamp pressure every 5 or 10 mintues as it heated up until it was clamped right down. I then let it cook for some time eventually unplugging it a few hours later.

I remember checking it last fall and it fit but then I just left it sitting around all winter..even at minus 45. Last night I test fitted it again and its still spot on.

Relatively easy way to get your deck lids and panels to fit if they are a bit out and since battery blankets do not heat up a whole lot you don't have to worry about melting the resin to the point of destroying the part.
hey Brian - this sounds very interesting, but i'm not sure i fully understand what you did. I have a small gap in my decklid and i have been nwondering what i am going to do. it hadn't even crossed my mind to heat it up and "bend" it.

Could you please describe the 2x4 / clamping process a bit more (if youhave a picture - that would be fantastic too). I'm meeting with my body guy on saturday, so this timing is perfect.

Thanks.
I'd like to know a little more about this process as well. I'm going to get a Carrera lid for my older IM and I'm a little concerned because my current lid doesn't fit correctly as it is. I never bothered with it because it wasn't THAT big of a deal but I'll want to new lid to be spot on.
I think I get the idea of what you're doing but any more info would be appreciated. Thanks
I don't have picks of what I did but I'll try and set it up again to take a coule of pics and then post them.

The alternative was to separate the skin from the frame, make the form for the correct curve, then using resin clamp the frame and the skin back together over the form. As I just needed to bend it a little bit I tired my heat setup and it worked okay.

I'll see if I can get to it over the weekend and then post.

Brian
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