1932 Ford Trunk Corners - Trunk Shot

A slot machined into the finger part of the die corresponds with that hole in the bronze die. A bolt aligns and fastens the two die pieces for further shaping.

Using the dies as a clamp to preserve the cove line, Hardison hammered the flatter (trunk lid) side of the panel into its final shape.

He began by hammering a "cove" into the panel. This indentation represents how the flatter part of the quarter terminates at the intersection of the character line and lower bodyline.

The impression that Hardison hammered into the coved area fits into the similarly recessed area in the die. The removable steel "finger" (shown upside down) holds the sheet against the die. Note the hole in the bronze die.

Pressing the dies together in a simple shop press finalizes the shape of the coved area Hardison started earlier. Note how the forming process caused the sheet to deflect. Had Hardison not pre-stretched the metal along those lines, the sheet would have buckled to a far greater degree.

The coved area results from stretching along the V-shaped line. Rather than committing the finished shape to the metal, the hammering establishes the basic shape for further processing.

The other side of the panel isn't so simple. The compound curve of the upper quarter-panel ends abruptly at the sharper-curved belly reveal. That crease represents a third shape to an already complex piece.

Hardison stretched and pointed the creased area until it landed in the crotch where the quarter meets the belly line. Approximation is sufficient at this point; perfection will follow.

Hardison addressed that abrupt crease by first stretching a triangular area along the line where the back of the quarter-panel meets the belly reveal. As was the case with the hammer on the cove, this only starts the process.