Metalshaping Advice Needed

I know this is difficult without a picture, but I'm going to try anyway. I recently welded a piece of 18 guage into the front of my driver's side wheelhouse (I "undid" my Boyink wheelhouse notch). Despite my efforts to keep the heat down, I ended up with a bulge in the front of the wheelhouse above my patch. The bulge is probably 3/8" and bulges in toward the front of the jeep. I know noone will see it once the seat is in, my Obsessive Compulsive personality requires that I try and fix it.

I'm assuming from what I've read that the deformation has come from shrinking around the weld zone. My question is this: do I first start with a hammer and dolly to stretch the metal around the weld zone, or do I just attack the bulged area directly? Thanks.

 

A picture is defiantly worth 1000 words in this situation.

Anyway you can snap a quick one?

 

I'll post a pic tonite.

 

got a torch and a shrinking hammer?

 

BULTACO? Did sombody say BULTACO? I havent seen one of those for quite a while.I once had a 69'Matador 250 and my cousin had a Pursang 250. I rememder going to the fairgrounds to the flattrack races and thinking how cool the bultaco astros looked !I still have an old thumbs up cas cap that I am going to put on a plack on a wall. .

 

If you use a (Smooth)hammer/dolly combo don't place the dolly right under the spot you want to lower(hammer on as it is called) Unless It is a shrinking dolly(Has teeth sort of like a meat tenterising hammer)! Because if you strike your work between two smooth objects it can stretch the metal (That is how an English Wheel works) and you get a bigger problem! If you have a low spot next to a high spot you can place the(smooth) dolly on one dent and the hammer on the other (hammer off)
With a shrinking hammer use a smooth dolly or shrinking dolly use smooth hammer;The dolly is placed on the concave side of the dent and the hammer on method is used.

Shrinking useing heat is harder. To much and you get more warpage; if you use this method heat a small area( about thumbnail size) to where it just starts to get red then cool it on the on the concave side with a wet rag.
be carefull if it gets too hot and is cooled too fast it can harden the metal! experiment on a peice of scrap first.