736 Bent Corner - Repairable???

If the metal doesn't have a crack, then heating with a hair dry and reforming can work.  If a crack exist, it will most likely break off.  G

I partially agree but a heat gun capable of at least 400F would be much better. Remove the sticker under the cab roof if there is one. It won't withstand the heat but the paint will. I take a piece of 3/4" hardwood about three inches square and cut an arc in it with slightly more radius (straighter) than the roof. Place the block in a vise and hold it to the jaws with duct tape. After heating the roof place it between the two wood pieces and slowly tighten the vise. Bend a little, then heat some more and bend it a little further until its back.

Pete

Larry,

I hope someone can add to this.  I remember seeing where someone made a form out of two pieces of wood.  The wood was cut with the desired curvature for the cab roof.  He then used clamp or something else to slowly add pressure to re-shape the roof and correct the bent corner.  I don't recall if any heat was used do the nature of the metal, generally not bend friendly.  See that, Pete beat me to it with a much better reply. 

Thanks to all for the tips.  I hoped "heat" was the answer since that metal is so brittle...thanks again. 

Larry

Hello guys and gals.........

It may be best to just replace the boiler as there are plenty of them in ebay.

the woman who loves toy trains

Tiffany

I have sucessfully straightened a couple of bent cab roofs using heat (heat gun), a dolly, and a rubber ended hammer. To avoid marring the roof, a piece of felt was placed over the dolly, and on the roof.

When I was done, the roof only needed a very minor touch up.

Each time I've done this, I've expected the piece to break off, or some other negative outcome, but so far, I've been lucky.

 I've used the wooden block and slight heat method a few times on shells with good results.

  I used a Snap-On rubber headed hammer .It works great doing this.

A little heat and sandwich it between two blocks of HARD wood such as oak or maple and slowly compress it in a vice.  I've used this method times and never had the cab roof crack.

You might try Classic Toys Trains November 2005, they have an article, " mend a bent berk"

Thanks again to all that have contributed.  I used the "blow torch" and got it back to the original position with ease!!!  Backed off after a few attempts because I noticed a crack in the bottom half of the cab from the original drop to the floor.  Looks great now!!!

All of your comments have been appreciated very much.

Larry Williams