METAL SHRINKER, METAL STRETCHER
If you plan to restore a project car, invest in an Eastwood shrinker stretcher kit.
As we continued working on our DIY auto restoration projects, we found that certain sheet metal repairs require curved shapes.
Curves are even more difficult to create when you have a 90-degree bend. That’s where a Eastwood shrinker stretcher for sheet metal comes into play. Both the shrinker and stretcher are beefy.
We were able to mount them onto our welding table and they come with interchangeable shrinker-stretcher jaws. The handles can be unscrewed to save space when you’re not using the shrinker-stretcher.
SHEET METAL SHRINKER
A sheet metal shrinker will pinch the sheet metal that’s pressed into the shrinker.
Eastwood Sheet Metal Shrinker
As the sheet metal is pinched it will cause the sheet metal to start pulling together. The side you feed into the shrinker will look wrinkled.
This causes a shrinking effect and forces the corner to curve inward. You can hammer the wrinkles down once you have the desired shape.
SHEET METAL STRETCHER
The sheet metal stretcher works opposite of the shrinker.
Eastwood Sheet Metal Stretcher
As you press the sheet metal into the stretcher it expands the metal. As you expand the edge of sheet metal it will start to curve outward. We can even remove a curve that we made with a shrinker by using the stretcher.
Stretching Sheet Metal
PUT IT ALL TOGETHER
So now we need to make the perfect corner curve. First, we cut a piece of sheet metal and then bent it in a brake.
Once the piece is ready we feed the bottom of the curve into the stretcher and press. The stretcher will curve the 18 gauge sheet metal outward which is what we want.
Stretched Sheet Metal Curve
Now that we’re done practicing all that’s left is to cut the piece to the appropriate dimensions and weld it into place.
PARTS LIST
VISUAL LEARNER
If you’re more of a visual learner, we put a couple of short videos together showing you how to use the shrinker stretcher and a few other tools too:
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