T-jet frame rack
You'd have better luck roasting it on a stick over a yule log. We'll leave my microwave experiments for another day...lets just say the Island of Dr. Moreau has nothing on the Hall's kitchen.
Lets get right to the nutz of it here. There's no magic wand for that particular type of damage. This body more than likely took a "Set" over eons. Probably jammed up between a rock and a hard place in a shoe box on the top shelf of Uncle Johns closet. This takes time.
ALL bets are off; if there are pronounced puckers, shrinkages and creases which are obvious indicators of microwaves or toaster oven attempts at god knows what. A good set of pictures would help us here Rick.
No fire...no fire...no fire...no fire...no fire...
did I mention no fire?... we'll save that for later.
Your first move is to go, find, whittle yourself a piece of wood that will become a "buck". It should be nice and square and fit snuggly into the underbody cavity. Drill holes or partial holes to go around the posts. They need to be supported for this to work. The buck MUST also hang an 1/8" to 1/4" below the rockers and screw posts. You'll need a coupla T-jet Volkswagen screws also.
Once you have a good fit on the wood block you'll need to add a chunk of stiff sheet metal to the bottom of the block, use a coupla screws or contact cement...same width as the block BUT over hang the length of the metal a half an inch longer than the screw posts. Drill slightly oversize holes in the metal to correspond to the screw post locations. The screws should spin freely in the holes! Check your screw posts by carefully winding the screws in.
Now set the buck in the body and toss it into a pot of semi hot water, boiled so it's hot but not warp plastic hot! Let it sit in there until it's taken in some heat. Wind the screws in carefully and methodically. Dont rush it and watch what happens. Let it sit in the water add some more torsion to the screws and keep trying to carefully pull the body into square. Basically you are gradually pulling the body into square from the screw posts, the extra wood material hanging below the allows the necessary travel and the sheet metal gives you something to pull against. Have some washers/spacer on hand ...as you make progress be sure to place spacers under the screws so you dont overdrive the screws through the trunk and the hood! You might be in jeopardy of going D'oh!
Did I mention dont rush it?!!! The gamble here is that your betting that the screw posts in tandem are strong enough to overcome the overall distortion while your reminding the plastic of where its supposed to be. If you get all frenzied and caffienated, the risk of pulling the posts through is very real. Even at best you may end up with some standard looking screw post shrink divots that you didnt have before. But those are pretty EASY to fix!
Keep at it and let the body cool naturally between sessions allow the body to sit overnight. With any luck you'll see that the rockers and the front and rear valences are parallel to the bottom of the block. If you think your done loosen a screw and see if the body torques back out of wack...you may have to go to plan B which involves using testors underneath to further cooperate the plastic's memory. You wont need anything extra but testors and a brush. After working with this body you'll now know where the kinks are. Apply the testors to the target areas UNDERNEATH the body. Let it soak in and repeat the applications unitl you feel the kinkage become pliable. Jam it back in the buck and repeat the process. Stay away from the screw posts with the testors if at all possible.
In the forefront of your mind always remember that this type of damage didnt happen overnight and your not gonna fix it tomorrow. It may take a while to change the ravages of time and abuse. Sorta depends on how bad ya want it...
You may never get it all out Rick, but you may get it good enough to square up properly when you mount it to the chassis. Most of the little buggers have some natural twist or kink in them anyway that we never even notice.
Good luck!
