HP tape drive novel repair

Chuck wrote... ---- Well, if this were my unit, I'd remove the warped panel (it looks like aluminum to me). Drilling out the rivets shouldn't be a problem. Then I'd put it on my English wheel with a flat anvil and roll it completely flat--and then reattach with screws or rivets. This is why you should talk to a competent auto body shop for whom, once you remove the panel, the work should be a few minutes of child's play. ---- My very first thought was to drill out the rivets. If the rivets were originally pop rivets, I would have done this (sheared off the pop rivets, take off the plate, flatten, and re-pop-rivet or bolt). But HP quality is a bit better than pop rivets and I aimed to preserve that (come to think of it, I don't' think I recall seeing pop rivets anywhere in the HP gear I have). It's all aircraft style flush rivets that are sanded down & polished. At times, you need a magnifier to even tell it's a rivet. So long story short, I wasn't going to take that gorgeous smooth polished surface and replace it with bolts or screws. But for something that was pop-rivets, you betcha, I'd have gone that route. J