Sheet Metal Sources

[Eliminator89]

Anyone know of sources for sheet metal? Specificly, I'm looking for bed sides. Mine are getting rusty around the flares.

 

Just don't know where to look. I did a search here but found nothing. Here in Minnesota, junkyard trucks are usually very rusty too. So far, no joy looking locally.

 

Getting the MJ going again so I'll likely be around here more.

[JeepcoMJ]

no one makes bedsides. you could have them bent though, but i'm not sure how cheap that would be.

[Eliminator89]

I was thinking if they are not available I may have to take some door skins and cut and fit to replace the metal around the wheel openings.

 

Do you know if rear quarter panels are available for 2 door Cherokees? I could make those work. Maybe cutting door skins would be the way to go. I can still find decent doors around here.

 

3800 in an MJ, sounds like FUN!

[JeepcoMJ]

it's a blast...check the project forum the thread is there (Project MJ 3800)

 

and your best bet is gonna be the doorskins. but they may not have the same contour as the bed...i'm not sure. as for the rear quarter panels, i'm fairly certain that's a no.

[Pete M]

I've been using aluminum to hide the rust holes. But then my only goal is to simply cover the rust holes. If you want it to also look good... :roll:

 

[Eliminator89]

Sort of gives it that "post-apocalypse" look. I'm going for the "pre-apocalypse" look though.

[Pete M]

Sort of gives it that "post-apocalypse" look. I'm going for the "pre-apocalypse" look though.

 

:rotfl2:

[Duner]

Most of the junkyard MJ's are rusted around here when they hit the yard (probably because they migrate from the northeast to texas) but I agree with the other comments find a door skin as the contour should be easy enough to work. otherwise any truly compotent bodyshop can easily make another skin for the bed side.

[Wildman]

If your looking for just a supplyer of sheet metal, check out this site to see if there is a "store" near you-

 

http://www.metalsupermarkets.com/

 

Or try to find a large Metal supplyer in your area, I found Metal supermarket is a little pricer that the steel service a mile down the road from where I live, but they have a minium order of $75. My last order of angle, the diffrence was almost $400 (289 vs 679)

 

As other stated become friends with a good body shop that can make up the parts you need :brows:

 

I have this same problem on a couple of MJ, over the wheel wells rot, I got it on my to-do list for next month.

[Eagle]

no one makes bedsides. you could have them bent though, but i'm not sure how cheap that would be.

Somebody makes them -- or used to. JC Whitney used to sell MJ quarter panels, and I'm pretty sure somebody on this forum said one of the Internet body parts places (Sherman?) had them.

[JeepcoMJ]

i've done alot of searches on them...if i could find them believe me i'd buy them out.

 

do the door panels actually work? i mean, has anyone ever used door skins to do it? and how did it work?

[Eliminator89]

Sherman has 2 door Cherokee rear quarter skins that look like they'll work.

 

http://store.shermanparts.com/cgi-bin/s ... mg_num=075

 

A bit spendy but what can you do but bend over...its only money, I'll make more. At least I have a source now.

 

Thanks.

[Wildman]

Yea, I've seen them some place and went back and found the side panels at Chrysler Parts Direct-

 

http://www.chryslerpartsdirect.com/

 

But for the price of the panels :eek:

 

7 ft right $296, 7 ft left $967, and that's net price, not list.

 

I think the XJ panels from Sherman will not work, because the wheel flairs are diffrent from a XJ. And for the $$ for the panels, I'll just make mine from scrach.

 

24ga sheet metal, 4x8 sheet = $26, cutting, banging = pricless.

[jeepthing07]

if just the top of its rusted out you can fix it with XJ front or rear fenders i cut the rears out of a parts XJ and they fit good.

[Wildman]

Jeepthing - that's worth a try, I got just the top section rotted out, I'll try that first, got a couple of front fender laying around.

 

Thanks for the idea

[JeepcoMJ]

only half of the front fender is the same. the back half. it won't bolt to the comanche rear flares. i did that on my manche but it didn't work

[Eliminator89]

Wildman, the 2 door Cherokee rear flares are different from the MJ flares? If so, is the wheel opening so different that the MJ flares won't fit correctly? Then using the 2 door Cherokee flare to fit the 2 door Cherokee replacement panel is a possibilty.

 

I'll probably check the usability of the front fenders. My quarters are just rusted around the top of the wheel opening, I don't need a complete quarter panel.

[Wildman]

It might be possible to fit the 2 door XJ panels on to the sides of the MJ box, and use a 2 door rear flair, here is one write up on the subject-

 

http://comancheclub.com/forums/viewtopi ... ght=flairs

 

I have not tried this, don't know if any one else have tried the 2 door Xj panels, just know that the rear MJ flairs are diffrent from all of the XJ's.

 

I'll be getting into a couple of projects next month, and I'm going to try what works best for my rot problems. I like Jeepthing07 idea with the parts of the XJ fenders, and I'm trying that way first, but one of my right sides is rotted all the way around, so I might fab up the piece for what I need.

[Eagle]

Sherman has 2 door Cherokee rear quarter skins that look like they'll work.

 

http://store.shermanparts.com/cgi-bin/s ... mg_num=075

 

A bit spendy but what can you do but bend over...its only money, I'll make more. At least I have a source now.

 

Thanks.

The problem is that 2-door XJ quarters have smaller wheel well openings. Also, if you measure carefully, you'll find that the height from the lower edge of the panel to the first crease line is different. I haven't tried it but I suspect you could make an MJ work okay using the XJ flares and wheel opening, but it might look slightly out of proportion and won't clear large tires. Of course, if you plan to trim anyway, that's a non-issue.

[Crash_AF]

Yea, I've seen them some place and went back and found the side panels at Chrysler Parts Direct-

 

http://www.chryslerpartsdirect.com/

 

But for the price of the panels :eek:

 

Just did a search on that site and they list the box for $1345. Not sure whether or not this is the entire box or just the center part, but that doesn't seem to be TOO awful bad of a price (it's high, don't get me wrong) if you're going for a stock look.

 

Later,

Joe

[Wildman]

I just did a search here and the prices for the box runs from $1000 > 250, and couple of "dealers" had just sides for $125, So here's another option for replacements

 

http://www.car-part.com/

 

I've see only a couple of boxes on eBay, one was 200 miles away, I went to $250, but it sold for over $300 (7foot box) I ended up buying a whole truck for less than that ;)

 

But again, this is used.....so, is it worth it?? Repair what you got, unless it is totally gone, then eather get a JY box, or a better parts MJ.

 

With both car-parts and eBay, I always look at the distance between me and the part, and figure if it is worth the travel time.

[Eliminator89]

Thanks guys. I've looked the box over closely but haven't yet removed the flairs. It looks repairable as is. The door skins look like they'll work just fine. The rest of the box is in good condition. I'll remove it and blast everywhere I can get to, fix the wheel opening rust and then treat the metal and paint.

 

I like the truck but I'm not sure how far I want to go just now. I've searched car-part but haven't looked into the dealer parts. I figured they'd be so high in price I never actually checked.

 

After the rust repair and engine rebuild this summer, I'll re-assess. I would like 4 wheeldrive for the winter. That would be another major undertaking but then, how many 4x4 '89 Eliminators are out there?