Project clean machine?

[89 MJ]

Doing great work. I love seeing rust getting fixed properly. 

[The86manche]

Small amount of work today. Cut a few small pieces off and cleaned up some metal edges. Discovered I'm out of the right gauge sheet metal so I have to go get some.

Once I have the metal I can make this patch and start putting this side back together again.

 

[The86manche]

Small progress! 

Made the extension for the kick panel. Happy with how it turned out.

 

 

Test fit, had to do a little shaving to the body.

 

[The86manche]

After minor tweaks it's a nice fit!

 

[The86manche]

Small steps for bigger progress.

removed this unibody to inner rocker brace as it needs to be cleaned up and the metal underneath needs to be patched/cleaned but also to make installing the inner rocker easier.

And then got to welding my patch panel.

Tac welds spaced out to try and not warp the metal. (It did anyway)

 

 

and finished burned in. I did have to go over a few spots but pretty happy with it.

[The86manche]

Ground it down, smoothed it out the best I could and gave it a quick coat of primer.

 

I got excited so I fit the inner rocker to see how it looks and gove me a little motivation.

Not bad. Not bad at all. My patch panel needs a little more working but it's coming back together! 

[Salvagedcircuit]

Excellent work

[The86manche]

Thank you salvage.

Another baby step last night. I am waiting on panel bond so the inner hasn't been welded yet. But also my welder is starting to act up so I may be getting it replaced. Trigger is intermittent now..

Still.. managed to welding a little patch in and cut a little more out. For clean up.

 

 

 

[The86manche]

The glue arrived!

Before gluing the inner rocker though I decided to touch up inside one of the braces.

And then I cleaned up the mating surfaces to bare metal, glued, and clamped it in place.

 

[The86manche]

And while that was setting up i started some work on some metal repair for later.

Some rail end patches. Got these for free from a junk jeep. Going to use these to patch where the bumper brackets mount. The metal rotted away a bit behind the brackets on my truck.

 

 

These will need sandblasting but they are usable.

[The86manche]

I welded, it helded! 

Even added a few spot welds the factory missed!

I will say though, I did kind of shoot myself in the foot with the glue. I should have welded it when I glued it. It did give me a bit of problems welding but I was able to work though it. FOR NEXT TIME.

 

 

[The86manche]

I put the floor pan in for motivation!

Still a ways away from this point though, but motivating!

[The86manche]

And did some clean up work for parts to be re-used.

Outer rocker end cap.

Sandblasted and ground down.

I've got to patch that little area that's  pitted.

But until I do that it got a quick dust of primer.

 

[The86manche]

And then finish splitting the frame end I will be using for patches.

If you've ever wanted to know what the inside of our rails looked like, here you go!

 

 

[The86manche]

Small amount of work. A section of the rocker behind the cab corner barely existed so I had to fabricate it.

I took scrap pieces and shaped and tac welded until I had what I could accept as a patch panel.

I did this at work so I could use the silica bronze welder. The wind took some of my welds but it will smooth out nice and easy.

[The86manche]

Finally cleaned up and paired the rocker section i needed.

The welds arent the prettiest but thats okay, it hides behind the cab corner. 

And then I sanded the inner rocker and brushed on some enamel.

Baby steps.

[The86manche]

Well I feel a little betrayed by key parts.

The rocker i got from them needs.. extensive work..

I feel like maybe I got a bad stamping?

Front of the rocker.

I had to start cutting and working

Welded the top portion to my behind the cab corner extension.

 

 

[The86manche]

I decided to fit the door on to see the lines.

 

Needless to say I have some more work to do...

I'm going to cut down the middle of the rocker the long way, slide it down, and weld it all back together.

[The86manche]

Well... progress is progress. Even if I feel like I should be farther along by now.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I got most of the rocker cut, moved and welded back together.

The door was up all the way on the hinges so it can now be put back to the proper spot.

Inside of the rocker still needs to be stitched and then it's clean up, prime, and weld time.

[The86manche]

Home stretch on the rocker!

Patched a thin spot on the rocker end behind the cab.

 

 

 

 

She feels solid! Fix this one spot, add the rocker end cap, and clean it up for final weld!

[The86manche]

We are getting closer to getting this on the jeep!

 

It's whole. Needs a little more cleanup work and then epoxy before it goes on. Bodywork will come last.

[The86manche]

It has once again been a little while since ive done any progress to the truck. A lot of life has happened in a short amount of time that pulled me away from this truck. House renovations, family, travel, I lost my brother last year. Its been a lot. But I can finally say I'm back on it. Taking it slow and assessing the rust on the driver rail under the floor. Ive got my work cut out for me yet. But I have a game plan.

Inside of the rail was full of old mud that had hardened to almost cement. A wonder why its so rusted inside.

 

Peeling it back one layer at a time. Will shape some patches and put it all back soon. Still have cutting and cleaning to do.

[The86manche]

Well back to Candace again, working on that efforts of curing her of her cancer.

Removing plates and cutting out the unibody rust.

The cancer.

Plate removed!

And out unibody section removed.

From there the last inner section was cut.

I still have a spot to cut out. But for the most part its all been removed and I can start making my patch panels to put back in.