Bed Damage

[AeroNautical]

On the aft, upper, right hand bed corner, the previous owner must’ve backed into some thing. It’s been covered by Bondo up until the other day when the cap fell out. I’m trying to get the MJ ready for paint, a good paint this time. I’d like to fix this before then. I went to a body shop for a quote, but they never got back to me. Probably a good thing, I can imagine this would cost quite a bit. If I take the tail light out, it’s relatively easy to get behind the dent, but not a lot of room to swing a hammer. What do you guys think as far as a repair?

 

On an unrelated note, the new iPad pros have a lidar sensor. They can take 3-D images of anything in the real world, like the image attached. That’s incredible technology, I can’t believe they packed that into an iPad.

[Pete M]

can you weld?  got any access to a dent puller?  can you apply bondo?  what sort of skills are ya got? 

[AeroNautical]

22 minutes ago, Pete M said:

can you weld?  got any access to a dent puller?  can you apply bondo?  what sort of skills are ya got? 

I can weld, I've got buddies who may have a dent puller, I'll ask around, I've never applied bondo before, but I'm sure it isn't too difficult, right? I work in aviation maintenance, so I know my way around a rivet gun, and can bend some metal. I'm not sure how well I could make a cap, though, with the lines and being right at the corner of the bed. 

[Pete M]

I was thinking of acquiring the top corner off another bed.  shouldn't be hard as that spot rarely rusts out.  but pulling the steel out is definitely an option.   I'm sure there are vids on bondo application that can walk you through it.  as with paint, prep is key.   

[AeroNautical]

25 minutes ago, Pete M said:

I was thinking of acquiring the top corner off another bed.  shouldn't be hard as that spot rarely rusts out.  but pulling the steel out is definitely an option.   I'm sure there are vids on bondo application that can walk you through it.  as with paint, prep is key.   

Thanks pete. I'm sure sourcing a bed corner would be tough, so I'll explore pulling the dent, and filling the rest with bondo. 

[Pete M]

should be pretty easy actually.  as I said, that upper corner rarely rusts out and so even a nasty bed should be able to donate a few inches.    heck, I bet I've got a good corner on one of my bad beds. 

[AeroNautical]

17 minutes ago, Pete M said:

should be pretty easy actually.  as I said, that upper corner rarely rusts out and so even a nasty bed should be able to donate a few inches.    heck, I bet I've got a good corner on one of my bad beds. 

I figured finding the donor bed would be the problem, but you say you've got a few? How much would you want for the labor to cut it out, and ship it? That would be a fun project for me, cutting out the dent and welding in the new corner. I'm always looking for things to weld, haha. 

[AZJeff]

Assuming one cannot find a corner from a rusty bed, any SERIOUS body shop could fabricate a replacment corner using an "English Wheel"    It wouldn't be cheap, but a new corner could be created and then welded into the existing bed.

 

This method is often used in older vehicles where replacement parts are nearly impossible to find.

 

However....given the relative ease at finding a trashed rusty bed from an MJ that still has good corners, the approach I suggest would be a last resort, unless you have lots of extra cash laying around.

[Pete M]

pretty much the only nice spot left on this bed

 

 

[AeroNautical]

Looks to be in pretty good shape! If your willing, whats your price?

[Salvagedcircuit]

Maybe a stud puller would help with that dent?

[Pete M]

2 hours ago, AeroNautical said:

Looks to be in pretty good shape! If your willing, whats your price?

 

I can trim off a chunk tomorrow and get it in the mail monday.    price is whatever you'd like to donate to the I'm-taking-my-niece-and-nephews-to-Disney-come-hell-or-high-water fund.   I'm guessing shipping will be about $15.  paypal id is: PeterMontie@hotmail.com   message me an address. 

[AeroNautical]

43 minutes ago, Pete M said:

 

I can trim off a chunk tomorrow and get it in the mail monday.    price is whatever you'd like to donate to the I'm-taking-my-niece-and-nephews-to-Disney-come-hell-or-high-water fund.   I'm guessing shipping will be about $15.  paypal id is: PeterMontie@hotmail.com   message me an address. 

Your something else, Pete! Thanks, I'll send you a message now.

[Tex06]

Curious how this turned out. With a "new" corner, that's not a bad repair to make at all. If you were local I'd say bring it over and we could install it on a Saturday afternoon. 

[AeroNautical]

I received the corner from pete a week or so ago, but haven't had the time yet to work on it. As soon as it's done, I'll take pictures and have everyone critique my work, haha.