TexasBlues Progress

there was a member here a while back that did something very similar. I wish I could remember what company he used. I want to say it was BKD jeep but I think thats wrong.


I would so got for the seamless finish, either do it your self or have someone else. Long as its properly prepped and finish I think both would look good.

 

@piffey, a guy on FB told me about a place called Double D Fab that will make them as custom as you want so I'm going to look into them... the experience would be good (learning to bend and such) but I don't have a brake heavy enough to bend the ga I want to use... thanks for the info tho!

more from last nite...

on the shotgun rear corner, I ground off a HUGE amount of bondo, maybe 5/8" at its thickest, to reveal this... I have NEVER seen this 'gold' material before... anyone have any ideas what it is and if I can fill the remaining low spots around this material with a weld?

I don't care about wavy metal, I think it adds character



and I got the drivers floor pan cheesy area out and the patch cut... will tack tonite... it got late (11PM) and I had to quit to avoid bothering the neighbors



heres the patch... just needs a bit of trimming of the tub



I got a couple of vids from EW and that guy taught me some cool stuff... the use of tape to keep a straight line REALLY makes a difference!



larger pieces make for easier welds from what I understand, not to mention, it goes faster!!



HOPE to have the tub 90% or better by fall... keeping a pretty good pace so far... just have to get the engine into the shop for the re-build... trannys done... did that myself

have a GREAT WEEKEND EVERYONE!!

:easy rider:

 

Texas,

Double D fab builds a nice custom dash..........there strong point is they have the ability to punch the correct holes for gauges , switches , column anywhere including the tough to do opening for the glove box. They obviously have invested in building dies to do this function.

The Gold material is bronze or silicon bronze and is a process that is called brazing that is done normally with an acetylene gas torch.........the process used to be very common for sheet metal work before folks started to use a Mig wire gun that distributes less heat during the process.

 

Yes. The downside is that it is next to impossible to weld over it and get anything close to a good weld. Remove as much of it as you can. For that area, you will likely be time ahead just to cut it out and weld another patch in there.

 

I like this custom gauge mount idea. I was toying with the idea of doing something similar but hanging it off the bottom of the dash (rather than buying the fancy chrome deals)...

I might just pop-rivet that on to keep from really souring my pretty complete and mostly unmolested dash.

 

I THOUGHT it was brazing... dang it!

sucks that I cant add to it with welding... it looks like someone did it at night... drunk... with their eyes closed... in the rain

don't REALLY wanna patch, but I might...

as far as the dash thing goes, my fab skills REALLY need to come up before I do it, but I DO like the concept... can put gauges anywhere you want, and I agree with tarry99... they HAVE spent some $$ so they (Double D) can do it right... guess i'll need to make some serious decisions soon about that

thanks for the input and the info/advice on the brazing too

:easy rider:

 

Yes, that is a pretty ugly patch job. Brazing is sort of fun to do but you have to consider the possibility of the next repair.
As Duffer said it's impossible to weld over. You will be better off to just cut it out and weld in a new piece. You can then check out the chanel inside the fender, it's probably not in good shape either. As they say, BTDT.

 

There is no need to remove that brazing if all your going to do is cosmetically fix that panel...........You can continue to braze the other holes or weld those up .......If it is rough take a dolly and body hammer and work with the metal and get it flat......a thin coat of bondo over that area and you will never know the difference............

 

That gold metal could be brass, it was not uncommon to fill areas with brass at one time. Easy to tell, get it hot - brazing is not likely to go anywhere but brass will

 

interesting... I don't have a torch, so i'll have to guess...

I am planning on a dolly/hammer purchase in the near future, itll come in handy to have them and I made some decent progress over the weekend

got the floor patch in, not pretty by any stretch, but welding new to the thin is TOUGH going... once I get it covered with bed-liner, it'll be fine... this is NOT a show jeep

I got the firewall painted and the seats mocked up... and made a great wheel/tire score for some 15x10s and some 60% rubber... mine went on my wifes jeep so it doesn't look quite so ghetto-fabulous in the driveway with 3 flats and jack stands

ordered my brake booster and prop valve for disc/drum and some bedliner... seat brackets and sliders soon...

here she is as of sunday

 

some updates...

got my hammer/dolly and did some body work...

got some filler and tried my hand at using it to fix the brazed patch... I didn't want to get into working with the braces that had been brazed TO...

this is my 1st attempt at body work/filler and I think it turned out ok...

I filled in all of the old snap holes and the various holes along the top rail... NOT the OEM soft top frame hole or the footman loop holes on the rear corners

still have the fuel filler bezel to install once I decide on a location

and I got my all stainless body mount/nut/bolt kit... gonna be NICE!!












got the POR inside the tub, and prepped same for monstaliner...







got my BTF fenders painted (temp coat to prevent rust)



this weekend I hope to place the tub on the frame to see what kind, if any, mount tabs I need to fab so a 76 tub will marry a 75 frame...

engine is at the rebuilder... frame assy (prop valve etc) to start very soon, and also got my power brake booster, master cyl, prop valve kit...

after the bedliner and fabbbing up the tabs, it looks like re-assembly will begin... probably hold off on mounting the tub until I get the engine back... install engine 1st and finalize the drive-train... I need drive shafts... thankfully theres a drive shaft maker 1 block away from me... maybe he can help me

I also hung 2 8' fluorescents in the garage... WHAT a difference!..



garage construction SHOULD start this fall if everything goes right... YAY a dedicated building!!!

have a GREAT weekend everyone!!!

:easy rider:

 

Hey all!

FINALLY got a replacement frame and did all the prep/paint work... it came out darn fine IMO...

question...

looking at this front end, with W/Ts... and NO ENGINE WEIGHT on it...im thinking bump-steer problems...

in an effort to eliminate it before it (the bump steer) starts, I was thinking of the goferit kit, all 3 pieces to move the drag link AND the tie rod up on top of the knuckles...

I have a 4" pro comp lift, shackles, 4" drop pitman arm, ES9000 shox (F-250 towers yet to be installed)

opinions?

does the goferit eliminate the need for the drop pitman arm?

anything else I need to look at?

 

I used them on my build. From the looks of your photo's, the inserts will definitely help your drag link angle. They cost about the same or less than a quality drop pitman arm, and give you more clearance as well.

 

The idea is to get the drag link parallel with the tie rod, the goferit tie rod flip will decrease the angle on your drag link.
The tie rod flip would help quite a bit based on the looks of your pics.

 

Hi Texas,

Looks Good , But

I think I would put some weight in it before I would go much further.........(80 lb sand bags are my choice) Even though those springs will probably progressively loose some arch & lift once they are run , I would still want to see where they go after adding a 1000 lbs or so. Also with that 4 inch lift and those "Super Man" shackles you probably have closer to 4.5-5 inches of lift..........Here's the problem I see: First off those shackles are not intended for lift.........what they will do though is get your steering all upside down as you have already discovered. Second they will change your positive castor angle on your front axle making it much harder to steer........and they will also raise your front pinion angle up sometimes to the point that you will have drive line issues...........

Of course some high lift springs due to the increased high arc need a longer shackle to allow the spring to flatten out................so your kind of in the Twi-light Zone right now being somewhere between where you are now and where you want to be!............fixing one thing now may lead you to reversing that before your finished..........that's why I say get some weight in it first.........and that goes for front and back, then proceed and watch how everything changes once its loaded down.........then start the process of making changes to what needs to be corrected....................that's the best way! Fix it once and your done.

Something like this:

 

Thanks, tarry99, everyone for the heads up and advice...

i agree with getting the weight on it before making any final decisions... i was looking at the front end and saw the huge angle and thought 'thats gonna be a problem'...

the shackles weren't put on for lift so much as trying to follow the mfr recommendation of using shackles with the springs (i couldn't find anything smaller, honest)... i DID notice that they are 'turned under, due to the lack of weight, and also thought 'those should flatten out a little once the motor and running gear is installed'... in addition, i do have the shims (2*, i think) for the front end to help with the pinion angle

the whole reason for the question/post was accomplished, as I got great advice (as always) from people that know more about it more than I do (which is just about everyone here)...

once i get the rears put on, as well as the tub/seats, I'll find a way to get the weight (of a 360 and the running gear) on it to see where i am at (I like the sand-bag method used here) and make a decision...

I wanted to get out in front of it (the bump steer) and KNOW what i needed to do about it BEFORE i had to stop again and ask questions, and then wait for parts etc etc

As always, you all have given me the info that i need to solve a problem before it becomes one...

THANKS AGAIN EVERYONE!!! have a GREAT weekend!!

:easy rider:

mk

 

Hey Texasblues,

Looks like you are getting close to putting that body on that nice frame you got. That jeep body looks really straight too, fantastic job!

did you ever buy a plasma cutter? and what about that dash? I hope you and your family are still doing well.

 

Hey Piff!

the tub is coming along... slowly, but coming along... the tub IS in pretty good shape... i have found some cancer in the typical areas as well as some HEAVILY filler coated areas that i am/have re-worked and tried to straighten... i refuse to put 3/4" of filler back in, so if i have a few waves, im ok with that...

the plasma cutter? no sir, i havent bought it... i plan to in another 6 months... i will consider it a reward to myself for staying sober for a full year... i figured with the $$ i save NOT buying booze, i can buy a real nice cutter to use on the 79 and other things i want to make...

the dash (at last email from DD) was due to come back from the laser cutter (thanks for reminding me, i need to check the status today) and should be done soon (i guess)...

thanks for the kind words... its been an experience... aggravating but very rewarding... the knowledge base continues to grow...

how about YOU? hows yours coming? i saw your post on the steering shaft... did you get that all worked out?

 

Texaxblues:

jeeps apparently where not that straight from the factory from what I here.

That sounds like a great reason to wait and buy a plasma cutter, keep it up!

I look forward to seeing what that dash looks like on your jeep. Yes, lots of experiences. These things you can't buy or find on without actually doing it your self.

Jeep is going well everything is on, found a nasty frame crack so its a set back. Steering works great though

 

OK... bit the bullet over the weekend, sucked it up and acted like i have a set and installed the monstaliner... was going to spray it, even went as far as buying the sprayer... but after i mixed it, i decided it was just too thick... not to mention, in this GA humidity it set up in no time... so i rolled it in...a

side from a couple pieces of foam, i think it came out great... did the dash and the new piece from DD.... dry fit the gauges a couple weeks ago and after some mods, i got them to work (thats why theres a huge hole in the dash)... i also masked the original stickers since i couldnt find replacements... i think they deserve to be there

i even got a catch for the glove box... its never closed properly since i bought it

after i let it set for a few more days, i'll start the re-wire of the aft section (gotta get some loom for the wires too)... engine still in shop (not a problem)...

thanks for the help from everyone regarding product selection... i could NOT be happier