My Willys 3A and 3B Community
3A, 3B, DJ Technical Knowledge Base => "Original"-- Technical Questions, Answers, Observations => Topic started by: Spacecrab on August 17, 2021, 08:12:27 AM
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Hi guys,
Really need your advice, saw a small line across my windshied frame arm and after a poke found the paint just flake off and a chunk fall to the ground
Although I planned to get it welded a few days later it didn't last that long!
After a soft 20 minutes on a fire road the next day it had completely broken loose
Inside it looks like deep rot: first I thought I'd flow some anti rust in there for a few days but now I'm worried it'll disintegrate totally
What would you guys do? I'm unsure in how bad a state the rest of it may be
More pics to follow
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Here's the inside of the arm which has broken loose, flakes of rusted metal just pours out of it
Looking up at where it came loose doesn't look much better :(
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Spacecrab,
My disclaimer first: I'm not a metallurgist. That frame looks lost. When rust sets in from the inside, it's difficult to treat. This is your CJ-3B? There should be some drain holes down near the pivot attachment. I don't remember if you've posted images before of your w/s frame but if you've got a good amount of holes to allow moisture in, this could contribute to rusting inside. Once those drain holes are plugged once established, it may be very difficult -- if not impossible to stop what you have.
I've got a set of top bows where the bottoms are rusted off. I'll have to cut upwards until I get good metal to repair. I assume that's what you'd have to do here also; cut off the arms a little at a time until you get to some good metal to attempt a splice-in repair. That's assuming you want to or can.
The only other suggestion I could offer is a replacement. Where are you again?
**Added: I struck through the drain hole comment. I can't find any on mine so this may be misleading.
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Where are you located? I have a couple of frames, might be able to donate one to the cause.
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Well, I tried!
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Hi guys,
Really sorry it's taken me so long to reply!
I (and you might kill me for this) couldn't bare to see the jeep that way so I did a bubba repair for the time being
Used the longest implements I could find and then pipe cleaners to prod and poke in there until no more rust dust came out, poured rust converter in and then oiled and had it welded again
Now I'm on a lose search for a new one: god knows when another weak point could appear.
I think it was Obama who used the term "Putting lipstick on a pig" which might be appropriate here but I prefer it to not having my near daily driver 3b haha
@Chuck: thanks for the offer, I'm actually in South America at the moment so I bet shipping would be a bomb! I love these windshields with a the fold out option, do you have one of those?
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I've read multiple times where our fellow jeeper's across the pond have to get creative with repairs, i.e. building a seat frame from scratch or this repair for example!
How many owners have added or discovered reinforcement plates added to the frame or other area to "keep the jeep going" when a replacement was unavailable or too pricey?
My hat is off to your ingenuity and it looks good - although I'll bet taking pictures along the way during the repair wasn't a priority. That could have also been informative.
If I had a venting w/s, I'd be trying real hard to keep it working too!
Well done!
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i had a similar rust issue, wasn't quite as bad. i had parts from a frame that was shot (rusted thru above the glass) and used it for parts to fix the better one.
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Well Rus you were 100% right, (OK it took me 4 welding attempts before I admitted it :P )
It kept opening up so I tracked down an engineer and we cut out out the rot from up high to the eye
Here are the pieces cut out, not good stuff
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Here's the new metal
I think this time it's a more permanent fix the pivot was in good shape and we cut from where the arm meets the main frame@ that metal was a lot better
If anyone has any questions or wants more pics let me know and I'll post
Should have paint on it today to take it for a spin tomorrow
PS: I hate rust