Plan of attack

[Cory]

In my warped mind, I've been turning my well-ventillated tub like a rubiks' cube trying to figure the best way to begin cutting away the floor panels. Is there a better way to attack this without having the side panels and cowl fall into a pile?� I seem to remember a thread somewhere where one person screwed some boards in strategic places to keep the side panels and cowl "square".
How did you attack this?� What would you do differently?� What worked well?

[athawk11]

The structural integrity can be maintained if you replace one piece of tub at a time.   Screwing a board between the tailgate opening is helpful.  I have seen people install a brace above�and toward the front of the wheel houses too.  You may consider more bracing if you plan to do the cargo floor.

 I started by replacing damaged pieces on the sides.  Once complete here, I flipped the tub on edge and replaced one portion of the floor at a time.
 




I did re-install the tub a few times to make sure I was keeping everything in alignment.
 
There are clearly other ways to do this.  With limited space and skill set, this did work well for me.

Hawk 

[Cory]

Thanks, Hawk.  That helps a lot. 

I'm in some new territory with replacing large amounts of rot.  Feels a bit daunting.  But I like your one bite at a time approach.

[athawk11]

Thanks, Hawk.� That helps a lot.�

I'm in some new territory with replacing large amounts of rot.� Feels a bit daunting.� But I like your one bite at a time approach.

It couldn't be much worse than this...right?   





The 'piece meal' approach helped me mentally.  I was a bit overwhelmed by it too.  I had never tried anything like this.  Eventually, I ran out of rotten stuff to replace.  My confidence grew with every move.  Yours will too.

The photo above was my second attempt at restoring a tub.  That one was fun.

Hawk

[macrisel]

One thing to keep in mind......these old jeeps are METAL.  New vehicles are PLASTIC.

Metal bends.....plastic breaks!  Even if you mess something up, worst case scenario is you cut it out and re-weld it!  Once you get the feel for it, it won't be long before you start fabricating pieces out of sheet metal.  Try that with plastic!  [smiley=2vrolijk_08.gif]

Before long, you will be looking for more projects to justify a new welder and maybe a plasma cutter!

Good luck and have fun!!

[Cory]

Thanks!  Hawk, mine isn't *quite* that bad.  But I'm trying to avoid having it look like that in the process.  I appreciate the words of encouragement.  I'll post pics when I dive in!

And, Mark.  I was looking for an excuse to add more firepower to the tool *rear end!

[SteveW]

I started at the back with mine as it was only place I could get something resembling square to measure from. Did a lot of clamping pulling and same advice as above just worked pieces as
I went. Fixed some stuff, bought some stuff and made some stuff





that was my good end

[SteveW]

I did use wood to hold sides and keep straight sides or use the wood to help straighten as I went



I don't have things orderly but this part of my pic's have a lot of the body pieces I worked on

http://www.surfacezero.com/g503/showgallery.php?ppuser=689&cat=500&page=68