16 gage steel (cold rolled) sheets can be formed into a complete 3A tub if you have the time , patience, and knowledge. Your question wasn't stupid at all. I hate to refer you to another page, but there is a thread by PJ tigger over at the G 503 board on rebuilding the body tub of xxxxx that is awe inspiring. There is also a thread over at the 2A page on how to make a new quarter panel from flat steel.

About the only part that folks have found near impossible to rebuild is the tranny hump and the cowl top panel, due to the compound curves in them However a good metalshaper skilled at shrinking and stretching might be able to do them too.

Hat channels are probably best bought from Midwest Military or Classic Enterprises, the hat channel under the tranny hump is a tough one to make, the rest could be made with apress brake or a good leaf brake.

Originally the jeep is spot welded together. You can buy a spot welder from several well known tool places, but to get into the deep areas you would need to make new tips.  However an excellent substitute for a spot weld is a MIG plug weld. (Drill hole in top part, clamp tight, then fill in the hole making sure you have penetration to the lower part as well. ) There are very few continuous welds in a stock jeep, the two I can think of join the top cowl to the sides. Your patches should be butt welded in place, a MIG welder can stitch these in with minimal distortion, or if you are good, an oxyacetylene weld can be hammered flat (planished) to work out the shrinkage that is bound to happen with any welding.

Probably the best place to start practicing would be the usual rot behind the front fender braces. You will probably find by the time you have finished your tub , your skills will have improved a LOT and you might want to go back and redo the fender patches with your new found skill. It wouldn't be the first time that has happenned.

Good luck! AND BE SAFE!!

I can go find those links if you can't , let me know.

Quote:

Any idea who did it?  I'm trying to search for the thread you are talking about.  I'd like to see how they do it.

Phil

Luckily, these old Jeeps were built well! With heavier steel than you will find today.

The best bet, as mentioned earlier, is to do a lot of small spot welds, preferably with a MIG welder.

Fluxcore welders work also, but are not as clean, and require wire brushing to see what you just did

You can make a bunch of small tack or spot welds, like this:



The reason for this, is to keep the heat down, and therefore not warp the sheet metal.

Once you have the patch in place, keep doing small welds, until the entire patch is welded in.

Then, grind almost smooth, and finish off with a flapper wheel.

If you find any holes, or missed spots, it's easy to do some more spot welds, and grind/flapper wheel them down.

I have seen some repairs done that you would never know, unless you saw the before and after pics.

(I'm not that good, but it is doable!)

For small bolt holes, brazing works well also, but takes some practice, as the heat required is more than a MIG welder produces.