Some of this past weekend's progress,  mainly the passenger side quarter.     I was a little concerened about getting this on straight,  but it worked out ok.

photo1 - started by clamping the joint on inside,  also visible in this photo is the sparetire brace from Classic Enterprises,  I figured there was no way I was going to be able to fabricate anything even close to original,  so "splurged" and bought this piece ,  the same time I got rear floor.  It is very nice,  and really helped to make sure the panel went where it was supposed to.

Photo2 - tack welded the joint,  I will eventually grind those out once the "spot welds" are done inside the fender.

not shown in photos:  the inner brace was primed and painted, then attached with screws to the wheel well

phot03 - attached quarter panel to inner brace with screws,  working from back to front,  pulling tight to radius,   not shown in photos - >  but next was to cut thru both the new panel and tub,  along the red line.

photo4 - finished matching panel to tub,  and tacked it up

photo5 - "spot welded" thru the screw holes to the inner brace,  and to top of wheel housing
I am very happy with how it turned out.  The metal seemed thicker that original,  but that means it should be very sturdy for spare tire.

Moving up the side to toe gusset area.

1) cut out the rust
2) & 3) made a template using aluminum flashing
4) flattened out the shape
5) traced the pattern on 16 ga
6) cut out
7) bent to shape
    (I saw a tip on TV to use body spoon to eliminate hammer marks,  worked pretty good, not that it matter on this piece  )

garage gnome wrote on 03/12/16 at 12:51:24:


I have always used cardboard also,  but could not find any thin stuff, . . .   then got the idea of using flashing. 

it will be my future choice,  if "folding" is necessary.

We can not have too many clamps when doing tub repair.

A couple long-reach Vise-grips,  pulling the newly welded toe gusset,  to be flush with side panel . .  prior to attaching to the floor.

Anybody know where I could find photo showing what oem tub looks like (from bottom) in these 2 areas?

This build is FAR from a "restoration",  but I would like to keep as close to looking original as possible.


I did some searching,  but could not find any "close up" photos

My wife is out of town,  so I could spend the whole afternoon/evening after work,   tinkering with the Jeep. 

Most progress was on floor.   Other than a few touch-ups, it is almost welded up.   (just noticed the argon tank on welder is almost empty) . .   some of that was used on a Bantam trailer project,   but most of it was used on Hoover. . .    lots of welding for sure.

I can take some close ups. Everything else looks great!