72Jimmy 1st attempt at rust removal

[thor]

Going to paint it the stock dark green I see on the inside? Great color!

[PD1292]

Originally Posted by thor

Going to paint it the stock dark green I see on the inside? Great color!

I like the color but my girls dont. Have not decided on a color yet.

[thor]

They'd prolly like Hugger Orange or Red-Orange then. Perhaps you could talk them into Ochre?

[1956cameo]

It's coming along nicely! Nice to see more Texas K-5's on here.

[my90k5]

Originally Posted by thor

They'd prolly like Hugger Orange or Red-Orange then. Perhaps you could talk them into Ochre?

lol, that Ochre color kinda grew on me but that blue would sure look nice.

[PD1292]

I got some parts in and am waiting for some POR 15 to arrive before I weld them in.

[PD1292]

I also obtained another exhaust manifold due to the original one breaking from heat stress. Got some poly bushings for the front springs to replace the ones on the jimmy

[elzombo]

Nice build. I'm originally from Del Rio. It's nice to see fellow Texans working on blazers. Looking good. I'm no where near skilled enough to attempt rust removal/repair myself. Good job.

[PD1292]

I have finished the passenger side floor and rocker panel. It lined up pretty well and the best thing is the door still closes... I was worried there for a little bit. here are some pictures of the progress

[1956cameo]

Thats some good looking metal work!

[thor]

Nice work!

[PD1292]

Ok, finally got back to working on this thing. The front springs are in, but I found some problems while taking it apart. Seems the front shackle frame mount was damaged due to, I guess a combination of 4 wheeling and no maintenance from the PO. Any way on with the pictures.
You can see in the first picture the hole is no longer round. The new one next to it is from an extra frame i bought. the second picture is the front hanger and the holes in it are not round either, its replacement is pictured beside it, also from the extra frame.

[PD1292]

I am also working on the passenger side rear fender, It had some major damage and I could not get the wheel opening to look right because it was crushed flat. I decided to replace it instead. The inside wheel well that attached to the outside sheeting at the front of the wheel well had to be lengthened due to the part i bought not being an exact fit.

[PD1292]

I am currently attempting to finish welding on the fender but it is taking a long time to see results so i took a break from that and worked on the inner fender well on the driver side. It had rust spots on the front in two places. I cut them out and the replaced them with another piece. Here are some pictures.

[thor]

it's looking good sir!

[PD1292]

Thank you Thor.... Updates on the project. I got the patch panel over the wheel well done, and then found out I did not set up the metal very well before I welded. Turns out it had a large dip where the welds went. I tried to attach a stud (stud welder) to the side in an attempt to pull it out but I could not get it to stay in the shape I wanted. Frustrated, I decided to pull the whole back outer fender off.. I was worried about it while drilling out all of the many spot welds and peeling back the metal, but after the panel came off I felt better about it. I am now able to get a hammer to the back and have beat the damaged part back out to almost strait. (well strait enough for bondo work).

[PD1292]

I have another question now, There is a mount on the inside of the rear bedside that attaches to the removable top, it is threaded into a nut that just spins in the bedside and does not allow the bolt to come out. Is this the way it should be or should i be able to take that bolt out. I have tried to attach some vice grips to it but it wont turn out.
thanks Barry.

[thor]

Originally Posted by PD1292

I have another question now, There is a mount on the inside of the rear bedside that attaches to the removable top, it is threaded into a nut that just spins in the bedside and does not allow the bolt to come out. Is this the way it should be or should i be able to take that bolt out. I have tried to attach some vice grips to it but it wont turn out.
thanks Barry.

I've always left that metal piece attached to my hardtop when I've taken it off. I agree with Drunkbus - weld the nut and remove the bolt.

[PD1292]

Well I could not get the bolts to come out so i had to cut them off and pull out the, i guess it was some kind of rivet nut. it left large holes where the nut was supposed to be. Ill try to weld either a nut or a thick piece of flat stock and tap it.

[PD1292]

The bedside was also missing the sliding nut for the single wall top. Lucky for me the frame that holds the nut was still there, and I only had to make the piece that is pictured. I made it out of a thinner piece of metal at first and then had to remake it after finding there was not enough thread to hold it tight. Second picture is the frame work under the bedside that holds the sliding nut.

[drunkbus]

I would just put a few tack welds on that nut that is spinning for the top mount to hold it in place. That bolt is supposed to come out.

[PD1292]

I had a large dent/rip on the back side of the passenger side. I tried to patch up the hole but the metal was so thin I kept blowing through it with the welder, so I decided to attempt a metal patch. Here are the results.

[PD1292]

Sand blasted the inner back fender panel and got it painted.

[VA72C10]

Nice work! Coming along nicely!!!

[PD1292]

I put the outer fender back on and after some filler work I have it pretty strait. I sprayed on some etch primer last night and will follow up with some high build primer (?) to finish it off. It seemed pretty strait but i think it still has some slight wavyness to it. I need to continue to block sand it after the build primer correct? Any way here are some pictures before and after. Also any advise would be helpful for where to go from here. Thanks Barry