Quote:
Originally Posted by 71jimmy
Forgive my jumping in with a question here. I'm also working on this area on my Jimmy. Been following all the varies posts and have gleaned great info from them. The one item I've not seen discussed is what I have circled in the pic from Jarros44sr.
I don't think anyone makes a patch panel for this area. Has anyone repaired this area? How/what have you done? Any ideas appreciated. Thanks
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I don't mean to hijack, but here's what I did to repair this area. I had my bedside off when I did this, but I believe it can be done with the bedside in place. I did it with three pieces of plate.
The first piece I replaced was the piece with the hole in it. I used the hole as a reference and scribed a line across and cut it off the bedside.
I then cut off the flanges from this piece so I could use what was left as a pattern.
Then I tacked a square piece of metal roughly the size I would need to replace the rotted piece onto the bedside where the hole is and using the old piece I cleaned up, I placed it against the new metal and traced out an outline of what needed to be removed.
I checked the contour before I cut any metal by laying a yardstick down the side of the front quarter panel and moving it down checking the line traced onto the new metal.
The next piece was easier, I cut a piece of plate using the measurement off the flange still left on the bedside, appox. one inch and long enough to go the length of the first piece and bending it as I tack welded it.
The last piece has an additional lip on it so it was a little more trouble. Again I cut another flat piece long enough to go the length of the first piece and I allowed enough width for the lip along the outside.
I tack welded this piece the top next to the bedside and using a straight edge against the "B" pillar I drew a line down the metal so it would line up with the "B" pillar. After I scribed the line I allowed another 3/8" past the drawn line for the bent lip.
Bend and tack the piece in place.
Using my cutoff tool I cut a series of notches about an inch apart down to the last line drawn for the lip this would allow me to bend the metal for the lip. Bend the lip using a pair of vice grips and weld the lip up and grind down.
Recheck the alignment and weld up the cracks. It's really hard to put in handwriting, but if you study the pics you can understand what I'm talking about. Hope this helps out and apologies for the highjack. Rusty