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Why not just bend it back straight?
Thank you for the advice. I do not see or feel any waves in the sheet metal. The picture does make it look like there are some though. One area on a curve did get a bit distorted but i think that was dinged in shipping of the skin or the alignment of the inner and outer tube support was off enough to cause a problem.I don't think its necessary to weld the whole edge. The spot welds will be fine but I would check to see if the spot welds have created waves in the sheet that will become obvious after paint. You want the sheet metal to fit nice onto the tube before welding. You could probably hide the waves with bondo though. I would seam seal the underside to keep moisture getting to the welds from the underside and then bedliner over that.
These tube fenders are a bunch of work and like any good home improvement project all I see is my mistakes.
Question for anyone who is a good welder:
The directions from metal tech say to tack, skip weld and eventually connect all of the welds on the top of the outside edge of the skin to the tube. Check out the last pic. I feel like if I do that I will have a series of 1000 bugger welds and the finished edge will look like hell even after grinding then down. Is that just how it goes and I just grind down what I can and just smooth out the edge with body filler later? I started welding from the underside but that is not that easy and looks like hell too and no chance of grinding.
Any advice is appreciated
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DAAAANG nice project!
Yes, you need to just put little tacks all the way around. One of the reasons why body work is considered an "art" and why it can cost thousands upon thousands of dollars. Old guy once said "you just keep your hand on the metal right next to the weld with no glove, if it's getting warm, come back later". It takes a VERY LONG TIME to do it right, and once it goes wrong, good luck. The last thing you want it to do is have one of those spots pop off and then crack all the bondo around it. Having a solid weld all the way around is the "right" way to do it.
As far as radius arms go, we have made custom ones for swaps like this (80 front end under a 70 series), happy to work with you on something like that if needed.
Cut the glovebox? I didn't cut any of the glovebox. Their are a couple holes you drill in the bottom of it for bolts for support but that's it. Once it gets over 90 degrees with my black soft top it struggles to keep more than the front passengers cool. For a 4 door rig I would consider a front and rear AC unit personally. Soft tops let a lot of heat in.I am strongly leaning toward buying the vintage air AC with the ultra high blower Part# 941201. The guy at Vintage air says that the distributors with free shipping, etc should be able to give me the FJ40 kit with a LS bracket and compressor without any additional fee. I guess we will find out tomorrow.
@White Stripe I just read a post from you about your vintage air setup. i assume you are still happy with it. How much of your glove box do you actually have to cut?
Yeah I thought I read a few places that the glovebox would be reduced. A few holes never hurt anyone, thanks.Cut the glovebox? I didn't cut any of the glovebox. Their are a couple holes you drill in the bottom of it for bolts for support but that's it. Once it gets over 90 degrees with my black soft top it struggles to keep more than the front passengers cool. For a 4 door rig I would consider a front and rear AC unit personally. Soft tops let a lot of heat in.