Hey Y'all -
Many years ago I decided I was tired of patching small rust spots about every year along the top wheel well to tub seams as well as other spots on the quarters of my '76 FJ40. Working in a gravel driveway and just learning to weld, I didn't think I was cable of replacing the entire quarters, didn't think the cancer was advanced enough, and didn't want to spend the money for complete quarter replacement. In hindsight I think this was the right decision. Where I screwed up was not bracing the door openings before I started cutting and pasting (welding). I probably cut out and replaced roughly 1/3 to 1/2 of the quarters with 16 gauge sheet metal that I welded in with a 110V MIG. Then of course I had to grind my sloppy welds with a flap disk to get them semi-ready for finishing.
Before doing any permanent painting I tried to reinstall the front doors and of course the welding and grinding heat had caused the openings to narrow enough that the doors wouldn't close. I just measured the openings on my '78 which has great fitting doors and was rebuilt by a pro before I bought it and compared them to my '76. This showed my '76 openings were about 1/8", or a little more, narrower which was about what I had observed when I tried to install the doors. 1/8" doesn't sound like much but it might as well be a mile if the doors won't close!
My question is how do you suggest widening the openings by about 1/8" ? I thought of using my Hi-Lift, but won't they just pop back when I remove the jack unless I heat the quarters and rockers? Should I use heat along with the jack and will propane supply enough? Should I make a vertical cut, say at the rear of the rockers, and then jack and re-weld? I'll try anything so I'd appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks,
Pete
Many years ago I decided I was tired of patching small rust spots about every year along the top wheel well to tub seams as well as other spots on the quarters of my '76 FJ40. Working in a gravel driveway and just learning to weld, I didn't think I was cable of replacing the entire quarters, didn't think the cancer was advanced enough, and didn't want to spend the money for complete quarter replacement. In hindsight I think this was the right decision. Where I screwed up was not bracing the door openings before I started cutting and pasting (welding). I probably cut out and replaced roughly 1/3 to 1/2 of the quarters with 16 gauge sheet metal that I welded in with a 110V MIG. Then of course I had to grind my sloppy welds with a flap disk to get them semi-ready for finishing.
Before doing any permanent painting I tried to reinstall the front doors and of course the welding and grinding heat had caused the openings to narrow enough that the doors wouldn't close. I just measured the openings on my '78 which has great fitting doors and was rebuilt by a pro before I bought it and compared them to my '76. This showed my '76 openings were about 1/8", or a little more, narrower which was about what I had observed when I tried to install the doors. 1/8" doesn't sound like much but it might as well be a mile if the doors won't close!
My question is how do you suggest widening the openings by about 1/8" ? I thought of using my Hi-Lift, but won't they just pop back when I remove the jack unless I heat the quarters and rockers? Should I use heat along with the jack and will propane supply enough? Should I make a vertical cut, say at the rear of the rockers, and then jack and re-weld? I'll try anything so I'd appreciate any suggestions.
Thanks,
Pete
