Tearing down my HJ47 troopy (3 Viewers)

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Great job you're doing.

I myself currently have a 40 and hopefully, in about 1 weeks time i'll have a BJ45 to further make me spend my money. I'll have more of less the same job in front of me, as you did, so dont mind me if i come around ever so often to get some pointers.


:cheers:
 
Yes, Very Spendy!

As you can see, I'm trying to finish as much now on my own. And yes Malignum, this site is all about getting help from everyone else out there.
I got to the first door today and am pretty happy with the results, again hoping that the body shop gurus can make it look right before they paint it.
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With a little primer on this patch, it doesn't look half bad considering I used a flat piece of metal and managed to get it to conform to the curve of the metal. Amazing what a hammer will do.
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GS,

Coming along nicely. One piece of advice I can give you from having gone through the same process on my truck: after you are done welding you will have to find a way to get some primer on the interior welded areas, including seams. The welding vaporizes any primer and if you don't get any onto the worked area, it will recommence rusting. In the Northeast, this has happened on my truck in a fairly accelerated manner, but even in Florida, especially if you live near the sea, you will see rust again in a few years if you don't figure out a solution to that issue. I was thinking that a dunk in a tank to re-etch, and then a very thorough epoxy primer session, using wands to get inside door pillars, etc. There's a place in Texas that does a completely non-toxic dunk treatment, and there's no acid involved or anything like that. I know it isn't close to you, but if you want to keep the truck a long time in good shape, I'd give it some thought.

My $0.02....
 
Wow, just had a spare hour on the internet and stumbled on your thread here! Great build, love your rig. Keep up the good work.

I wish I had found this thread before we did all that work in Bolivia! Must make a mental note on the dunking acid bath stuff and I must note all you people for when we arrive in the US, for when we need some emergency repairs ;)

Adventurous greetings,
Coen
 
I've been spraying weld thru primer on the insides of these repairs before I close them up. The dip tank would be excellent though. As I go through these rusty parts it becomes obvious that I'm not getting to every bit of rust, because it seems that everywhere metal sits on metal, there's corrosion. I'm cutting all the rust I see, but I know there's plenty more that l can't see. That's where the dip tank process would come in handy. Thanks for the input.
 
Thanks Coen, your adventure is amazing. I hope my truck will be as durable.
 
Scrap prices are pretty good right now. I got $25 for my bull bar and aluminum is worth even more now.

I found that spraying fish oil into the seams after it's painted helps a lot. I was very fortunate that my LX has no rust but keeping it sprayed with fish oil has kept it that way for seven years-despite a number of Aussie 'wheeling' trips to the beach and camping in the salt flats of the interior at Lake Eyre.

I also did that with my troopy and after 15 years of road salt in NM she never rusted.
 
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Interior ambulance door repair. I checked with my friends down in Hobe Sound at Stoney's and they didn't have any old doors that I could cannibalize for this patch, so it's on me to fabricate something. They did have a new repair patch piece for that area, $200 for the set that takes care of the front and back lower area. Another area that all these trucks seem to rust. I would have paid the $ 200 if the whole area was bad, but it's only the piece in the pic and the front area that's adjacent to it. I'm thinking nobody will see this area and I'll get to practice more on my fabrication techniques. And again, I'm counting on my body shop to make my crap welds disappear.
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The first part of the door patch. I just need to finish the welds on the top and then fabricate the other lower pieces. Probably three more separate pieces to complete it, not counting the front part which is flat but curved, so it needs to follow the outer door jam correctly. I may have to mount the door first to make sure the curve follows the door opening. This would be obvious to anyone who does this for a living.
I'd starve if this was my source of livelyhood.
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I Just need to wrap the edge and grind more of the welds down. A little more filler for the body shop to apply. The panel behind it gives you an idea of the desired shape; I'm not too far off. The other door is upside down so the grooved area is not relevant.
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I had to use a little filler to hide my hideous weld job, but it's done.
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Just make sure you get a good deal of fish oil in those areas after it's painted to make sure the Florida air doesn't make you have to redo it in a couple years. Better yet, if there is a place nearby which has the facilities to dunk your doors and roof panels in zinc primer...
Josh
 
I've really enjoyed the detail of body work you have been doing! It is inspiring. One question, when you fabricate pieces that have 90º bends in them, do you bend them by hand with a sheet bender, weld two pieces together at 90º or just hammer out the shape with brute force (hammers)?
 

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