The plan so far

[miracleed]

Bought my 79 Wagoneer in the beginning of February sight unseen off of Ebay. Had high hopes of fuel injection conversion, ignition upgrade, transfer case conversion to 2 wheel drive, 3 inch exhaust etc etc etc. You know, all the really cool stuff people do on these forums. Unfortunately my wallet has cried mercy and all of that stuff has been pushed down the road and over the horizon as to when I might get to it.

Instead I've started trying to come up with a plan of what I can do with what I have for tools in the here and now that will provide the most improvement in drivability and dependability. I'm still super stoked with the vehicle so far and I made the mistake of driving it to work for the first time yesterday which left me sitting at my desk all day wishing I was out driving it.

What's happened so far:
rebuilt existing 2bb carb
rebuilt rear brakes
new tires
new distributer
new plugs
new ignition wires
flushed brakes
a couple of bottles of miracle juice rejuvenator

What I'm hoping to tackle next:
replace torn shag carpeting
replace floor pans and repair any rust under the carpet
pray that the rust hasn't made it to the support cross members
soundproof doors, floors, roof
replace all of the rubber seals inside the doors (wipes, channel guides etc.)
replace the rubber on the tailgate (currently has none, I can see the street through it)
put an aftermarket thermal hood liner in
replace the warped panel on the tailgate
potentially repair the tailgate window


I've already ordered all of the stuff for these. Just looking for the time to do the work. The reason I'm writing is that I am planning on doing the rust repair with pop rivets and adhesives. If the rot has gotten into the cross members I am tapping out and lugging the thing to an experienced welder. But I wanted to check first to see if I am crazy for even doing it to the non structural parts of the vehicle. I've read a lot of conflicting stuff online about adhesives and wanted to check with you guys. I don't have a welder/plasma cutter nor the training to wield such tools. I am sure I could figure it out however spending five hundred bucks or so (on something I'd likely only use once) and potentially doing more harm than good are strong deterrents. I definitely want this thing to be pretty, but it's always going to be a driver, not a show pony.

Thanks.

[SOLSAKS]

sounds like you have a good start.

I do know body shops use adhesive on panels a lot.

like 3M's fusor brand,...

they have it for metal and plastic.

I hear it is as strong as a weld if done properly.

keep us posted.

the dreaming about the work you want to do is a big part of the fun.

dave in NC

[miracleed]

Thanks Solsaks!

Also, please let me know if there is something else I should be doing when I'm knee deep in my project. I'd hate to have to rip the rug back up after I've installed it just to access widget #7.

[babywag]

I'd skip the "new" distributor...

[Rusty76]

Nice job on all you have already done. I wouldn't shy away from welding. Before I decided to buy a rusted out wagoneer and pour $ crinkle $ into it I had zero experience welding. Mig welding with gas is really not crazy difficult and so far I've found it one of the more enjoyable skills in the whole project. Bare in mind I'm not doing a full blown nut to bolt restoration where a guy needs to be butt welding everything. Floors are one of the easiest parts if you rossette/ Plug/ lap weld them in. (I thick those terms all mean the same thing). Anyway Eastwoods has lots of great videos. If you mess up it's all good. Just this week I fully welded my dog leg before testing to see if the door shut. I was under pressure and had about 20 mins before I needed to help put the little ones to bed. Figured it looked about right... WRONG! hahaha I was way off and door would not shut. Next day I cut, grind and welded it back into place. Anyway looks like you have way more skill than me so I think you can do it.

Lots of great people here to answer questions.
Body lines not even close to perfect but after some paint she will look great I hope!
Sorry pic is not great.

IMG_5100 by , on Flickr

[Mikel]

Cool project. Where in Massachusetts are you?

[miracleed]

thanks to you both. i'd really like to weld them actually, the main issue is laying out the money for the equipment. but yeah, the intellectual resources and willingness of everyone here to help others consistently renews my faith in humanity.

found an oil drip today and crawled under the car to see if i could see where it was coming form. i was hoping to take a couple hours to look at my tailgate, oh well. somewhere in the past apparently the transmission had some work done on it and the person never put the clutch flywheel cover back on. that looked like a real issue and it was covered in motor oil.

come to find out, that's a common thing. who knew? anyway i ended up throwing some oil additive in there in the hopes of reviving the gaskets (and hoping that's all it is). i think i'll try to find a cover anyway.

i'm out about halfway up 495 in mass, town called hudson. it's cool that there are quite a few active northeasterners active on these boards. kind of on that note, driving around today, i was thinking about how rare it is to see another fsj on the road these days. back when i had my '91 in the early 2000's you'd see another one from time to time and give a wave, but now a days, i don't remember the last time i saw one.

i think if i saw another wagoneer parked in someone's driveway i'd stop and knock on their door. that might be too weird though.

[rang-a-stang]

...i'd really like to weld them actually, the main issue is laying out the money for the equipment. ...

Check craigslist. I see the cheapie harbor freight 120amp flux core welders show up for well under $100 out here all the time.

[Kaiserjeeps]

Never underestimate panel adhesive. It has to go on clean shiney non rusty metal. It has corrosion inhibitors and will not rust metal it is contact with. There is regular panel adhesive and structural. I just used structural on the rear bed mount under a dodge 3500. I had to make a whole new mount and I welded it to the back sheet metal under the tailgate and used the adhesive to attach it to the hat channel under the bed. I could not reach it to weld it unless I took the bed off. It is so strong you will find the metal will tear before the glue joint fails. I used regular panel adhesive to attach a newly made Stainless pad with the two studs for the floor mounted gas pedal. Both worked like a charm.
The dispenser guns are not cheap. Hard to buy them to use once or twice. In my case they will get used again.

The mount I made is on the right. The ss panel on the left also got glued in to reinforce a core support that cracked in half in the tailgate door frame.
The silver coating is a ceramic thin film called cerakote. The nut for the bed mount got glued in by filling the pipe surrounding the nut like a moat. I put two light tacks on it but did not want to alter the strength of the nut with to much weld heat. The moat of panel adhesive around the nut will never let go. The clean scuffed shiney areas got adhesive. That is how the joint should look before gluing. Panel adhesive is really a great product.



Welding is also a good way to tackle your body issues. Have an air line in your lap and cool the weld after no more than two brief tacks. Make sure there is a very slight gap on the entire patch panel where ever you weld. Any place the patch panel touches will buckle when welded up. Don't be in a hurry and tack the whole repair panel in. Keep it cool. Welding heat shrinks metal. So you will see some movement. Ideally you want to really carefully grind the weld down, not touching the surrounding sheet metal. Then plannish the weld to relieve the stresses in the panel. You do this with a body hammer and a dolly behind it. You can tell when your hammer makes a solid "on dolly" strike. Work your way down the weld not spending a lot of time on the same spot unless it is really low. On dolly strikes stretches metal. Check it with a straight edge like a ruler. Got a high spot? Shrink it back with heat. It is fun watching a wavy panel come in flat.
Everything I just suggested is for butt welding and making most of the weld go away. If you are overlapping and don't care about looks then that will be a lot easier. Like with panel adhesive make sure your metal is clean and has no paint, or heavy rust. Clean metal will weld so much easier than dirty.
There are also inexpensive spot weld cutters you can load up in a drill that will help extract the bad metal panels.

I can make things sound complicated. It is not trust me. I know you can fix your rig. People here including myself will try to help. You just have to ask.


Rusty76, those body lines look pretty darn good to me!! I did the very same thing under the tail light opening.

[miracleed]

Thanks to all you guys, looking at local deals on welders and waiting on parts to come in. I'll keep you posted.

[miracleed]

picked up a mig welder (i'm going to need it), 60gal air compressor (air tools next week after the next paycheck) and a paint gun this weekend for a price i can live with. got the back seat out and the vast majority of the carpet. one anchor for the passenger side rear shoulder strap seatbelt is giving me fits as well as a couple bolts on the front seats. i keep spraying them with liquid wrench and praying that the gods smile on my one day. wish i had more to post.

[joe]

Couple pointers from a non-pro sheetmetal worker.
1. Quit buying stuff before you know what you need. Rust is like rot on a wood boat. The more/deeper you dig, the more you find.
2. Get your bad areas torn apart and see what you're dealing with before buying more stuff.
3. As mentioned previously whether you weld or use adhesive the metal you weld/glue to has to be absolutely rust free or you'll be doing it over.
4. Work on and finish one project area at a time. Easy to get in too far with too many things going on and you can get overwhelmed and punt.
4. your seatbelt anchor bolts are loctited in. You need a torch to heat it to destroy the chemical bond or you'll just be breaking tools.
5. Do an honest evaluation of your skills, time and budget. Especially out in the rust belt. The grand plan of "I'll buy it cheap and fix it up to save money" has sunk many projects, bank accounts and marriages.
Best of luck!

[rang-a-stang]

Couple pointers from a non-pro sheetmetal worker.
1. Quit buying stuff before you know what you need. Rust is like rot on a wood boat. The more/deeper you dig, the more you find.
2. Get your bad areas torn apart and see what you're dealing with before buying more stuff.
3. As mentioned previously whether you weld or use adhesive the metal you weld/glue to has to be absolutely rust free or you'll be doing it over.
4. Work on and finish one project area at a time. Easy to get in too far with too many things going on and you can get overwhelmed and punt.
4. your seatbelt anchor bolts are loctited in. You need a torch to heat it to destroy the chemical bond or you'll just be breaking tools.
5. Do an honest evaluation of your skills, time and budget. Especially out in the rust belt. The grand plan of "I'll buy it cheap and fix it up to save money" has sunk many projects, bank accounts and marriages.
Best of luck!

Wow. Sound advice.

miracleed, you're doing great work and its fun to watch. Keep it up but heed Joe's advice, too. I've seen many folks, with many different projects, get burned out and end up punting after dumping a ton of time and $$.

[miracleed]

Yeah, that is definitely good advice and I will keep it in mind. Thanks for the tip on the Locktite. I'll go with heat next.

So far I haven't broken the bank and the price was so good on those tools that I would have bought them without the Jeep to have to fix up. Still and all, now I have to do some work.


Thanks,
Ed

[miracleed]

Tailgate and Bed

They actually looked a lot better than I thought they would. The tailgate works with the glass going up and down without a hitch. Only thing is that it doesn't seal on the driver's side bottom corner. At first I thought the weather stripping had corroded away. On closer inspection the gasket looks fine, just that the hinges are screwing into punky metal which I'll need to fix.

dside_rear_bed by miracleed, on Flickr
pside_rear_bed by miracleed, on Flickr

dside_tailgate by miracleed, on Flickr
pside_rear_bed by miracleed, on Flickr


tailgate_bottom by miracleed, on Flickr
pside_tailgate_corner by miracleed, on Flickr