Major tub rebuild advice

Ok Jeepers, with my chassis pretty much done I am starting to think of getting a plan together for the next phase which is to rebuild this tub I got from a donor jeep. I have to turn it from a 56 to a 67 which will require smoothing out the cowl (the easy part) and I feel I may be able to save some of the sides. But where do I begin? I will be getting the panels from classic enterprise and will be replacing pretty much everything from the dash back. What do I tackle first to keep everything in alignment? Or do i get all the pcs, floors, riser, wheel wells etc and weld it into one pc first ?

 

Before I cut it apart, I would tack a brace across the top of the tailgate area and maybe one across the top of the tub and maybe one below, to help keep things lined up. Then I would drill out the spot welds on the front floors along the sides of the tub and try to mark and measure their position, as well. If you get the front floors and the riser panel back where they belong, you almost can't miss the rear floor.

If your replacement floors don't have the hat channels already on them (which I doubt they do) I would also mark their locations as best I could on the outside of the tub somehow. I mark and measure a lot. Getting the channels lined up for the body mounts is most important, IMO.

There are many different ideas on this. I'd consider everyone's suggestions and do what will work best for you.

Building a rotisserie will help a lot, too. Nice to be able to spin the tub around to work on all the different areas.

ed. --- a good spot weld cutter is invaluable as well. I have found that one of those step drill bits works well also but, maybe not quite as well.

 

Hmm. Rebuilding this tub will be a lot of work. And it's not even the original tub from the resulting Jeep. I'd for certain media blast it and evaluate all of the panels. Looks to me like you are going to need all the interior panels except for the toolbox ... maybe. Add up the cost of all the panels you need and compare that to the cost of buying a complete repop body. Your cheapest route is to forget about the fancy replacement panels and rebuild the floors from flat steel. Making the ribs in the rear floor will be challenging. It is possible to hammer-form or press-form the ribs if you are resourceful and either skilled or a quick learner. Another possibility is to cut a panel from a pickup truck bed or similar at the junk yard, and use that to repair the rear floor.

JMO - I would not commit to this plan by buying a lot of panels right away. What's your objective? A challenge/fun or saving money, or both? This tub impresses me as a right on the cusp of salvageable, just because it appears to need so many panels. And it's going to look a lot worse once the rust is tripped off. If you weren't in NJ I'd say you have to look around for another tub. A tub is not so large; you can load it on the back of a pickup truck and transport it a long distance. There was a yard in Georgia with a lot of CJs ... maybe some members here will give you some leads for more possible sources.

 

Nice job there Harold, thanks for the links. The way I feel is if I just buy a repo tub then I'm not restoring I'm building. I hate to see a tub scrapped then its gone forever and if I search for a "better" one chances are the floor will be so rough and dented I would replace it anyway. I figure I can do it for under $ 2000.00 with new panels and I might enjoy it. The welding will be challenging tho but I'm in no hurry. I do plan on building a rotisserie. Just need a starting point. I'm going to strip the sides of paint and bondo to see if I can salvage any of it. No sense on the expense of blasting since its all getting cut out anyway. My biggest issue is its not original flooring. Its all been plated over with heavier steel so nothing much original to go by

 

I just got my rear floor in Monday. It is far from perfect but like howard said you use your frame as a jig !~ Checkout Michaels 1962 build . I did it on the frame and now I am removing it to weld the bottom. I will say the front floors are what aligns the whole front and rear . measure, mark, document, and take pictures! also if you just buy the floor panels You have to salvage the hump! I did enjoy the welding . I feel I got a little better after 5 2lb rolls! Oh if I had the money blast away . I am thinking of getting my frame done

 

You can rebuild it.


Thats mine maybe 7 years ago. I was better than half way done body wise. As you can see it is frankenstein. My advice to you is to not try and save anything with see through rust. You will be watching your "metal" disappear. It is not easy to weld rust lace together, hence the several patches when the "metal" disappears. Basically save the wheelhouses, the cowl and the outer wheel wells and buy all new. I made all mine, on the inside they look like it too. Building it on the frame is the right idea, then remove and finish weld on a rotisserie. It will be a lot of dirty work.

If you don't have a MIG welder, go buy one. A light duty one such as a lincoln 180 will work. The miller is a bit better with auto ranging voltage but more money.

Chris

 

Wow! How did it looked finished ?

 

Mine was pretty rusty too. I found another Jeep that had a nice tub on it. I switched the tub/ body out and sold the donor jeep drive train with my rusty body on it. And i got a nice body for mine. Some minor repairs to the floor and where the spare tire did mount.

 

its never finished, but here is how it looks today

 

Love the anti theft device

 

I am going borrow the anti theft device!

 

Not my idea, but it works really well. Its not just anti theft because anybody with a roll back can steal it, but more to keep people that get in it from putting it in neutral and it rolling away. There was a thread about this. Cant find it now.

 

with any luck someone else will volunteer to weld for you