esmit208 Posted February 27, 2011 Share #25 Posted February 27, 2011 COYZEI echo the sentiments of everyone else...NICE JOB! A mig welder is in my near future. Many ask how difficult doing your own repair is. I am in some ways savvy like yourself mechanically. The big thing as much as technique is being able to take the car off the road and have it properly stored while you work on it. If you ae in a hurry I would not suggest attempting this on your own. Much thought is required probably much more thought than actual work. Not a day goes by without me considering or re-considering how to approach certain repairs on Project 3/72. It has a long way too go and so far I haven't messed up anything yet. To all the people needing or are interested in doing your own repairs I would suggest trying to spend a little time around a metal shop to actually see what it looks like to weld. It is not difficult. You may hear the term "tack" often when the welding subject is being brought. It is simply what the word implies and you end up with an area the size of the head a thumb tack. Do not go out and spend money on a machine that will not yield the desired results. Plan on getting a machine that could cost somewhere between $500 to $900 to get the results. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cozye Posted March 7, 2011 Author Share #26 Posted March 7, 2011 More progress. I'll be mounting new fenders next. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Diseazd Posted March 7, 2011 Share #27 Posted March 7, 2011 Nice job cozye........keep up the pics! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cozye Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share #28 Posted April 5, 2011 More progress. This was done a couple weeks ago, I'm actually working on the drivers side now. Very close to getting all the major repairs done. Also the air dam is a urethane type 1 I purchased from MSA. It's just clamped up in the pic for mock up, I haven't actually mounted it yet. The passenger side "pocket" behind the original fender was quite rusted. I had to cut a bunch of it out and fabricate new metal in behind it. I just picked up some 8mm nuts from lowes and welded those in behind the sheet metal for the fender bolts. Also, the new Nissan fenders fit pretty well, but they do take a bit of tweaking. The tab that bolts on behind the windshield was off about a half inch. The reinforcement on the back side was tack welded too tight and has the fender bowing out about 1/4 inch too much, I had to drill out the welds and loosen it up a bit before welding it back. Overall it did fit as well as the original. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorman7 Posted April 5, 2011 Share #29 Posted April 5, 2011 Looks like you have the same Urethane front spoiler that I do. It is a bit flimsy and deflects at higher speeds, causing cracks in the paint. I added a steel support structure in the center to prevent the flex. I have not had any problems since. It's not pretty, but it works well. You might want to consider some kind of support for that. Rich The sock is optional Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cozye Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share #30 Posted April 5, 2011 Looks like you have the same Urethane front spoiler that I do. It is a bit flimsy and deflects at higher speeds, causing cracks in the paint. I added a steel support structure in the center to prevent the flex. I have not had any problems since. It's not pretty, but it works well. You might want to consider some kind of support for that.Rich The sock is optional Interesting. I considered adding a support anyway. Just out of curiosity, did you add a flex agent to the paint ? I had heard that the urethane air dams would flex some, but I was actually kind of surprised on how this one seemed sturdier in the middle than I would have thought. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorman7 Posted April 5, 2011 Share #31 Posted April 5, 2011 (edited) I doubt the spoiler had a flex agent applied to it. It was painted at the somewhat local Maaco shop. Other than the spoiler, everything else came out great. The spoiler had some major peeling at the flex points. I touched up the peeling by doing some light sanding of the area and adding 'bulldog' adhesion primer. I then put the touch-up paint over that. That, combined with the center support, seems to work pretty well. Edited April 5, 2011 by motorman7 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ZCurves Posted April 5, 2011 Share #32 Posted April 5, 2011 FWIW - After you have finished with the Rockers and the Dog-Leg repair, you can apply paint or other rust preventative from the backside. Access the Interior vents along the floorboard for the Rockers and through the seatbelt bolt hole for the Dog-Leg.Nice work all around! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cozye Posted April 5, 2011 Author Share #33 Posted April 5, 2011 FWIW - After you have finished with the Rockers and the Dog-Leg repair, you can apply paint or other rust preventative from the backside. Access the Interior vents along the floorboard for the Rockers and through the seatbelt bolt hole for the Dog-Leg.Nice work all around!Good tip. Thanks. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cozye Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share #34 Posted April 18, 2011 Almost there. Only have a few more small dings to take care of and cleaning up the grill. Will start trying to find a local painter to spray it for me soon. Spent this weekend doing final fitting and adjustment of the bumpers, so that when I do get it painted everything will be ready to bolt right up. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajmcforester Posted April 18, 2011 Share #35 Posted April 18, 2011 Looking good, you spent all this time on repairing the body you might want to strip it down before painting so you get a great paint job. By the way nice color on the FJ the same as mine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
cozye Posted April 18, 2011 Author Share #36 Posted April 18, 2011 Thanks. The FJ is great. I've got 90k miles on it so far and it still like brand new. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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