Inner fender, kick panel, door post post

[Lunar-tic]

My attempt at fixing the rust problem. Hopefully it works out.

 

[WheelHorse]

Looks like you're off to a good start.

 

[Lunar-tic]

The floor pans were a hot mess, I wish I had a before photo. The PO had a combination of fiberglass/bondo/spot welded sheet metal over/under the rust. Nothing no one else here hasn't seen, but it was funny the more I melted off with the heat gun the worse it appeared. I don't think the passenger side door post is as bad, at least I sure hope not. I'll keep posting pictures for the other rookies out there.

 

[Toddpole]

Definitely a case of a silk purse/sow's ear. The rest of the Bronco looks really nice. Kinda funny, in a sad sorta way, that the PO tried to hide the problem rather than cure it. Good luck! Looks like you have the hard part whipped. Nice shop floor, btw!

 

[Lunar-tic]

I got the flooring in rolls from Costco, it is nice, but doesn't tolerate the slag from flux core welding. I had a small fire fixing some of the corners of the floor, lesson learned, I bought a welding blanket. LOL

 

[smokinjoe]

Looking like a great start!

Who's pans are those, which vendor? I have just about the same cancer as you and I like those lips on the pans.

Ironically, my PO also tried glassing the rust spots.

 

[Lunar-tic]

So far all my metal has come from Jeff's. The floor pans are decent, I'll let you know about the rest (door post, rocker, kick panel, inner fender) as I work through replacing those.

 

[jonmelton]

So far all my metal has come from Jeff's. The floor pans are decent, I'll let you know about the rest (door post, rocker, kick panel, inner fender) as I work through replacing those.

I was in the same spot about 8 weeks ago. I only replaced the floor pans, but should have replaced rockers and inner fenders. That will be later.

I used Wild Horse's drivers side pan and it was beautiful! On the passenger side, I bought TBP because I liked how big the piece was. I wish I would have bought the two Wild Horse pieces...

I learned a lot about welding, made a lot of mistakes, but had fun.

Good luck! Don't forget the floor bracket under the passenger seat like I did. It was completely rusted out of the frame so I had to improvise and build my own.



Newbie Floor Pan Removal

 

[Lunar-tic]

Luckily all my floor braces are in good shape. I am going to POR all of that stuff before the final welds. I bought a Hobart Handler 140 and using it as an actual MIG (instead of flux core) it is a dream. I'll post some pictures of this weekends work in a few. Mostly good progress, but I did find some unexpected rust in the driver's side cowl. That should be a treat to fix.

 

[Lunar-tic]

Here are some pics of what I was able to accomplish this weekend.

 

[WheelHorse]

Looking good!

What have you found to be the most difficult part of the removal process?

What would you do/advise to do differently?

 

[Lunar-tic]

Drilling out the spot welds are the biggest pain for me. I can never seem to locate them all. I recommend buying several of those bits. The rest was just me taking my time and reading threads here, a lot of reading and researching goes a long ways.

 

[enthusiast1977]

William,
these are great pictures. I have been following this thread and it looks like you are doing a great job. I am getting ready to tackle this same thing so it really helps me out with all your great pictures. thank you.

 

[Lunar-tic]

The more I dig the more I find.

 

[gritz]

That's usually how it works on bronco!

 

[Lunar-tic]

On the up side, my MIG skills are improving rapidly!

 

[Lunar-tic]

Slowly inching forward with this. Welding old sheet metal is a PITA, I don't care how fancy your MIG/TIG is. Here's a couple of before and after shots of my first repair. I did work on it a bit more after I took the "after" photo. The spots with the magic marker needed a bit more attention. I hope to dig into it heavily this weekend.

 

[Bferrari]

Looks good! Keep plugging along and you'll be there before you know it!

 

[Lunar-tic]

Made a little more progress over the weekend. Started mocking things up. I still need to paint everything and repair a couple more minor rust spots, but it actually looks like I accomplished something.

 

[spray1963]

How did the Door post from Jeff's fit? I have now bought TBP and Dennis Carpenter posts and both are nowhere near being a good fit. I have a body shop doing the sheet metal work and they are having issues making it work.

Thanks,
Scott