Military Jeeper
02-29-2008, 02:15
So today I bit the bullet and decided to tackle some of the small rust bubbles that have formed in the 2 yrs I've lived in Hawaii.
The problem spots where along the door seam (where the door hinges are located) and along the lower windshield leading edge (Where the cowl air intake meet the lower portion of the windshield). And finally the floor pans started bubbling.
In short, HOLY SH@T is the best thing I can say. I ended up cutting out about 2-3 inches of sheet metal on each side of the door seams. I ended up grinding about a .25 inch+ out of the seam along the windshield edge and ground out a couple new holes in the floor pans (new drain plugs.......NOT).
Didn't have my camera with me but let's just say I wasn't expecting the rust to be this bad. I had a POR15 starter kit that I used on it and I'm hoping it will work.
The other thing that really ticked me off was that the PO had a lot of bondo built up along the door seam which caused the panels to rot from the inside out. I have about a .25 inch gap between the outer sheet metal and the inner sheet metal (What was Jeep thinking........it's basically an empty void between the panels). The PO loaded this with bondo, as well as the windshield area which is where all the rust formed. As a result of all the windshield area rust the inside of the tub directly underneath it was rotting away too I found out when I pulled the dash so I started grinding off the inside tub lip that is basically a lip to hold water and I will smooth it out and POR15 the inside area too. POR15 also makes a seam sealer which I will apply once I finish the initial stuff.
I know this thread is useless without pics............but I'll post pics once I get to tear into it again. If you live near the ocean, start keeping an eye on these areas.
The problem spots where along the door seam (where the door hinges are located) and along the lower windshield leading edge (Where the cowl air intake meet the lower portion of the windshield). And finally the floor pans started bubbling.
In short, HOLY SH@T is the best thing I can say. I ended up cutting out about 2-3 inches of sheet metal on each side of the door seams. I ended up grinding about a .25 inch+ out of the seam along the windshield edge and ground out a couple new holes in the floor pans (new drain plugs.......NOT).
Didn't have my camera with me but let's just say I wasn't expecting the rust to be this bad. I had a POR15 starter kit that I used on it and I'm hoping it will work.
The other thing that really ticked me off was that the PO had a lot of bondo built up along the door seam which caused the panels to rot from the inside out. I have about a .25 inch gap between the outer sheet metal and the inner sheet metal (What was Jeep thinking........it's basically an empty void between the panels). The PO loaded this with bondo, as well as the windshield area which is where all the rust formed. As a result of all the windshield area rust the inside of the tub directly underneath it was rotting away too I found out when I pulled the dash so I started grinding off the inside tub lip that is basically a lip to hold water and I will smooth it out and POR15 the inside area too. POR15 also makes a seam sealer which I will apply once I finish the initial stuff.
I know this thread is useless without pics............but I'll post pics once I get to tear into it again. If you live near the ocean, start keeping an eye on these areas.