Spare Tire Mount Fix on a Early CJ5

Milestone!

Less than 24 hours ago I finally finished the passenger side of the Willys Tub.  Yes, there are some odds and ends to address, but for the most part, we beat the cold weather and got the side of the Jeep painted.  Pictures of that will be coming hopefully soon.  I need to get the Willys back on its tires and get it running.  It has been a while.

Anyhow, what we have here in these series of pictures is common problem in these older jeeps.  The spare tire mount after years of use bends and warps the metal and eventually rots the corner away making a repair necessary.

Learning from a fella in AZ who made this fix, I used treated wood to help secure 2 of the bolts that before simply went into the sheet metal.

The fix is fairly straightforward.  Cut out the bad steel, attach the wood cross section to the steel cross section and then weld a new piece of steel to the rear fender.  A little grinding, drilling of new holes and you are ready to paint.

I have found some interior work that also needs to be done to really make this fix stick.  But as I said, for the most part, it is fixed and ready to take a spare tire!

filling in screw holes

I am seriously enjoying this type of body work.

I have a serious amount of screw holes on the top of the tub.  I use a MIG Welder to fill in the holes and then grind them down so they are flush with the body.  Simple!

But what has made this a lot easier are these 2 round magnets.  Years ago when I was showing the kids the insides of some electronic device, I found these brass magnets.  I like magnets and hung on to them.

They have made this job so easy.  I just slip one of them behind a hole, zap the hole with the welder, the magnet holds the weld together.  The brass does not bond with the steel, so they remove easily.

Like I said, simple!

Wakefield Willys Update 4.7

I might have a new name for the Willys Project, "Patches"

Because I can not afford a new tub and the new tubs don't have some of the character of the original tub, I am "repairing" the original tub.

That means removing the paint, the rust and dirt and working with what is left.  Sometimes it requires patch work.  Cutting rusted no good steel out and replacing it with a new 16 gauge piece from the local hardware store.

I like doing it, even though it is tedious work.  But I am quickly realizing that no matter how good the welding job, grinding job or sanding job I do, you will see the patch work.  Not to mention the filled in holes, and every ding dent and scratch.

It is getting frustrating, but I think I am coming to grips with this reality.  This tub is going to look more like a quilt than I first thought.

Wakefield Willys Update 4.6

As you can see by the pictures, we are working on the passenger side of the Jeep Tub.  You can also see there is a lot of work to be done.  These picture were taken before I got started on Saturday.

Today I was able to make a lot of progress.  Most of the paint is now stripped off, along with some bondo.  Some of the 60 holes in the tub on the passenger side are filled in using the welder.

As usual, in peeling back the paint and cutting out some of the rusted steel, it has revealed some further work.  Ahh, the joys of restoration.

My hope would be to get all the way back to rear of the jeep and have the passenger side painted.  We will see, stay tuned!

Wakefield Willys Update 4.5

 As I have said before, it has been a slow summer.  Not much work on the Willys Jeep.

Today I put the final touches on the Passenger Side Windshield Hinge Fix.  With some welding and grinding we are almost ready to paint.

Now it is time to start repairing the Jeep Tub on the Passenger Side.  The funny thing is when you start to take away the paint the Jeep looks like it was shot at with either a shotgun or rifle.  Those are rust holes that the grinder exposes.

Some of the holes were hidden by and old Pennsylvania Inspection trick.  In Pennsylvania, like NH, they look for "holes" in the body.  If your car looks like Swiss cheese, it does not pass inspection.

So if it is a small hole, like some of these on the side of the jeep, they would simply put a screw there bolted from inside.  All those holes you see where former screws.  Funny solution, and clever at the same time.

Wakefield Willys Update 4.4

The driver side windshield corner is nearly done.

From the picture you can see the final steel piece welded in and ready for some grinding, primer and then paint. It came out better than I expected, still rough, but over all a vast improvement over what was there.

Now for the rest of the jeep tub........

Wakefield Willys Update 4.3

I have not been busy with the jeep this summer. I need to be as it will not fix itself. Over the last few weeks, things have picked up.

As mentioned in a previously post, the windshield corners were rusted out and need to be cut out, and new sheet metal welded in place.

Well as you can see, we finally have started replacing the sheet metal. Started with welding the bolts in that will be used to screws the windshield bracket itself. Then the first piece of steel, and after the primer dries, the second piece that goes on top of it. Once welded, and primed, we will be done! At least with this one corner, the other corner is still waiting.