well, the darn thing is out

Body work is a series of brute force and finesse. On dolly and off dolly, I'm still working on my technique. It does take a lot of practice. I was hoping to straighten out my wagons driver's side fender. I fear the metal is too thin to salvage. It has been heated over and over by the previous owner, so the metal is thin and brittle. Still trying to find one that is rusted out, so I can salvage the crown from the leading edge.
As far as the rear seat mount, measure one side and make the other side match. If you have a back seat, place it. In position. Check the measurements, and run a level across the seat frame, then check with the floor. Make them match.

received my floor piece that i had been missing!.. bead blasted it and now has a coat of primer on it. QUESTION... HAS ANYONE EVER BAKED PAINT ON A PIECE THAT YOU ARE WORKING ON. I HAVE DONE IT AND FEEL IT IMPROVES THE PAINT. I BAKED ON ENAMEL ON THE ROSS STEERING BOX, BAKED ON RUSTOLEUM WHITE INSIDE THE BELL HOUSING AND OTHER ODDS AND ENDS LIKE THE OIL FILTER. ONCE THE PAINT IS DRY TO THE TOUCH I PUT IT IN MY OVEN AND HIT IT WITH 350 FOR SEVERAL HOURS, SEEMS TO REALLY MAKE THE PAINT STRONG . THE BELL HOUSING A DRILL WITH WIRE BRUSH DID NOT TOUCH THE PAINT, HAD TO REALLY REALLY STRAIN TO GET THRU IT. J ust passing this one i guess

Heat does improve the curing process. A good warm sunny day does work as well, but takes around three days depending on hardener used and color. Only a few of the married folks could get away with using the kitchen over to bake the paint on heep parts... I remember the looks my Grandmother would give when Grandpa would vulcanize tubes at the kitchen table, then check them for leaks in the sink. He also was known for fixing his chainsaw at the table. At least he laid down an old towel.

making some progress, am so so close to loading up and getting sand blasted... now replacing the brace piece, the one that stabilizes it allunder passenger side..... this is slow, one weld at a time to release the old rusted one. have the new wheel well ready to go, and have the other fender well ready to be sandblasted. am leaving 25% of the rear end on for stability in putting in trailer, don't want it to get torqued so will have my guy sand blast all that is left. then prime it and start replacing with the new pieces. actually feeling kind of anxious, and have to remember that the only way to do this is slow, methodical work, do it right the first time and will be better off in the end. actually spent some time on each and every bolt hole that has the nut welded on, all were pretty rusty, so i took a tap and some oil and cleaned them out, went to the farmers market and bought 15.00 worth of #8 hard bolts to replace all the bad ones, got new sheet metal screws also (had to go with stainless) but damnit am still getting "hurry up anxiety to see it on the jeep" got to watch that

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more and i put in a photo of the new center section that i got off internet (smile) and it was bead blasted, primed and then i had to had to paint the little piece that goes on there and put on some olive, that way i cans say that little area 5" X 4" is ready to go
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Looks outstanding! You are doing good to fight off the urge to hurry through it.

Tractor Supply also has grade 8 hardware by the pound. I've used it for a long time, and have never had an issue. I will buy a pound or two every time I go in there, just to refill my bins.

yeah me too on the #8's bought a bunch the other day.
now new topic. i managed to get the old passenger side brace, the one that goes from top of body to the floor. my god was there ever a bunch of spot welds and have my hands full now repairing all the holes, will use some of them of course to weld the new brace in, but here is the question. can someone measure the distance from the top of the brace to the floor, I think that the assembly at least for mine will be install the new passenger side floor first, then fit in the brace and weld. the very top 1 1/2 of the brace had to be cut off with a dremel tool and the new one will have to be adjusted to that length.. hope i explained it correctly !. New passenger side floor. 2. weld in new brace to reach the new floor. 3. weld in the new overlay for the outside fender repair (after i cut the hole in it for that curcular section that i have no idea what it is for)
COMMENTS PLEASE, HELP PLEASE ALL THIS IS SO SO SO VERY NEW TO ME..................

The circular indent was for the shore power connector. Think of it as the port,(2pins) that the armed forces used to jump start the Jeep or run the radio set without running the engine.

You are correct. Just run a string line in place of the body rocker panel to ensure everything stays within the body. If the floor stays square with the body, you'll have her licked. The string line run on the outside of the vertical brace for the cowl, to the remainder section of the rear quarter panel. The nice thing about an A1 compared to an earlier Jeep, is that the dimensions are pretty square. The early Willys all tapered toward the front fenders. After the floor is in place, then the hat channel support will fall into place.

You are doing an outstanding job. Just take your time. Measure and screw the panels together, check and triple check. Walk away, have a cup of coffee, the look at it some more. You may want to think about placing the body back on the spare frame to ensure all the mount points are still in spec. I had two frames and one CJ frame to use as a jig to tack everything in place, then put the body on a cart so it could be turned over and on its side for ease of welding.

What is your time frame for welding up the body? If your plan is for after the holidays, I may offer my help to you to get everything done up. I'll know more in the next few days on what my schedule holds for January.

My scheedule..... damifiknow?? first is sand blast the critter. got to get into the corners and hidden spots to get all the old crap out. that is why i actually have it divided up for the sand blast guy. from the long piece that goes all the way from drivers side to passenger side, where all the back deck and fenders go on, HOWEVER I LOVE YOUR OFFER AND LIVE ON THE COAST OF NC, AND WILL HAVE STEAKS AND CORONA WITH LIME

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i think it is in this photo.. the center piece both sides and everything in front under the dash area, the battery box, where the glove box is located and the entire front firewall, all blast to white, then get some primer on it all.... bare metal scares me, even if there has to be welds, so be it, will solve that when it happens, but get the floor in, tool box in and gas tank well in, with floor in then the brace, when floor is true (as best i can do it) then lock in the brace and weld that bugger in. I DONT EVEN WANT TO SHOW THE SKIN AROUND WHERE THE BRACE WENT IN, THOSE DAMN SPOT WELLS TOOK THREE DAYS 8 HOUR DAYS T FIND THEM ALL, DAMN THING LOOKS LIKE IT GOT HIT WITH FIVE ROUNDS OF 00 12GAUGE MAGNUM BUCK SHOT!!!, But am looking forward to the opportunity it shows to repair (that was sneaky way to put it wasnt it)
WE WILL DRIVE THIS IN THE FALL VETERANS DAY PARADE!! AND THE LOCAL MULLET FESTIVAL IN OCT!!!!! COME HELL OR HIGH WATER

the next time i say "oh yeah we will just replace the old brace" you all have permission to beat the crap outta me or shoot me......... the picture has whats left of the brace, the very top part was hard welded in there and no way other than complete destruction of that portion of the jeep to remove so i cut it off with brand new dremel extension device. the first photo shows the corner where this thing was welded in, but its all out and am confident that i can trim the new one to match

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