Kittamaru Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 So, yeah... my beloved pathy has been off the road for the last 4 months or so... my bloody shop won't pass it on inspection because of a silver dollar sized hole in the rear that could "let exhaust gasses in"... fskc... I'd just bondo it, but the hole is (in)conveniently right where the rear passenger seat mounts to the floor... and that area is rusted all to hell. Frame is solid though, as is most of the under body. As such, the Pathy is stuck sitting since late summer and will be there until spring/summer this year when I can work on it (assuming I have a steady job... damned seasonable positions aren't helping me much atm). The plan is to either do it myself, or get someone to do it for me, but weld in new pieces (possibly cut from a JY pathy?) to match the damaged material, and then prime/undercoat it from the bottom and remount the rear seat. Only reason I care about the rear seat at all is I want to have it for when I (eventually) have kids... While I'm at it, I'll probably do an engine once-over, fluids (tranny, oil, etc), and other more major stuff that I've not had a chance to get to. My question is... should I drop the fuel tank and clean it out? There's less than a quarter tank in there IIRC, and it's been sitting since summer... and idiot me forgot to put fuel stabilizer in there... so I figure it'll be bad by the time summer comes around again, right? ATM I'm driving a '99 Jeep Grand Cherokee Laredo... and let me tell you, we got a quarter inch of snow the other week and that thing SUCKED... absolutely terrible... open rear diff + straight 6 + stick shift + all-season tires doesn't even BEGIN to compare to my beloved Pathy's BFG A/T paired with a LSD and it's auto... ugh, I really don't feel confident in that Jeep at all... *sniffles* I want my baby back... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skulptr Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 i've seen someone on here, very recently, just cut out the rusted section, and welded in a flat sheet and bent it to match(ish) to make it work Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 i've seen someone on here, very recently, just cut out the rusted section, and welded in a flat sheet and bent it to match(ish) to make it work My only concern with that is the seat mounting - does it have to be terribly precise, and how strong (thick) a piece of metal should I use? I had a friend suggest using a thicker cookie-sheet... is that viable? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Gotta love PA safety inspection with some of it's retardness and strictness(compared to some states at least). No holes in the floor and exhaust has to exit past the passanger area Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted January 7, 2011 Author Share Posted January 7, 2011 (edited) Oh, my exhaust is just fine... that's the really stupid bit. Not one leak the whole way back... yet it still won't pass -_-; Bastards... lol... On the plus side, I managed to replace my sway bar anchors before it went out of inspection... I'm hoping that solves my "death wobble" issue, as my CV's and pretty much entire front end were solid other than that *scratches head* Edited January 7, 2011 by Kittamaru Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ahardb0dy Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 don't know about the gauge of "cookie sheets" but street signs, if you can get one legally are usually pretty thick Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Precise1 Posted January 7, 2011 Share Posted January 7, 2011 Sheet metal is extremely easy to aquire, both on the internet or through local metal suppliers or scrap yards. As for thickness, measure what is currently used there and consider that a minimum... B Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted January 8, 2011 Author Share Posted January 8, 2011 Heh, B, that's the funny bit - what's currently there is virtually not there anymore. 21 years and counting in eastern PA, with the salt and stuff they put down... I'm surprised my underbody rust isn't worse... I'll see if I can get a measurement from another location though Any recommendations for sheet metal suppliers? No good scrap yards (or even U-Pull its) near me sadly Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 local bodyshop supplier should have sheets of metal in different thickness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 Heh, B, that's the funny bit - what's currently there is virtually not there anymore. 21 years and counting in eastern PA, with the salt and stuff they put down... I'm surprised my underbody rust isn't worse... I'll see if I can get a measurement from another location though Any recommendations for sheet metal suppliers? No good scrap yards (or even U-Pull its) near me sadly It's probably worse than it looks. Sorry to say that but when I pulled all my carpet there were holes under the sound proofing that was glued to the floor. If you can get access to a welder its not that hard to patch up the floor. Here is what mine looked like after I was done. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lint Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 @ adamzan: could you tell us what that black stuff is? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted January 8, 2011 Share Posted January 8, 2011 (edited) Seam sealer. You can buy it at body work supply stores. Goes over the welds to seal everything. Do not use caulking or silicone it peels off. Edited January 8, 2011 by adamzan Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kittamaru Posted January 9, 2011 Author Share Posted January 9, 2011 I've taken a light hammer to most of the underbody - thankfully, a good bit of my undercoat is still there, so I think I've gotten off easy. HOWEVER... I want to do this RIGHT... and to do that, I assume I must remove the carpet and visually check everything from the top... how do I go about pulling out the carpet (and while I'm at it... how hard is it to get replacement carpet... since mine is... rather dirty/tattered...) I'd assume the seats have to come out, right? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nunya Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 yank all seats,center console, and lower trim pieces basicly done with a couple sockets and screwdrivers Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
adamzan Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 Yep and you won't always see the holes from the bottom for example the heat shields were covering a couple of mine. You can get replacement carpet from rockauto Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
k9sar Posted January 9, 2011 Share Posted January 9, 2011 My only concern with that is the seat mounting - does it have to be terribly precise, and how strong (thick) a piece of metal should I use? I had a friend suggest using a thicker cookie-sheet... is that viable? I repaired mine with a cookie sheet. Rusted through under my feet and the carpet caught fire one day hauling a boat. Cookie sheet, tube of caulk and a couple of silicone hot pads.... viola! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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