rails up resto in picture form

[Lindsaym151]

Hey all,
Thought I would take you on a trip as I restore this M151 A!.
We will start from purchase to completion!
We will be replacing just about every panel in this vehicle! Just to let you know my skill level is pretty much in the middle of the road welding wise, and this is the first time I will be replacing body panels.
SO if your interested in following this thread let me know.
I will find short cuts and hope fully find the mistakes out in front of you that follow!

 

[Lindsaym151]

I guess I should start by telling you a little bit about my self.
I own a painting company , We do all of World War 2 Armors painting of period vehicles. That ranges from trailers to Sherman tanks.
Just got into welding about 3 weeks ago, proficient in body work and metal sculpting(bending ,shaping) Not an expert by any means! Painting is my forte!

So about the vehicle I started out with, Was told it was a 68 ford M151 A1, When It showed up , turns out to be a 62-64 M151. Only paid a little over 3 k for it and has a great motor, trans and suspension.
Sadblasted it and found out all I had body wise wasa bunch off swiss cheese.
Dash area is good, 2 frame rails are good and that's about it!
So we will be using CMD Panels, some good old farm boy fabrication and a partial under body rebuild kit!
I will down load pics tomorrow .

 

[nattieleather]

Congrats on your new Mutt and welcome to the madness. You'll find that many 151s are miss identified. Say they are a 68 when they really are a 63 etc. Is yours a cut in half or a complete body? Cut in half could also be reason for miss identification because when folks welded them back together sometimes front from jeep A got welded to rear of jeep C etc. lol: Also where are the pics? Let's go.... )

 

[Lindsaym151]

Pics batch #1 ,vehicle when purchaced

 

[Lindsaym151]

pics , sand blasted tub and fenders removed

 

[Flyingvan911]

Nice!

 

[dmetalmiki]

That is going to be a courageous restoration project. Well done, we will be following your progress.

 

[Lindsaym151]

Fenders removed and more sand blast pics

 

[Lindsaym151]

More progress pics, install of new fenders and clean up of rear area, I added some metal to the rear end to make it even stronger!

 

[Lindsaym151]

Pics of rear end cleaned up, rear support installed and rear body panel installed with spare tire mount

 

[Lindsaym151]

more pics

 

[NDT]

Have to agree with the courageous comment. A suggestion, always completely disassemble a vehicle if you are doing a thorough sandblast. Also, you are doing an amazing job with the skimcoat, but that is supposed to happen after you are done with all welding. You're going to burn up your work.

 

[Lindsaym151]

Thanks NDT, That is my 16 yr old daughter practicing her filler skills! the 151 will be area sand blasted on completion of welding work. Then off to powder coat and then the body work will begin.

 

[Lindsaym151]

We are waiting on more panels from Guy Loomis @ CMD! talked to him yesterday and have been shipped!
Ordered universal side panels, front seat support panels and fender flares front and back.
should be here early next week!

 

[Lindsaym151]

Here are some pics of projects that I have completed in the last year, My daughters 62 M151 and a 416 for my 73 a2

 

[Lindsaym151]

Ok back to the subject at hand,
Got my panels from CMD , all look GREAT!
Cut out side panel on Friday. Cut out old metal from driver side to include foot wells and under gas tank compartment. also ground down old metal atop out rigger spare. used an old gas tank bottom to fabricate new floor in that area. Dry fitted every part.
Looks like every thing is lining up. Will use straight edge tomorrow to confirm.

total hrs today and Friday 6 hrs labor!

 

[tommys2patrick]

You have certainly taken on a challenging project considering the swiss cheese you started with. May I ask what sort of welder you are using? Are you using a seam sealer between panels? weld thru primer? are you working in all steel or combo of steel and aluminum? Some of us may want to tackle rough body panel replacement but starting with more of a first timer experience level. Thanks to your detailed pictures. your info on tools and procedure could be very helpful. Sorry for firing off multiple questions all at once.

Thanks for a good thread! keep up the good work.

 

[Lindsaym151]

Hey tommy , thanks for your questions!
That's why I started this thread!
I am using a millermatic 120,mived gas , setting on #2 heat and wire feed at 35-40
Using only steel(18&16 guage)
yes , we are seam sealing as we complete an area,Reason is it will hold up to rust (no water seepage )
I am ospho coating every channel (interior) as we cut and inspect. Then we litteraly poor oil base paint down the rail and fill to top and remove duct tape at bottom of rail (Over hole that we drilled) and let paint drain over night. We reuse over and over!
Yes we are using weld trough primer!
I think I got them all !
Again feel free to ask questions!
It only helps all that follow
Best regards
Lindsay CEO TRI COUNTY PAINTING

 

[Lindsaym151]

Ill be fine tuning the gas tank compartment this week.
I will post as much info as I have when doing this . This is the only way to repair this area! No one makes a panel !YET!
I am using a rusted tank so I will be welding repair panels to the inside portion and skim coating the bottom before new under coat is applied

 

[nattieleather]

Wow...that was a rough jeep. Keep up the good work and I for one am deeply impressed with what you've done so far. Excellent!