[mickaila]

As with most, I am tired of paying someone to do a patch panel on the quarter panels, complaining about my tailgate, and using fender flares to hide my rust on the front fenders. As such, I am replacing them.

I started with a full site search, which revealed many useful threads:
1. Body work in general: http://fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=84272
http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=123743&page=4
http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=90256&highlight=rear+quarters+sixlitre&page=2
2. Quarter panel replacement: http://www.supermotors.net/vehicles/registry/4970/19605
3. Flag mount mirrors: http://www.supermotors.net/vehicles/registry/2742/12641
4. Tailgate knowledge: http://www.supermotors.net/vehicles/registry/2742/12689
5. Door alignment: http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=87752
5.5 Hood, Door and Fender alignment: http://www.hotrodders.com/forum/aligning-hood-139169.html?highlight=hood+alignment
6. Paint questions: http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143778

Before shots:

This was after taking off the bushwhacker flares--I wonder if the rust here was exacerbated by the flares or if it was just natural course?

In the process of removing:

Some spot welds put up a better fight then others :}

My A-pillar turned out to not be connected by anything more then seam sealer--facilitating this step. I did however have to use the angle grinder to connect the dots

After Driver's quarter was removed:

If you look real close you can see the electrical connector that causes the dome light to fail

Obviously, I will be replacing this inner wheel tub--an advantage of having as much rust as i did, is that i didn't have to drill out any spot welds to the fender--just the ones for the inner tub

After grinding / sanding / sweating the rust off:

There is a spot or two of underbody coating left, but the majority of the metal is bare. It is just an odd angle that makes this appear not fully sanded

After painting with 3 coats of POR 15

I still have a few spots of body work to do in this shot---just covering up the fresh bare metal:

 

[mickaila]

B pillar work

The first place I tackled was the B pillar:

BEFORE:
Lots of buzz saw and grinder work here. Again, if you look closely, the green wire is the one that corrodes and causes the dome light to fail. Here I have already replaced the base of the floor board, where the driver's seat belt attaches, and the portion of metal just exterior to it---where the bottom half of the hole that the female end of the green wire comes through. Actually 99% of the shiny metal in this picture I fabricated. :cry

A bit of patch panel from JBG is seen here. Its one layer exterior to the above picture, making the total 3 layers of fab now. Oh, and I have started tieing the upper (original) B-pillar, good metal, into the new fab'd piece.

The pic below is higher up on the B-pillar. If you look closely, you can see where I was overly aggressive with the spotweld cutter. I have filled in the lower 7 or so spot weld holed, but have 2 left, in this picture. Before I finished shoring up the base of the B-pillar, I attacked these holes. As you can see at the base, I am jamming a flat bit of brass stock up behind the spot weld holes. This is how I am filling in the holes. Just leaving the top few to fill, and the remaining portions of the base of the B-pillar to fill.

Using this bent piece of Brass stock wifey found at Taylor's Hardware :rofl:, I was able to fill these last few spot weld holes, by jamming it in behind them, from above.

Finally, all finished up filling the holes, and smoothing them:

Last piece tieing it all together, and then off to the area below the tailgate and rear tail lights (I don't know the real name of this area) :whiteflag

A bit of rust proofing encapsulation and its DONE :beer

 

[mickaila]

Area below the rear taillights and the tailgate latches (sorry I don't know the name)

Here are a few pics of how the area started off. I have already removed the body portions that actually support the tailgate---where the latch, striker, and suspension line attach to.

I am not 100% certain of how these deeper layers are supposed to fit together, as they are .. um .. missing due to massive corrosion. Might be fun trying to figure it out. :doh0715:


Originally:

Here I am not really sure where the part on the far right is supposed to end. I think it attached to the underside of the QTR panel.

Here is another view looking foward, from back behind the bumper. Again, I am thoroughly confused on how the metal was originally constructed. I think there were 3 layers sandwiched together here. BTW, i burned through this bit of pneumatic hose about a day after taking this picture---live and learn :}

Repairs:

Here I have cut out every bit I thought was not satisfactory. I think there are 3 layers here. One layer I am in the process of replacing (the C clamp and the magnet) . The next, I think is the plane defined by the bit of metal shaped like a C on its side, and then the final layer (most exterior), I think is the layer that is continuous with the part that is painted black with POR15:

Here is another view, again, looking at it from behind the bumper. I think those 3 layers I mentioned above are the same here, and I am in the process of replacing the inner most--the bit of metal about 6" left of the ground/magnet. Its all box shaped and painted with RB:

I forgot to show the middle piece being replaced.. it was like the peanut butter and Jelly. I already showed the bottom piece of bread, and now for the top one. I chose to try to tie them all together a bit more by drilling 3 holes in the middle of the top piece of bread and plug welding it to the bottom piece:

This flap disc is INVALUABLE :chili: it saves so much time when grinding down excess weld.. and when you are as rookie as I am, there is lots of left over weld to clean up. :banghead

A bit of filling in drilled out spotweld holes, molding of the metal, and the tailgate support portion is back in place. BTW, prior to removal, marking how to realign this piece was invaluable.

That's about it for this section. Hopefully I will take more pictures on the Passenger's side.

 

[mickaila]

Wheel well

Where the inner wheel well was welded to the actual wheel well was VERY rusted. The holes and corrosion were almost unfathomable. For this, a lot of preshaping with cardboard to get just the right fit helped. Then an air body saw cut out a wide swath of bad metal---I can almost tell the difference between good and bad metal now by how well the buzz saw cuts through.

I don't have any pictures of the bad metal in place or of the extent of the corrosion. Here is a picture of the rusted bit cut out, and the cardboard molds I used to make replacements out of:

This view is of the wheel well, looking at it from standing in the bed:

And here is a very bad picture of the outside of the same piece as above:

As it turns out, I was able to source the correct driver's side inner wheel well, BUT I could not find one for the passenger's side for an 82 BKO. Here is a photo of the 87-96 passenger's side inner wheel well---guess I will have to try to make it fit:

EDIT: 1.7.9 AutoKrafters (mostly a Mustang supply site) was able to source the Passenger's side rear QTR inner fender. It took a while, and the inventory gave me the impression the truck inner and BKO inners are the same. I am cutting out the old "wrong" photos, and Now you will see the "correct" Pass side, rear QTR inner wheel well:

And a close up on the part number:

And now to coat it in 2 coats of RB and a cover of Hamerite black:
xx

And in pace:

That's about it for now.

 

[mickaila]

Front fender and grille

Grille:

My overarching vision is to have no chrome. Everything will be either painted or powder coated. Below is a picture with all of the grille removed. PB Blaster went a long way here looseing the screws:

The trim piece just above the bumper will be powder coated black.

Once I had the grille apart and the front fender off, I figured why not spend a bit of time and clean---or paint, if it became necessary. As you can see below, I have cleaned the outboard 1/4 of this area. Apparently this portion was originally painted a grey /blue /black. Its not really black. I think I will leave the inside bit its original color, but the portion visible behind the grille is painted flat black (as you can see on the driver's side in the picture above). This much cleaning only took about 10 minutes. It went incredibly easily with some PB Blaster to loosen up the muck. The metal was all good, it was just packed on surface dust/grime:

A bit further along, and now painted with a rattle can satin black, rust inhibiting paint.

Fender:
Here the new front fender has just been wire wheeled down to bare metal and painted with RB (silver) in the spots that were rusted on the old front fender. Look very closely at what is the lowest part of the fender when its mounted---most distal part of this photo.

And here it is coated with Hamerite black and ready for mounting. I didn't repaint it all, just the bottom few inches where I had wire wheeled and RB'd. I am under the impression that the e-coat the fender has on it is good enough, and given that I had no rust on the front fenders, I hope I am making the right choice here. PASS/Driver sides both ended up getting rattle can truck bed liner and undercoated too. I think my goal is to end up with the engine compartment sides being black and the outside painted IAW the red/black scheme:

Now to attempt aligning. Of note when removing and reattaching this front fender. MINE required a few different sizes of sockets. The 2 larger bolts on the very top (near hood spring attachment point) are 13mm, the smallest (mostly towards the front) bolts are 5/16" AND the one bolt, only accessible from via the crack of a 1/2 open door is a 10mm---ask me how long that took to figure out.:banghead

In place and aligned well enough for me :}

 

[mickaila]

Rear Quarter going back on

With the inner portion in hand, I decided to go ahead and weld the inner wheel well to the quarter panel PRIOR to installation on the BKO. This might have been easier using the glue 6L advocates. I can't say either way. But this worked for me. I test fit the quarter on/off a bunch of times with the inner wheel well "C-clamped" in place to make sure I would be able to get it on the BKO after it was welded to the quarter--no worries.

So, off to welding it in place. No worries there. Here is a picture of the inner welded in place, with LOTS of seam sealer. My goal here was to cake it on so think water could never get back down into the "V" shaped by the mating of the QTR and the inner. Seriously, its like 3" deep here. Then I put a whole can of truck bed liner over it.

To get the seam sealer down into the "V", I used a bit of left over saltwater aquarium tubing, cut to about 4". I stuck that on the end of the seam sealer, and was thus able to shoot the sealer down into the "V".

Here is one last view PRIOR to the QTR going back on. Its now been so overkilled with RB, truck bed liner, and undercoating. I hope to never do this again. OBTW, the lower 1/2 of the inside of the QTR has already been stripped, POR-15'd, undercoated, and truck bed lined too.

Here is the first round of spot welds I have ever done. Most of them turned out OK. Yes, in the BKG, those are taped up printups of 6L's and Steve83's write ups on fender replacement. I used them religiously.

And some more. They got easier as I dialed in the heat. You can see in the BKG, on the wheel well, my penetration from the inner wheel well welding up to the wheel well in the bed of the BKO. Last time you saw that patch panel, it was shiny metal, and now its POR-15 silver.

And final position. I still have to smooth out a few spots, paint with POR-15, and patch in about 3" of QTR I had to trim (at B pillar base).

 

[mickaila]

MIG welder

For my Lincoln Electric, this is the perfect setting for sheet metal work---with 35 CFM of Ar/CO2.

 

[mickaila]

Windshield

It was time to send all the chrome to the stripping/painting company, so I tried to take off the trim. The tool in this picture I bought at advance auto--it made the job pretty doable. THEN however, I remembered my windshield leaks pretty bad in the rainy season, so I thought i would try to remove it and get the seal replaced... unfortunately, I cracked the windshield. I sourced it here in vagina beach for $140.

I tried to scavenge the clips on the bottom, but ended up breaking two. Still trying to source. For more details, see the windshield citing in the very beginning of post #1.

Look closely at the pic below. That is >19y (that i have owned it) of muck build up.

Trying to remove the windshield proved difficult. Through trial and error, using 50# picture frame wire, I was able to get the seal cut. There are a few products out there, that make it look easier IMO. All that said, I still managed to destroy the W/S. Perhaps it was due to the pre-existing crack.

A little a$$ pain, a lot of sweat later, and the black goo is mostly gone. At first, I began trying to just wire wheel it out.. Big mistake! it just gummed up my wire wheels. So, turning up the temp in the garage to ~80F, about 1.5h and a putty knife got the vast majority of the goo off. In fact, there was so little left (turned temp back down to 50) i was able to wire wheel the last remnants off and see shiny metal :}

When all is said and done, I removed it, to fix the leak.. .. there was not significant rust metal under the goo. So either the sealant was failing, or the leak originates elsewhere. Time to start looking.

At the mating surface for the gasket goo (under where all the black goo was) there were a few spots that i felt were rotting. Here are some pics of fixing one:
before:

Old rot cut out and cleaned up:

New metal in place and primed:
Meh, got to max of 7 pics, but rest assured, the metal looks nice. i used 16 ga (yes a bit thick, but its what i had). It smoothed in well.

Of note, after a discussion with Audra, I think I will NOT be using POR15/RB on the WS mating surface. Apparently, the motion/ vibration of the WS makes the POR/RB not stick so well.. I shall instead treat it like all other body metal and hi-build primer it.

 

[mickaila]

Passenger's side Quarter panel removal

Now that the Driver's side is done, I moved a lot faster on the Passenger's side. What took me almost a week to do on the Driver's side, only took ~6h today.

Before:

After 6h of cutting spot welds. OF note, the first time I did this (other side), I went through like 8 spot weld cutters, and this time I used only ONE. its all technique---like drilling good pilot holes for the cutter so stay centered on.

After (of note a body shop in the past had not actually welded the inner wheel well to the fender---the lips were both still intact, but just held together with seam sealer:

These two spot welds, on the Passenger's side only, have to be drilled through and through---they hold on supports for the rear-swing-tire-holder:

Here is the carnage of years of mud on the rear pillar (near the tailgate):

and

Here is the Passenger's side B-Pillar. NO green wire back here, I don't think :}

And finally, through the many years I have owned this BKO, I have probably paid 5 times to have these wheel wells "patch" repaired. In this photo, you can see three layers of sheet metal (right), terrible bondo push through (middle), pop rivets ((middle - left) and very shady metal work (left). There truly is no substitute for doing it yourself---no one cares as much as you do:

 

[mickaila]

rear swing-tire-carrier

Here are some shots of the suports, etc built into my BKO for a stock rear-swing-tire -carrier:

On the Passenger's side rear quarter panel, near the tail light:

and at the bottom:

Here is an overview of how it lies, in place. Look very closely on the extreme right edge, and you can see the bracket, just behind the taillight sheet metal.

Here is a looking down into that potential space shown above. NOTE, the hole (spot weld cut out) just aft of the hinge support hole (square hole) That is the back side of the spot weld I said had to be cut through and through in the post just above this one. This is the top one of the two. AS you can see in the color change in the factory paint, this tire carrier has to be removed to remove the quarter. It is attached both to the quarter and to the body proper by this L shaped piece of sheet metal seen here:

As reference, for those installing a carrier, or retro fitting one, here is a view from the inside of the quarter, looking out, THIS IS THE TOP, ITs UP SIDE DOWN. It is of the carrier support internal bracket, as it attaches to the quarter panel:

Here is an overall view, again, ITS UP SIDE DOWN, as you can see the top portion of the panel (where the soft top sits) on the ground presently:

And here again, is the lower portion. AS you can see, the two spot welds that had to be cut through the quarter and the body proper. This one too, is UP SIDE DOWN:

PS sorry for the yelling, I am just trying to place emphasis :}

 

[mickaila]

Hard top Color Change

Here is my attempt to change the color. I used the thread mentioned in post #1 as guidance. Hence, I bought some 0.99 USD spray paint, black flat. I picked a hot Vagina Beach day and scrubbed the heck out of it with a red scotch brite pad and dish washing soap:

a sore index finger later--not quite sure how to change the color of the window trim molding yet ??hmm??:

 

[mickaila]

(this is mickaila's wife posting, I'm just really proud--and YES he has a girl's name---like being named Sue):
This entire string is one of the many reasons i love and adore my husband!
Not only is he a hottie but he knows his way around a badass bronco and loves to do his own work..therapeutic if you must.

EDIT: here is a little gift that entered our lives 7/11/8:

 

[mickaila]

Tailgate Tear down

Tailgate:
I knew my old tailgate was irreparable. Starting with a shell from JBG, I had it professionally blasted (remove the E-coat) and then powder coated a satin black. Then, I sprayed 2 cans of this truck bed liner in to the bottom 1/2. And then another can of sound deadener/undercoat to the top half (on the inside):

Here is the old Tailgate with the access panel removed and everything in place still:

Detaching the window .. broke two bolts on the lift brackets seen here:

Delving further into the darkness of the mysterious tailgate, revealed a bird's nest.. or a rat nest. Not sure. When I had to go overseas for 1.3 years, I left the BKO in long term storage. Rats had moved in and ruined the carpet and seats. This is also a better view of the broken lift brackets (glad I bought a MIG welder):

Here is the regulator assembly cleaned. Pay attention to Steve83's write up (cited in beginning--I used it like a tech manual) when removing the motor. Above, you can see the old one (worked) and the new one. I was skeptical of buying a new one--my door window motors only last a few years. I paid a bit more for this one then what i could find at Vato Zone:

Here is the Passenger's side and Driver's side (prior to alterations):

Now to put it back together :}

 

[mickaila]

B Pillar (Passenger's side)
I forgot to take many pics on the Driver's side, so I will try to take a few more on this side.

Here is the first one, torn down to rest, with all (believed) rust removed:

After fab'ing up some 16ga, here is one step closer. This is the deepest in layer:

A bit more sheet metal and some RB. This is the middle layer:

Apparently you can buy this piece (shiny metal) but it was good practice for me to fab it:

This piece you can buy too... I did. But I ended up preferring what i fab'd up. It would have been too awkward to cut up the patch piece I bought from JBG:

I use so much seam sealer, its crazy:

And the last access hole all patched up. All of the sheet metal had RB/POR15 on it -- front and back of all. Then through this last hole, I sprayed 1/2 can or so of Undercoating (like used I used on the T-gate):

Now for the "C" pillar.

 

[mickaila]

Tailgate Installation

Trying to fit up the tailgate "mock up" wasn't going so well.

Apparently, despite my best measurements, the supports for the tailgate were canted in. This may not be the best OSHA method for getting clearance, but it worked well for me:

EDIT: 3.23.09; after finishing the pass qtr, I wasn't as close as I had hoped for with the fitment. I ended up welding in place a rig to allow better mechanical advantage with the jack (see this thread for more pics and details: http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=143982

And then to further "tweak" fitment, I had to bring PASS top section "in". I tried a Jack between the body section and the wall. All it did was move the suspension and roll the whole body. SOooo bust out the 4:1 mechanical advantage. I also cut about a 3" line, bent the top portion in, and re welded it:

EDIT: 3.23.09; again, not as well as i had hoped for. After about 8h of messing with the rope system and failing, I ended up buying a hoist to pull in the fender about 1/2". The 1ton cable hoist owned it like it was its job and pulled it in the requisite 1/2" in minutes. Now after watching an episode of "muscle car" I think I should have been tapping the metal with a hammer to relieve the plastic deformation that occurred.

I can now close the tailgate with 2 fingers. Both positions of the latch works now.. thanks to Steve83's "how to align a tailgate" write up.

 

[mickaila]

Bed Repairs

The bed had a few rust spots, I discovered. While doing the Passenger's side QTR panel, it became obvious there was a rust problem that needed sorting out.

This is the AFT PASS side, near the meeting of the tailgate and the QTR panel--after having a cut or two of rust pulled out of the bed:

Here is a picture with the BED portion removed (as above) AND the support beow it, removed and sitting beside it. You can see the significant pitting, and the structural compromise that the "under bed" support was suffering:

This is the patch panel for the above picture. 16g is my friend :rofl:

Here is a lateral view of it. Additionally, you can see the reconstruction going on, as previously posted for the Driver's side--nothing very different on this side:

One more pic of the 99% finished product. This is no longer BED repair, BUT I liked the pic. OF note, the lowest, aft, lateral ~4'x4" piece stuck out too far, when test fitting the QTR. I am going to have to shave about 1" off of the lateral, lower edge:

 

[mickaila]

Passenger's side QTR re-install

I had a heck of a time removing this bit of old panel. Trouble is, my grinder wouldn't really fit in here. So, I twisted most of it off with vice grips and used a small wheel to grind a few bits out:

First test fitting is looking good:

stripped and ready for 2 coats of RB and truck bed lining over that:

Now as noted in #4, I did find a Pass side rear QTR inner. It is equally getting stripped, RB'd and undercoated. I already test fit the fender on, and vice gripped the inner into place. I was able to remove and re-install the fender-inner assembly without difficulty---reassuring me that I can weld the inner in place and seal it up BEFORE welding the whole QTR into place.:beer

Fit in perfect.
here is the top and underneath of the wheel well (didn't have to patch on this side)

Wire wheeled off the contaminants above and below, then coated with 3 layers of spray on bed liner... all sealed now, i HOPE :beer

 

[mickaila]

Door fitment

In post#1, I cited Steve83's door alignment thread. He indicates the alignment is possible with ~20 attempts at repositioning. It took me more like 60 :duh

I read his thread the day before, scathingly. The next day, at work, I again read his thread more closely. Another ~20 attempts that night AND...The next night I printed up all his pics/captions and studied them. Again, another ~20 times with good results. Like he says....start with the cowl side hinge and get them as high as possible.


I didn't have a helper / professional door holder. BUT, I do know how to do rope work.
EDIT: 4.9.9, while this system did work, it was easier doing the other door by using a cable hoist.

Here are photos of the upper and lower hinge bushings---I guess this is why my door sagged ~2" on opening:

Here they are, out, next to the new ones --- I bought 1 from JBG and 1 from ADV Auto (no difference at all):

This is the safety striker that some advocate using. I am not sure WHY, but I might try it:

An overall fitment picture--all panels are "screwed" in place or bolted.. not welded:

And a closer pic -- not really sure how to address the gap at the top of the QTR (just below the badging):

 

[mickaila]

Flag mount mirrors

Using Steve83's write up, verbatim, on flag mount mirrors, I did that same.

Here is a pic of the passenger's side, installed.
I plan on converting this to black, signal, power. fortunately, for this side, i have all of the requisite parts. i will try to snap a few pics of the conversion, but again, i will be using Steve83's info as a tech manual :beer

The only thing I did differently, was to cut the backing plate from the original mirrors, weld in a spacer, and reinstall that as a nut backing plate.

Filled in the holes:

and after a bit of welding, body filler, and a light coat of primer the lower holes are GONE :}

**Jumping ahead to 8.26.9:

Now to wire it up. Oddly enough, I have a power mirror harness and connectors in place already.

here are a few pics of the in place wiring:
http://www.fullsizebronco.com/forum/showthread.php?t=142214
and look closest to the rubber boot between the door and the A pillar. The first wiring connector just inside of where the door would be, is the power mirror one:

Just finished up wiring the controls last night (4.15.9) The OE female 3 pin plugs really saved the day. They cost ~$35USD IIRC, BUT the nice thing is; the male wiring harness plug is so close to the entrance to the door, it would have been very difficult to cut it out and splice in a new connector. OBTW, I trouble shot the passenger's side for about an hour. It turns out there are another set of connectors (for the passengers side) behind each kick panel--one on driver's side and one on passenger's side---both were disconnected from the factory.

Here is a pic of the plug and the part number:

 

[mickaila]

Cowl Swap

I read about an improved cowl on the newer BKOs, that is a 100% bolt on. Apparently, our older ones, with the slit style cowls, let more detritus into the cowl and become rust. SO, the newer ones with pinholes keep most of the pine needles, mud, dead PFCs out.

After removing a few screws (between the slits and in engine compartment); the cowl pops UP --of note, my WS trim is removed as well as my wipers:

Here is the muck down in the cowl.. not too bad really, but should get better now:

Removing the antennae wasn't bad. The antennae unscrews, then a flat head pops the chrome cover piece off the base plate. From underneath, just unplug the co-ax antennae wiring and the cowl is off.

Four screws and the ant base plate is off. The antennae base above and below:

Here is a view of it reinstalled (jumping ahead) I wanted to illustrate how the rubber base plate, the mount, and the (now powder coated black) cover are all asymmetrical:

And here is the reason--no more slits: