replacing floor of early cj5

You know I bought a couple dozen of those about 1980 from Boeing surplus for about $0.25 each and I can't count how many times I have used them since. There are always-well maybe not always-many different ways to get a specific job done, but if you want fast, accurate, and quality, it really does help to have/use the proper tools.

 

Duffer............how does that old saying go?....... "You can lead a Horse to water but............Oh well!

 

HI Everyone

Ive been down this road before......this is what I did....bought a length of 1"x2" thin wall steel tube...bought a sheet of 18 gauge sheet metal...had everything (by the metal shop) cut in half so it would fit in my pickup..carefully took measurments and made carboard templates of all that was left....got my handy dandy 4" dewalt angle grinder and starting cutting stuff out to match the rotted sections of both floor and hat channels too...

I did do one side at a time so I had the otherside to look at if I screwed it up (which I did many times)....

Biggest issue I had was keeping the tub from twisting as I cut the old rusty junk out and put in the new shiney sheet metal and the steel tube too...take your time...measure everything twice..you'll make mistakes but it is only metal...you can add extra to it...

I actually did my plow Jeep (CJ5) with the tub still on the chassis...my CJ2A I put the tub on its top to do the surgery...

Also...get ear plugs and safety glasses too...you will need them both...

My 2 cents thats all....

MikeC

 

It's common to add additional temporary bracing to the body so that it keeps its shape when the old floors are removed. You could use rebar or whatever other steel you have around and tack it to the body in strategic locations.

Also, there are several plans on the internet for home-brew brakes; for example http://www.ch601.org/tools/bendbrake/brakeplans.pdf - IMO it would be easy to build your floors that way and save buying fancy pre-cut panels and expensive shipping. IME a good sabersaw (jigsaw) with the finest blade you can buy works well for cutting sheet metal. Not as fast as a shear, but much more affordable and portable. I'd use aircraft shears for the small pieces.

I often make brackets and such from old computer cases and hand tools - basic metal shop stuff. It's a great skill to have.

 

I replaced the drivers and passenger floor, rear floor, front riser and both wheel wells. I bought all my panels from Classic, good quality product. If you do not do metal work I would buy them. You could make something wrong and not know it causing yourself problems.

Take plenty of measurements of where the existing panels are located, insets, distance between and what every. Take a permanent marker and write on the panel, at the location where you took the measurement the measurement. If you are measuring at a diagonal or angle, mark the two points you measured from. Take pictures too, they might be a good reference to fall back on.

If you are replacing several panels, cut a few out and replace them, them remove a little more and replace. I screwed a few panels together and when they looked and measured good I just welded a couple of spots and them moved on to the next panel. When everything was fitted together, then I welded everything up.

Classic stays busy, it took about 3 weeks to get all my panel from them.

As far as tools, I would go to Harbor Freight and buy one of those $15.00 41/2 inch angle grinders and get the extended warranty for 5 bucks more. I have a couple of grinders so I do not have change different grinding wheels when I work. I have been though a couple of grinders. Still cheaper than $80 or $90 good one. When buying tools for your project ask the question "will I use them when I am done." If you will not use them again, I would go cheap. I bought their cutting wheels too, a pack of 10 for $8.00, went though about 80 of them.


Here is my build thread, my panel replacement starts on page 2

http://www.earlycj5.net/forums/showthread.php?101055-Steve-s-70-CJ5-Restore