Rebondo or weld?

There was a slight bubling and a crack below the door, so I decided to sand it down and either weld a small replacement in or bondo it, depending on how bad it was, But when I first started sanding, I smelt the familar smell of bondo, but this bondo kept comming, Turns out I had about 1/4 an inch of pure bondo between paint and metal (what was left)

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Now my question is, should I cut the whole chunk out and weld in some of the 16 gauge steel I have or should I just rebondo it and move on. Now, with that in mind, I have no welding experence what so ever, but I have access to welding equipment, and I just wreaked my DD and was hoping to promote the CJ to my DD for a while, so I kinda need this thing on the road soon... What do you think?

 

Can't view the attachments. But just by the sounds of it I personally would weld fix it right the first time.

 

I think I fixed the pics

where I stoped sanding is about where the bondo ends....

 

I vote for both. Cut out and patch the rot, bang out the rest, bondo what you can't get perfect. Jeeps are a good place to learn new things.

 

:iagree: Besides, it won't take much longer to cut the old out and weld new in. You'l have to bondo it when done anyway...

 

there's a slight problem with banging most of it out, There's a support beam right behind where the rot is... (why I didn't see it from the inside)

 

What's the best way to protect the gas tank, its about 6 inches away... I'm assuming unbolting the seat and moving it to the back.

 

I'd shield it with a piece of sheet metal while you're welding.

 

What have I gotten myself into? And why does it start to rain when you begin something like this?

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Nice, clean cut! Get some sheet metal ( you could use 1/8"-3/16" plate as well) behind there and weld 'er up!

 

Let me add this...

Tack your new metal inplace every few inches, then fill in. It will stop the sheet metal from warping on you

 

I was reading on the other posts about using a heat sink of some sort, is that nessessary?

You can see my peace of 16 guage on the tank in the picture. I think I can use whats left of that as a guard.

 

No need for a heat sink. Just do what Dennis said and tack it every few inches around the circumference. Continue tacking to fill it in. You're not trying for a pretty weld here just a complete one. When done dress the welds up w/ your grinder (use a flap disc if you got one), bondo, sand and paint. Oh yeah, leave a little space, say 1/64th around the circumference of your patch for the weld to fill in.:v6:

 

This was posted before but maybe it will give you an idea .This is how I welded in my patch for the corner I replaced
We cut out the rust (lots of it)
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Welded in the indention part, the new panel did not come with the indention. We used a backing plate to add the indention to the new quarter panel.
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Then we welded in the new quarter and a new tail light panel to the tub.

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Then we skimmed the panel with a light bondo coat when we were done. So you will have to bondo and weld for most repairs. Hope it helps some.

Tigershark has some great pictures of his body repair. Well worth seeing, They helped me.

 

So, how'd it go?

 

I just finished my welding and alot of grinding,

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doesn't seem to look too bad for the first time I welded something. One step closer to repainting.

sorry about the light, its a little dark outside... (the only angle I didn't get a major glare)

 

nice

 

Way to go. Now just bondo, smooth, and paint.:v6:

 

Looking good.