Project "Big Country" - Front Bumper Fab

[SC74]

Not much to show from this weekend - got the driver side wheel well extended and got the body flipped over so I can start cleaning the bottom side. There is a ton of bondo in this rig - the bottom of the rear corners had at least 1/4" plus of bondo and the fenders had at least 1/8" where we cut them out. The rear corners have seen some abuse - the seam between the rear corner and rear fender was filled 3/8 to 1/2" with bondo. After getting that out we welded them together (gotta love the smell of bondo on fire!). I think I'll go for the "no body line" look in the rear.

I've got a full day or two of cleaning the underbody. I'm going to scrape off what I can, then pressure wash, then wire wheel it.

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Worked on cleaning the underbody yesterday. After buying some aircraft stripper to use on the factory under-coating, it was too windy and cold to work outside but I did discover that the air chisel is the perfect tool for removing the old under-coating. Since it was cold, it was brittle and came off in good size pieces.

The air chisel did help find more "soft spots" though and I'll have some more rust to repair, but I'd rather find them now than later.

Once I get the new floor pans in and finish cleaning the under side I'll spray it with a bedliner to keep it protected.

[chuzie]

Were you able to flip it over without flexing or warping it?

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Were you able to flip it over without flexing or warping it?

Yep, the door openings are braced and also have a bar going from driver brace to pass. brace.

I got the rest of it cleaned up today and rockers cut out.... I'll get pics up later!

[cuz1]

Nice progress. You have more patience than I do. I would have the my rusty body on by now and trying to crank the dang thing. It will really pay off in the end. Although, I spent a year building my current bronco. It had a great body on it, very little rust, straight panels, and very little bondo. Three months after completion I banged it up in a ditch. Now it is all beat up but I guess it is serving it's purpose.

[SC74]

I know what you mean Carl - sometimes I get frustrated with how long it's taking going back together, but on the other hand it helps me space out my purchases so I can afford it. Cleaning doesn't cost me near as much as the parts I need when I'm done cleaning :!:

Got the under-body finished yesterday. Keith came over and cut some of the sharp edges out of the rear fender work and grinded them down smooth. After that we broke out the sawzall and went to town on the rocker panels Not as much bondo as other parts, but they had bondo in them.

Now I gotta flip it back over and get to working on the new floor pans and patch work. Here are some pics from yesterday.

[chuzie]

I wish I was there. I need to learn how to do all that stuff the "right" way so I can fix my rig.

[broncomania]

that is a lot of work that you have already completed. are you gonna run an in cab cage or exo cage ? i know its a long ways off but i was just curious. thanks.

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that is a lot of work that you have already completed. are you gonna run an in cab cage or exo cage ? i know its a long ways off but i was just curious. thanks.

Don't really know yet - maybe a little of both?? I'd like to leave it so I have an option of running a soft top, but that may change when we start bending tube. I do plan on running some exo tubing though like the rear body line where it's cut for the fenders.

I did get some good ideas from yours this weekend though upergrin:

[SC74]

Since I ordered the fuel cell and it came in this past week we decided to do some measuring and see how it was going to fit. It's an RCI 16 gallon that measures 23" x 17" x 11". I was hoping that the 23" would be perfect to fit between the frame rails, but it's not square at all - the bottom is 3/4" longer than the top so it's gotta fit in from the bottom just like the stock tank does.

The measuring tape lead to marking some steel diamond plate up, then cutting, then welding - you know the snow ball effect. We made it so that this "saddle" will bolt to the bottom of the frame rail. The steel is plenty thick enough to offer good skid plate protection. Now I just gotta figure out what to do for a rear crossmember. We're going to have to cut out the new one that we moved back so that the fuel cell will fit. Then our goal was to make the cell mount be rigid enough to serve as a crossmember - then the cell has to fit in from the bottom so I'm back to sqaure one!

The "saddle" will be 4.5" below the bottom of the frame rail, plus the 4" frame rail height, leaves 2.5" above the frame rail. I'll be able to hide that with the body mount and an inch or two body lift. My goal is to make room for a backseat and small tool box so getting the fuel cell under the bed was whether or not a backseat would be feasible.

I've still got some grinding to do and smooth out the edges - maybe some rubber coating so it doesn't rub the plastic tank too much, but here are some pics.





PS - thanks for showing me how to do thumbnails from Photobucket Chuck!