If you fix the door crack. Next thing we know you are going to stop the cracks in the hood too!
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If you fix the door crack. Next thing we know you are going to stop the cracks in the hood too!
Where does the hood crack at Tim? I have never had that happen. The door cracks have happened on many civi rigs and the M715. A serious weak spot in design. I am curious on the hood cracks.
Smack dab in the middle front. With the side M715 hood hold downs and no under hood cross brace/latch like the civilian trucks. The middle of the hood just flexes and cracks. I have welded mine a few times but it just cracks a little over all over again.
Interesting.. I have never seen that. I would think a second layer of sheet metal, possibly 16 GA perfectly shaped to sandwich under the hood or even behind the front curl, glued in with body panel adhesive, would hopefully do the trick. I would think about 10 inches wide staying away from the area where the center drops to the main level of the sides. After a repair weld and sand back first. I wish I could help with that. It is always more fun working on someone else's stuff.
So I can't help but mention this. My uncle on my dads side died from covid on March 22nd. My two aunts on my moms side now have covid and one is very sick. With no predictable way of determining who it will kill, all of you use care and protect yourselves and your families as best as possible. Apparently it is not done destroying peoples lives. 1918 all over again.
So how do you stop the cracks in the jeep doors that plague (fitting word) all full size jeeps? This is what I do to help stop that. First carefully weld up any cracks. Get the metal straight. Get 4 each 36 inch 1/8 TIG welding filler rods. Trim 4.5 inches off two of them. You will need some 3M body panel adhesive and or epoxy such as I am using here. You will need to make a small bridge out of 18 GA to connect the outer door skin and inner door skin. This goes under the wing window mount to sandwich the OEM metal and add strength. I used 16 GA and that was a bit thick. But hey it is an offroad rig so heavy duty is king. You must strip out the door and turn it upside down. The hard part is sanding the grooves clean. I had to place rags over the openings to not cut my arm up. The inner door skins are stamped and very sharp. Clean the grooves and vacuum out the dust. Then fabricate the small bridges and test fit till they sandwich perfectly. My doors had different gaps and these need to be custom fit. The idea is to fold the ends to nearly touch the welding rod that will be glued in. I clamped both doors here and I used wax paper so the clamp won't become a permanent part of the door. If you get epoxy on the clamp you will not be able to remove it unless you cut it out. 3M makes very good stuff and I promise the clamp will not come out any other way. So use wax paper.
I chose this 3M 420 epoxy because I was out of panel adhesive for my smaller dispenser gun. My bigger one would not fit inside the door. This epoxy was what I used for water jetted door panel metal stamps to glue the pattern to base metal. It tolerates repeat heat cycles from an oven I heat the stamps with. It has a tenacious grip and the only lesser drawback is body panel adhesive has corrosion inhibitors and this epoxy does not. I am painting all of the insides so I don't care about that. This door will last longer than I will.
Some pictures... These doors are civi conversions. It took way more work to make m715 doors that I figured. Mainly the mount found inside the inner upper skin hole. Those stand off mounts had to be made to secure the wing window. Anyway turn the door upside down and start sanding the inside and outside lips to get them clean.
First repair the cracks.
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Then flip the door upside down.
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The 3M epoxy is well suited. Vibration and impact resistant and tough as nails.
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The welding rod the the lip behind it where it will live from now on. You can see the shorter filler rod goes under the inside lip.
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Fabricate and fit the two bridges.
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Glued and bridges clamped. Go easy on the epoxy so it does not over flow out the window wipe slots. Now wait for it to cure all the way up. All fixed and ready for the door slammers.
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Amazing skill Al
No real skill there George, just step by step with the long haul in mind. I put a whole can of eastwoods internal frame paint in each door. I had them left over from some other work so I used them. I have been sanding on the passenger door and removing seal glue someone put on with a 2 inch brush. I wish I was kidding. I have to work on the home cleaning for staging pictures. After thursday I can hopefully get some primer on these doors after a small amount of bondo work. I am so close.
Very great attention to detail Al
My doors are shouting at me every time I walk by. Paint me! I have been getting the home ready for pictures to sell it. It has not been this clean for a long time..LOL I hope to be repairing dents and priming by Thursday this next week. The wing window new gaskets I am still waiting on. The filler strip showed up today and I believe it is too soft being more dense foam like verses firm rubber. I will have a look at McMaster Carr and get something else. The way the cookie crumbles sometimes.
Al...you rock!!! Thats a great idea I would never have had.
Dont count yourself short...I know you have true humility but believe us...YOU have skills my friend!
Got some work done on the doors. It is amazing how the mirrors bend the door skin. I have welded up old mirror holes and worked the metal with some bondo. Maybe I can get some primer on after my online church service. Don't laugh but I am putting door locks on. Kind of a restomod thing. Defeatable in seconds I just plain wanted them.
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My latest experimenting with rust products. SEM and 3M products work. My rust is only surface and no real pitting. Glad for that.
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Almost ready for primer. I need a lot more sanding to smooth it over.
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Can't wait till their painted and loaded.
Not to complicate your build...
I have noticed that mirror flex of the door as well...Im sure many have...
Is there a way to make a reinforcement on the inside of the door to reduce the flex or even eliminate it without interfering with the other items that need to remain functional? Gotta be a way?
If I had the luxury of more time for assumed perfection, I would do this. I would use a contour gauge to profile the outside skin. That would give me the exact shape of a second skin to glue in on the underside. I would fabricate a patch say 8 inches long or less by how ever wide to install. I would glue it in with body panel adhesive. I would take the appropriate steps to keep body panel adhesive off the surrounding areas inside the door with masking and maybe wax paper or plastic. Then I would clean the patch area where the second skin would go. That would be the most enjoyable part of this.... NOT. I would then find a way to clamp the patch in with semi fast cure body panel adhesive and get it installed. Probably easy clamping with the wing window out. Then wait for a cure and drill through to establish the mirror mount holes. Coat the patch with paint and after drying install the mirror and hope for the best. The door skin is too flexible even being strengthened with contour. Body panel adhesive is just as strong as a weld. Maybe stronger. It has corrosion inhibitors and is a great solution for when welding is not easy to accomplish. I have had to cut clamps apart from getting the smallest dab of adhesive on the clamp pads. It is by far stronger than you would ever imagine. That is my .000002 cent caffeinated answer.
I got primer on my doors yesterday. It was 30 degrees in the morning and 77 that afternoon. I am waiting for it to dry and do some spot putty touch up. I thought it would look like crud. But the primer shows all the sanding paid off. So close, so close...
Maybe some 16GA or 14GA metal, in a strip or a one piece rectangle drilled to the M truck mirror hole spacing. Not glued but just to act like a big washer to spread the load. With some flange head bolts it might help some. As long as it did not distort the door skin.
It would appear my home has sold after not even a full day on the market. I am waiting for the second viewings offer right now. Prayers get answered. I am about to get on the ride of my life. Today I will try to get final paint on my doors. I finally get to leave the best place I have ever lived in.
Congrats on the sale, although it sorta sounds bittersweet?
You've waited a long time to get the house sold, even as much as you want to stay. I hope this new journey is good for you! Call if you need anything- gonz
Thanks guys. Yes very bittersweet. This is the coolest place I have ever lived. But the memories of Liz passing here is just to much. I just remembered some stuff from when it happened a couple days ago. It really shook me. So this is good timing. I turned down the second offer. The first is getting their lending set up. I have another showing on Friday. So when signatures happen I am going to be a busy guy. I am hoping to get the doors sanded and maybe the back side and jams painted today. I am also waiting on some wing window gasket stuff. So close and I will have the truck closed up soon. Able to be trailered easily. I would rather drive it. Ha.. Interesting summer ahead.
I am very sorry for your loss. I hope this move helps give you some peace.Quote:
Originally Posted by Kaiserjeeps
Glad that you have a decent offer. I hope that all goes smooth for you Al.
Post up pictures of the wing window dressings ( if you have time, in the middle of the madness).
Thank you, sort of in standby mode. I am still waiting on the remaining gasket parts. And I need to paint the window frames black. I did get some spot putty on the door skins. And I got the inner doors and edges or jams painted tan today. So some progress today.
Glad it sold and quick...wish I could help you move...glad something seems to be working in your favor...
May the wind be at your back!!
Yep it is about to get real exciting for about 90 days. My parts accumulation is kind of stunning. Somehow it will happen. So I got the doors painted tan last Thursday. They will go on Wednesday. Then it is time to start packing the shop. I had hoped to be in the wiring by the time the home sold. But I am moving forward quickly.
There is a good possibility I won't be posting much after the windows get installed. OR I will be posting a lot. The buyers are trying to find home owners insurance. People are getting declined and you can't sell a home that you can't insure. And you have zero value. I will know more shortly and don't get me started. Seriously this sucks.
So I have a nasty cold or flu and this is why I have the time to post up. I got the doors primed, touched up, painted, and have been working on the windows and door guts as fast as I can get it done. I need to boot the truck out of the shop and get my toyota tundra in the shop for some suspension repairs before the move. I am under great urgency to get more done than one guy can get done.
Primed and a first with the shop doors open. It was warm and no mosquitos yet. Awesome.
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Fixing minor flaws with spot putty. I always miss stuff pre primer.
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I got tan paint on. I had a mishap with one door and got way to much paint on it. It wrinkled and looked cracked. Bummer because I had just enough paint for the tailgate left. I ordered another gallon and I needed it to paint the trailer anyway. But different batches always show up in slight differences. Much to my surprise the bad paint job completely fixed itself. I was stunned at how bad it looked. I was more stunned it completely vanished as it dried. Yahoo, I got the doors empty of all components installed on the cab with only one paint chip.
This is the correct gasket for a door mounted seal for wagoneers and J trucks. I used the yellow 3M weatherstriping glue and a soldering flux brush. I used a brush on each door. They gum up and you have to discard them. It holds tenacious and get it aligned before you stick it down. I don't have a picture of the gasket installed. Must have been in a hurry.
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Got them adjusted and installed everything except the glass and wing windows.
The modified mirror mount. It still flexes the door skin. I will glue in a backing plate later. It has a big star thumb wheel on it for tightening it by hand.
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Behold the laugh of the day. Or month... Door locks on a M715. Ha. I worked on two lock cylinders to get them on the same key. Then oddly a plastic cap from a 1 lb disposable propane cylinder makes the best lock cylinder gasket ever. Put two washers in the cap, shave it down, punch a hole of the right size and presto.
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More
So I wanted to take apart the wing windows and the main door glass frames. For paint and corrosion protection. All was fine till I tried to remove the counter sunk very small screws in the lower glass frame. If you are thinking about doing this forget it. Those screws are the hardest high strength screws I have ever seen. So hard that I sheared the tips off of THREE screwdrivers. Then it dulled 4 drill bits. Frustrated I grabbed some needle nose vise grips and clamped the living heck out of the threaded side and was able to twist the screws back and forth to get them out. The threads had next to no damage with a major clamping. It was insane. I left the other window alone and just masked it.
These little screws. Crazy as heck. Notice the broken screwdriver tip in the middle one. I could not get it out.
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All the window frames and door handles painted. Sorry I cannot find in photobucket how to rotate an image. It is blurry anyway.
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I will assemble everything when I feel better.
The tailgate. It was bent to heck and back. I hammered on it, Using a sledge and a BIG slide hammer. I was able to get one edge straight and it would whack the other edge out worse.
BFH and very loud stuff.
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I had had enough. Time for a relief cut with a sawzall and some forced straightening.
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It is way better but it had a little memory to it. It is fine for me.
Every shiny spot is a dent. There are lots of them. I will try shrinking them but this tailgate will have some dents in it. Stories behind every one.
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This is the very last body part to get reworked and painted. Once it is on I am done with this phase. This is exciting as it shows a complete truck. And no wiring anywhere.. LOL
That's all for now. I need to get better before I continue.
Cheers,
Hope you feel better soon...hard to see how you continue such good work sick...you are a type of man that doesnt exist much in the new generation!
Looking good. Pretty wild about the window screws. Time to restock on screw drivers…
I really enjoy following your build. Your attention to detail is unmatched. Thank you for posting updates and get well soon.
Thanks guys. I am so jazzed about this. Today was rough. On the couch and had to light off the woodstove.. I could not get warm. I just hate being sick. I have 10,001 things to do. I just got a text about an hour ago from my agent that the buyers of my place were able to find home owners insurance. After getting turned down over and over. I was so darn worried. I prayed probably 38 times today. Well he has plans for me, onward and upward. I need to find window glass run channel felts. Any advice anyone? I did find that the twillfast soft top material is actually an ideal fit. But not what it was intended for.
I will try to find glass run channel felt tonight. Pliobond is the only glue I would ever use on it. So close.
It's been a while, but I think I bought my felt from Jeepsterman. It was for the Commando. Also, I bought the two plastic slide-on channels for the leading edges of the windows from VPW.
Oh my I was about to lose it with the site being down. Hey I need my fix. I see my finished but not wired pictures are gone. The truck looks good and is about to be trailered across the state. I am about 1/2 done moving to storage units. This is nuts. Thank you Jon for fixing the site. I suffered. LOL
It's ALIIIIIIIVE-
Whew.
I need pictures of the truck now, KJ!
Are the pictures all back up now?
Hey Ed! If you had a part in fixing the site... Why thank you.
I will repost the pictures. I have all the electrical harness and all electrical tools in totes to go in the bed for when I take the truck to it's resting spot till I land at a new home. I have an offer at a place last night but the place needs work. I am supposed to be out of here by the 5th. But it is doubtful I will make that. There will be lots of things I plan to add to the truck. But this is all I can do for now. A front bumper and winch will hopefully level it up some.
Thank you to all the zone members who helped me. Glenn, eightyduece and Gonz specifically. You guys are great.
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Dual fuel tanks with an OEM filler cut and modified.
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Modified Buick 350, OEM T98 with the J truck bell and input, IH 32 spline NP205, Dodge Dana 70 with a Powr-Loc with a serial number of 715...LOL Front Chevy dana 60, 12k winch still in the box. Custom printed dash switches, 23 zero roof top tent in California king size. Tennis anyone?
Awesome looking machine. The top looks sharp with the color of the truck.
Thank you. That was the first top out of several I made. I have an alteration to do to the bottoms of each side sail panel. And the upper back corners are such a tight radius, I am having a hard time getting the wrinkles out. But hey, I am an amatuer all day long. My sewing machine is now in storage. So any more fun will have to wait till I find a home and shop. I thank you Bill for helping me get to where it is all at.
I am 16 loads to storage now. I have a friend from 7th grade here helping me move. Yesterday we primed the brake system on my M715. I wanted to be able to stop it from getting away from me like after pulling it off a trailer. I took the master off and put some bleeder tubes on it and bench bled it by pushing it against a wall. My entire shop is in storage including my bench with the vise I would have used. I finished the job by using a pump up sprayer pressure bleeder I made years ago for my old deuce I sold. It went quick and unfortunately I broke off a stuck bleeder on the passenger rear Dodge dana 70. So Now I need to replace it. I cracked the brake line to try to get most of the air out. Then rinsed it well. Just one more step to being mobile. I sure wish I could wire it and drive it. Hopefully soon. I really hate moving. But I am glad to leave here. A summer of total chaos...
Dang, didn't realize it was just over 4 years ago I loaded my red M715 cab up for Al. Time flies when you're having fun. Went up this evening and helped a little on a car hoist take down. I offered to give a lonely looking M715 parked outside a home but Al didn't seem too interested.
Well keep trying and maybe??
:)
Yeah...time sure flies...my youngest is 25 this year...doesnt even seem possible...
Time sure flies does it not? And nice try Glenn...LOL I will be sure to give you a call if I can't find parking for the M715 on the 5.25 acre new place.. Ha. I sure appreciate the help with downing the car lift Glenn. It was way harder than I thought it would be. It is still on my trailer. And many thanks for picking up the parts for the Medford gent... I could not bear putting them in the scrap metal pile.