Frame Cleanup - June 15, 2020
This is so trivial compared to the work that some of my friends are doing to their Jeeps (Tommy and Doug!) , but it has to be done...
I had a few minutes, so I cleaned out the frame holes that I wanted to fill, which is basically all of them.
I went to Lowes and bought some steel rod to fill some of the larger frame holes. I ground a bevel on the end of the rod and then cut it off with the Swag Milwaukee bandsaw. It worked pretty well.
I was planning to use a magnet, but the plugs were a light press fit, so I tapped them mostly flush with a hammer.
Luckily, I ran out of wire before I could do any more ugly tacks. I'll buy some 3/8" rod for the smaller holes and some more .024 wire tomorrow.
In case anyone is wondering, I didn't lose any of my plugs into the frame (huge surprise!). All of them stayed in place.
A couple of days later:
I finished one side of the driver's front frame last night.
Lots more to go. Metal plugs worked well for the 1/2" and
5/8" holes. 3/8" holes were done both ways - some with plugs
and some with weld - and either technique worked well. 1/4"
holes were just welded up - there's just no reason to do a
plug for a hole that small.
I removed some of the brackets too, which were both riveted and welded on. For the rivets, I used a technique that I think I saw on one of the Power Nation shows. I used an angle grinder to cut an "x" in the head of the rivet. Then a pneumatic hammer with a chisel blade to cut off the head. Then the pneumatic hammer with a straight shaft to push them out. This worked well, but the leftover rivet bits are rattling around inside my frame. Hopefully I can fish them out with a magnet through one of the larger holes.
Before:
I removed some of the brackets too, which were both riveted and welded on. For the rivets, I used a technique that I think I saw on one of the Power Nation shows. I used an angle grinder to cut an "x" in the head of the rivet. Then a pneumatic hammer with a chisel blade to cut off the head. Then the pneumatic hammer with a straight shaft to push them out. This worked well, but the leftover rivet bits are rattling around inside my frame. Hopefully I can fish them out with a magnet through one of the larger holes.
Before:
A few days later:
I continued to work on the front frame today...cutting off
brackets, filling holes, and grinding everything clean and
smooth. The Driver's side is all done. And I've finished
half of the passenger side.
Inner driver's side: (I still need to cut off that leaf spring bracket)
Inner driver's side: (I still need to cut off that leaf spring bracket)
Passenger Side before:
Passenger Side After. I still need to do the other side of the passenger frame.
Here are some pictures of the riveted bracket removal - this process works very well and is pretty quick. I had already cut off the outer steel portions of the mount with an angle grinder for better access to the rivets.
Cut an X in the rivet heads with an angle grinder cutoff wheel:
Knock off the head with a chisel in the pneumatic hammer:
Knock out the rivet with a straight shank in the pneumatic hammer:
Cut away the weld and knock the bracket off of the frame. These two holes were also welded up, of course.
