D.I.Y. High Hood Tube Fender Build

[LongHorn]

Originally Posted by mhubacek Didn't get too much accomplished today. I had to work. I did however, get the top plate off, and cut and welded the side steel panel on the fender. I'm sure having fun with this, and starting to understand the welding process a little better. Thanks for the help in my other thread, "Tube Knotching."

They look sharp. Some louvers on the flat pannel to let out the hot air would be cool.

[Old Dog]

looken good.

[CoreyYoungCj577]

I really like those and the left one looks great, If I ever head up to washington, i wanna see your 5!

[mhubacek]

Longhorn-That's a great idea! I never thought about that! Coreyyoung-it's not much to look at yet, but I'm hoping it will be someday! A fellow Cj owner is always welcome at my place, so let me know if your ever in the area. Thanks for the compliments so far guys. I've been pulling my hair out on this project. My welds are not looking that great, and I've had to do lots of grinding. If you look closely you can see where the grinder did its work to deep, and it shows it through the paint. Is there a wheel out there for finishing work? Something that will smooth your work instead of gouging and taking off lots more metal? Or are my grinding skills just not up to par yet? Anyways I'm still having a blast, and learning alot about metal work. This is practically my first real welding project, and the metal bending is new to me too. Here's some pics of what I accomplished after work today. I got rained out mostly, but I did what I could in the garage.

I painted the left tube fender black, and got my rock slider painted to match as well.



I also cut the fender well out of my old fender, and started mocking up how I'm going to mount it.

[Jokenring]

Flap disks





Home depot, Lowes, local welding shop, they all have them from a heavier grit to finer grits.

[Petescj]

Ive seen some places have those for sale pre-made already. And welcome back from your hiatus. I like the way their turning out Mhubacek. No need to be so critical of your welds. Its gonna look sharp when their on and the hood is finished.

Originally Posted by LongHorn They look sharp. Some louvers on the flat pannel to let out the hot air would be cool.

[mhubacek]

I've seen the flap discs before, but forgot about them. I'm not sure if they would hold up to taking small amounts of metal off my welds though. Would they? I'm trying to take some of the welds down a bit, where my welds puddled up to high. Just working on the apprearance of my welds when I goof up. I guess it will look good anyways covered in mud. I'm pulling the CJ in the garage tonight, and I'm going to start bolting it up, since all the grinding and cutting on this one is done. I purchased a thin black door trim that is going to attach to the hood where it was cut. It should give the hood a nice clean look. The picture of the TJ shows the door trim I'm talking about. Petecj- some places are making them now, but haven't seen them made for pre 76ers. The experience welding has been the main reason for my purchase of D.I.Y. With all the grinding and cutting wheels, Flux cored wire, paint, and clamps, I probably spent more on the DIT then getting them pre-assembled!

[mhubacek]

Finished bolting the Left Tube Fender yesterday. There is a gap at the top tube near firewall, between the hood and top tube. It's because the hood curves inward and makes a gap. I'm going to weld sheet metal to the inside of the tube going up inside the hood to cover that gap like a lip to keep mud and debris from getting in the engine compartment. It should make that gap look much better.


Still have to remove hood hold downs, and replace them with hood pins. The hood will pull down about another 1/4" when secured. I'll post better pics when I get the CJ out of the garage.

[Petescj]

How about a good front view shot while the cameras handy.

Originally Posted by mhubacek Still have to remove hood hold downs, and replace them with hood pins. The hood will pull down about another 1/4" when secured. I'll post better pics when I get the CJ out of the garage.

[mhubacek]

I definately will, probably tonight when I get it pulled out of the garage. I could barely fit it in the garage to work on it. The front was butted up against some other toys, so I couldn't get a clear shot last night.