Bo's Body Shop: Working It Upside Down.

I tried...I really, really tried to wait until I did ALL of the repairs to the underside of the tub before boring you all with my repairs which are basically the same as all of the other gibberish you have watched me do.  However, my progress has been quite slow due to not being able to find adequate time!

I have managed to do a little bit each day this week and I've been concentrating on the driver's side rear corner and wheel well.  I picked that area since it was the largest spot of nastiness.



Driver's side rear corner.  Nice and nasty...just how I like it!

This would be a two part process once the old stuff was removed.  The actual wheel well (the spot with the glaring rust through in the above picture) would need to be installed first and then the area on the rear panel corner would be fixed.  Before cutting EVERYTHING out, I made my lines of projected cuts and then made up my cardboard replacements.  Satisfied that my cardboard would be "close enough" to the real thing, I felt comfortable removing so much steel (albeit nasty steel) from the tub.



For whatever reason, the picture will not rotate.  However, this is the rear panel corner removed.  The circular part will be reproduced.  This is where the tail light will be fitted.



The wheel well was made out of a thinner gauge steel and was very easy to bend.  I sketched the dimensions on the steel, cut it out and then used the base of the hydraulic jack to make the bends.  It worked quite well.



The wheel well being made!



Almost done...but a few more bends to be made.

Once completed, I made up the replacement for the rear panel.  I wanted to get everything in and test fitted before actually welding it all in place.

Everything in!  Ugly, tbough.  I still need to clean it up a bit.



A view from the outside.  I am very pleased with the seam on the right hand side.  I had to pinch and clamp it from the backside and then do a delicate weld to keep it snug together.



Somewhat symetrical!  And its obvious what needs to be fixed on the other side.



Gratuitious kid shot.



Not quite sure what to say about this.

Hindsight and lessons learned:  I probably should have cut more bad metal out of the wheel well.  It would have made it a lot easier installing the new piece.  the reason I opted to remove less was that I didn't think I could get the trailer socket wire hole relocated accurately as well as a pin on the inside of the well that will be used for the trailer socket cover.  If there is a next time, I am going to opt for the slightly more difficult route if it will get me a better result.  All in all, though, I am satisfied!