Kudos, Rob,...

I knew you'd tackle this asap. I bet you'll get it smooth as glass in no time!

Best wishes,

Mark

 

Had a little free time this weekend so I worked on pounding out some dents & ended up making a rough cut to remove the damaged sheet metal. It was a real PITA to get it off. I had to use some extra care that I didn't bother with when I cut the donor quarter panel off. Drilled out the spot welds & got it off cleanly though.

 

Damn, sorry bout the tree... damn things need to fall over more hahaha

 

Been super busy with work but I just had to try & get something done on my rig, so last night I did a little more cutting on the rear quarter panel. I think the hardest part of this job for me is making decisions on how to cut & weld everything back together. I started by making a rough cut on my donor quarter panel to make it a more manageable size, then worked on how and where to graft it to the truck. I ended up cutting some sheet metal back off of the support rail for the top of the bed, though it would be best to stagger the cut on the rail itself & the sheet metal. Turned out to be a pain but I got it fitting pretty damn good. Hard to explain so I will let the pics do the talking.

Bed



donor quarter panel


test fittting top veiw


test fitting rail from underneath


Donor panel sitting in place. Still need to cut out the underside of both to have it sit right.


Just need to decide where to make the final cuts, thinking about this.


Garage is a mess. I have a totaly new respect for people who do body work.

 

that's not a mess bud. mine's a mess.

looking good.

 

Good work. You have more patience than a lot of us.

 

SWEET! Nice work and problem solving skills, homie! I'm impressed. Can't wait to see it done!

Way to go, Rob!

 

Hey guys, I got a little bored and edited the first post in this thread to more less summarize the build from day 1. I'll keep editing it as I make changes. Check it out.

 

Great job at summarizing! Really puts back into perspective, for me at least, just how much you've put into this thing.

Been wanting to ask you, ...Have the heims made a big difference in articulation/travel and taken some 'OUCHIE' off your BJ's?

Really love your truck, especially with those tires on there, man! Can't wait till you get her all sussed up and BACK OUT THERE! ...again, LOOKING GOOD! Any updates on the body work?

 

hey man.....good job on the 1st post. lots of info right there.

just imagine if we all lived near each other......none of us would ever have money.....but the wives would always know where we were....my garage, your garage, Chef's garage etc etc etc. but i guess we will have to stick to our "virtual" hanging out in each other's garages......hahahahaha

 

Anxious.......

Please, update, update! lol... Jk, I know, you're probably trying to find time... Been there, too! lol.

Can't wait to see her come back to 'TOIGHT LIKE A TOIGER!' STATUS!!!! lol

Mark

 

I've been trying to figure out the best way to getting the new sheet metal on the 4runner, decided to quit worrying about it and bite the bullet. It was a real pain trying to get it to fit perfect. Seems like everytime I tried to trim one place to fit better, it threw it off somewhere else and with some of the sheet metal I was welding to already being tweaked, it was hard to line everything up. Not really happy with how it turned out, I'm hoping that I can still pound on it alittle. I will definatly be buying the large can on Bondo. It has gaps in places and the body lines are going to need some work.....but O'well at least it is on there. Body work sucks.

From a distance it doesn't look too bad.


Up close you can really see how big the gap is towards the top of the bed. At least an 1/8"


This is going to require some pounding to get flush, I think it is because of the old damaged metal not being strait.


By the time I got this far I had the hang of it & it came out pretty good. Guess I should have started at the bottom.

 

Looks good Rob, nice work

 

those pics don't look too bad at all. i'll bet you could wire-wheel it smooth once welded

 

Thanks guys, we will just have to wait & see what it looks like once I get it all welded & start adding body filler. It doesn't have to be perfect, I just find it hard to settle for less than perfect.

 

I hear ya! lol.... That thing was pretty straight and clean before the 'inciDENT', so don't feel bad that you want it as true as possible ! You'll get it, Rob, ..you're a resourceful dude! It's looking REALLY good, and HELLA BETTA than it was, ....I'm impressed!

Mark

 

Thanks Mark!

 

My pleasure, homie....

BTW, did you use a level or something?(speaking of the part where the shell goes) Just curious how you decided "Ok, that's plum.... 'bzzzzzz' with the welder.... etc." hahaha.

 

Ouch, I don't think i'd seen the damage to your truck until just now...The repair is looking good, keep it up!

 

looking good bud!!!!