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VX1032
04-18-2010, 06:40 PM
Copied from another Forum:

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/SpqILwXNXkI/AAAAAAAABC4/Q6j1myXz1XQ/s640/292019491_o.jpg


So here she is as she sits now, except for the broken tranny pan bolts, and the piece of exhaust missing, she is ready to start the body work, or finish, since the top has already been chopped. I will keep everything in this thread so you can all stare in wonder at my trials of learning to weld.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/SwnXrAzdmHI/AAAAAAAACNM/6Oq66I8ONdU/s640/_B140006.jpg

Have to lose about two inches in the rear window area for my tastes, but that's my baby!

Been spending a little time working on the truck. I needed to buy a welder and all the other toys since I have never welded anything prior to this project. Yeah, I picked sheetmetal to learn to weld on. I like living on the edge.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/Sz-yZbKmvdI/AAAAAAAACRM/70Dptt4ZUqI/s800/_1020005.jpg

Here is the roof welded together, lapped with the rear going under the front. Gonna need some bondo to level the gaps and make the transition smoother, but overall, it is serviceable I think.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/Sz-ybN3SacI/AAAAAAAACRU/6wKwMPNP0ac/s800/_1020007.jpg

Here is the drip rail, lined up, needs a little push up at the joint, but not too bad. Nice how the body barely changes from the front to the back on the early troopers.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/Sz-yVoycjGI/AAAAAAAACQ8/ySfLwBRnSAI/s800/_1020001.jpg
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/Sz-yYlwrEZI/AAAAAAAACRE/peY1syE5m1k/s720/_1020003.jpg

Drivers side is all I have worked on so far, tying the rails together with a piece of 1/8" steel and then the door to the rear tub. Tomorrow I tie more of the 'C' pillar to the rail.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/Sz-yY9Nb64I/AAAAAAAACRI/6pJxsFV-E1E/s720/_1020004.jpg

The door is mostly welded shut now. I took a small piece of steel stock into the gap and welded it over. Bondo should take care of the dimples as the door was not flush with the rear quarter anyways.

I need to tidy up the drivers side then move to the passengers side. I also need to make a rail for the entire tub area to cap the bedrails and pinch weld, that way the 1/8" steel will never be seen.

A friend suggested I leave it open, Bronco style, but I an still going to put the wall up and make a true pickup.

Pictures below of the progress this weekend (today). Seems like I am out of town every weekend, so thank god for days off. I think I got a little high from the fumes from the work this morning.

Don't pay attention to the dates on the pictures.

Left Side C pillar, old D pillar, welded in.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S1S9Ey5ZR7I/AAAAAAAACWc/ekWAyEBstoY/s800/000_0737%5B1%5D.jpg

The next two pics are the sheetmetal piece I had to cut out and weld in to seal off the rear door. Now there is no access to the rear door hinges and it will be a cleaner door jam for the driver's door. The pictures don't give the lack of room to the rear weld justice. It is tough getting the MIG torch back there. Welds on the front seam are looking better.
http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S1S9FN4iBzI/AAAAAAAACWg/_ya08RgNz0w/s800/000_0738%5B1%5D.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S1S9FdkSeoI/AAAAAAAACWk/A5mxFWqrBtA/s800/000_0739%5B1%5D.jpg

There rear portion of this rocker had a piece of silver tape, bondo, and blue spray paint that hid the hole in the rocker. I knew about it so I knew this patch was coming.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S1S9FXZ2soI/AAAAAAAACWo/3kB1_4ae-Nc/s800/000_0740%5B1%5D.jpg

What I didn't know, was that there was a hole here. While welding the bondo just kinda krinkled up and the wire brush exposed this. That will be next week. But on a nicer note, that line of spot welds is looking much better.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S1S9Fh_KWzI/AAAAAAAACWs/WpVrZA9yyK0/s800/000_0741%5B1%5D.jpg

Now I just have that hole on the rocker to fix, fill the door handle in, and then grind grind grind. Once that is done, I can flip the truck around and start work on the passengers side.

I remember some one saying use an 86 2dr to start because it would be a lot easier. I wanted the AT tranny, and axles from an 88 instead. I am beginning to think it might have been easier swapping the axles and tranny. Oh well. My first roll of welding wire is just about up, second bottle is 2/3s gone as well.

Two more weekends, and a good deal of progress.

Drivers side has been completely welded and ground down.

Swapped the VX and Trooper in the garage for better light and started on the passagers side.

Passangers side as it is now, just needing some grinding, all welded up.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S2YGw5EKVVI/AAAAAAAACYg/2404dMBrKcQ/s640/000_0747%5B1%5D.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S2YGxiiaBMI/AAAAAAAACYk/9xrpUszNZ-Y/s640/000_0748%5B1%5D.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S2YGyqy2zkI/AAAAAAAACYo/b8CRJ4yUNuA/s640/000_0749%5B1%5D.jpg

The passangers side has the wires to the brake lights running down it. Normally this runs along the roof to the c pillar and then drops down on one side for the RR door adjar switch and then to the rear for the license plate light and brake lights, while also branching across above the c pillar to the drivers side for the LR door adjar switch.

I drilled holes in the door jam prior to welding and had to line with hose to prevent chafing. Also had to drill a hole in the 1/8 plate that goes across the top of the door prior to welding.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S2YGuI68k-I/AAAAAAAACYU/w_-bdcaWxfs/s640/000_0743%5B1%5D.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S2YGu0hVfvI/AAAAAAAACYY/dn8ZzG2zobk/s640/000_0744%5B1%5D.jpg

After it was al welded up I rant the harness back through, starting with a hole I had to drill in the new C pillar.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S2YGznbOjLI/AAAAAAAACYs/zF-xbkVH2zg/s640/000_0750%5B1%5D.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S2YG1WUzhFI/AAAAAAAACY0/4fJiv63E1mo/s640/000_0752%5B1%5D.jpg

All to get to this little connector.

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S2YG0RpIZNI/AAAAAAAACYw/l9pw0QG8RpY/s640/000_0751%5B1%5D.jpg

As she sits now. Path the hole I took the photo of the wires in C pillar and a rust hole in the bed and then grind it all down and the passangers side is done. Another 2-3 hours.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S2YGv2yVp5I/AAAAAAAACYc/nZZHAk5u-HU/s640/000_0746%5B1%5D.jpg

Need to learn how to make C channel out of sheet metal without a brake soon for the structure of the rear wall. I will hopefully be doing that next weekend.

VX1032
04-18-2010, 06:42 PM
I made a press out of 2 2x4's and a 2x3 with a base plate and one bolt running through the end. Simple, and not hugely effective. However, it will get the job done, it seems.

This is a 1 foot piece of 22 gauge sheet metal formed with this method.
http://lh5.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S2zHkKfcG9I/AAAAAAAACaY/-al-wXZYY60/s576/_2050007.jpg
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S2zHkzsQ4TI/AAAAAAAACac/qPPJkM3dYjc/s576/_2050008.jpg

I need to make about 17 feet of this to wrap around the bed rails, rear door, and the rear window sills. I think I will have to reinforce the 2x3 that is the press portion as it flexed a bit making this 1 foot piece and had to be clamped closed. Due to the snow I can't go out and get a piece of steel to reinforce it, so I will see what else I have laying around tomorrow. I fear I can't move up to the 2 and 3 foot pieces with the same method as this 1 foot piece.

I like the shape, nice and rounded. It should sit on pinch weld perfectly.

Due to the width of the pinch weld area being 1/4 inch wider then the area for the old rear door, I am going to have to weld the entire length together for a rail and then weld it to the truck to make sure it sits level.

Here is the piece rounded for the passenger's rear corner. You can see it is a little ugly.
http://lh6.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S4GTWl3q5eI/AAAAAAAACb4/C7TLpKuCGS0/s800/000_0756%5B1%5D.jpg

and welded into place

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S4GTWXrhTfI/AAAAAAAACbw/9jVKiCWzGgE/s576/000_0754%5B1%5D.jpg

I ended up squaring the driver's side more, so they don't match, but nothing on this project is perfect.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S4GTeCFBjQI/AAAAAAAACcI/FZlvWHXDjNA/s800/000_0759%5B1%5D.jpg

I cut out around the hinges so the doors all open and close.

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S4GTeEydJdI/AAAAAAAACcM/SDDs_Yt_K1E/s800/000_0760%5B1%5D.jpg

I need to work and make that a little prettier while filling in the edges when the doors are open. Unfortunately I ran out of co2/ar today, so that will have to wait another week. Once I can get all that clean, I can then start working on the wall.

2 months of work has gotten me to this point.

Finished off 3 of the 4 corners of the rear doors. I need to finish the last one tomorrow, then work on modifying the floor for the rear wall. I need to square off some of the floor where it cuts back for the rear footwell area.

rounded the corners down and they came out pretty good. Compare it to the picture above and it looks 10 times better.

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S4m_cshWchI/AAAAAAAACdw/e3veRSKHJ3U/s800/000_0789%5B1%5D.jpg

http://lh4.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S4m_c2BbCTI/AAAAAAAACd0/nsrVipyyDMU/s576/000_0790%5B1%5D.jpg

http://lh5.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S4m_dOqHDAI/AAAAAAAACd8/ecE824Nttyw/s576/000_0794%5B1%5D.jpg

Okay, this is a lot harder than I had hoped. The pickup rear wall does not fit that well, but works. The pickup is 4" wider at the beltline than the 1st gen trooper. That causes issues with the fitment of the rear window. I lucked out to where the recess portion of the window cut out "JUST FIT" between the rear corners of the Trooper. I did have to cut the pinch welds off the sides of the trooper door frames, what the weather stripping once attached too. That was actually visible through the rear window, so out they came.

I still need to weld the top of the rear section up, but the pickup curves too much in there so I need to overlay a piece of sheetmetal from the top down an inch or so to weld it in.

The rear section of the pickup is slightly curved, like the rear window, so I will have to make a transition with the body filler and after I grind the welds down. It is amazing how square the trooper really is.

(yes Lowzone, I put a flat edge on the windshield and it is perfectly flat, no curvature)

I am not going to post all the pics here, but you can see below how it looks now with the window just set in. More pics in my picasa gallery below. Also shots of how much room there is from back of drivers seat at top to rear window, and how I squared the floor of the trooper up to accept the lower portion of the rear wall. Please do not pay attention to date stamps on the pics.
http://lh4.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S8IJHSGUBDI/AAAAAAAACfM/Mvku4VsZP9k/s800/000_0799%5B1%5D.jpg

http://lh3.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S8IJIn-WXtI/AAAAAAAACfc/mIOYCW3KNnM/s800/000_0802%5B1%5D.jpg

http://lh6.ggpht.com/_lcfzO13Rxt4/S8IJHygwOSI/AAAAAAAACfQ/bOTvHIVxVX8/s800/000_0800%5B1%5D.jpg

http://picasaweb.google.com/RyanVehiX/ProjectBruiser#

jlovbasz3
04-18-2010, 09:44 PM
thats cool!

cityslicker
04-19-2010, 02:35 PM
looks like your welds are getting better as you move farther along.. looks like a fun build. ..

Mykal
04-19-2010, 03:15 PM
Coming along. Way to jump in.

Heff733
04-19-2010, 07:51 PM
u shouldnt have to worry about ever running into another trooper like that in the woods ! troopers are cool... thats what my first offroad toy was.. actually mine was blue and silver to... haha i was 15 and bought it for $50 it needed a clutch...so i installed a clutch and cranked the t-bars and ran 31 m/t`s on it ran it all summer long in the woods, until the head gasket went so i pulled the tires and sold it to a guy for parts for $400 good luck on ur build!

VX1032
04-19-2010, 08:55 PM
Thanks for the support. The middle is the hardest part of any project. I am trying to get some ideas for bed storage around the wheel wells, gerry cans and waterproof storage, along with the long road of bodfiller ahead. Long range plans also include axle swaps from the current gen troopers to the 95-97 trooper axles which gain me an extra 5 total inches in width. That comes with detachable fender flares and steel bumpers and rock rails.

ALl in all, this will be a neat one of a kind truck, that like all offroad trucks, has more sentamental value than monatery.

But, yes, it will be a ne off truck, no one has doen anyhting like this, and frankly, manufacturers should be making small pickups like this.

OverkillZJ
04-19-2010, 08:58 PM
Neato