Starting restoration on Michael's ’43 GPW.

[thidisbogus]

I would have to defer to the more experienced welders on here......

[ILikePlanesToo]

I also put a note on the Technical Knowledge Base about the floor of my tub. I got some good input. I've decided to fix what I have. I'll order new hat channels and the other bits that I need for the tub later today.

Michael

[ILikePlanesToo]

I finally finished the fenders!!!!

I think they turned out pretty well and I was able to get rid of all the rusty spots. I decided to have them abrasive blasted by the place that did my grill. I just can't get over how inexpensive that place is. Somehow I feel guilt having someone blast some of my parts. I'd like to think I did everything on the jeep myself, but the parts look so good professionally blasted, and I can't even chemically strip parts for what they charge. I hope they turn out nice!

As of this morning, I basically have all the removed parts finished (other than painting the fenders), so it's time to start removing bits again. I've been working on the tub a little and this afternoon I pulled it off the frame. It was fun and felt like a lot of progress. I have a little winch on the ceiling of my shop that we use for putting a camper tent on top of our Wrangler. It worked great for pulling the tub off.

Michael

[thidisbogus]

You did SUPER on those fenders! I wish I was as skilled at welding as you.

[ILikePlanesToo]

Thanks Rodney,
Welding is hard for me. I actually had a lot of welding experience in the mid 90s, but I'm really out of practice now. My main problem is just having the patience to take my time and try to do it right. The fenders did seem to turn out pretty well. Hopefully they look nice all painted up. I'm hoping I can pick them up on Friday and paint them over the weekend.

Michael

[ILikePlanesToo]

I got my fenders back from getting abrasive blasted today. I also have a set of original combat rims, so I had them blasted at the same time.

My blasting guy charged me $5 per wheel-half and $15 per fender. That price works for me. There is no warping or anything. He uses a relatively fine aluminum oxide blast media, so the parts seem to be doing fine. I'll try to get them painted tomorrow if the weather is nice.

Michael

[zepher11]

I got my fenders back from getting abrasive blasted today. I also have a set of original combat rims, so I had them blasted at the same time.

My blasting guy charged me $5 per wheel-half and $15 per fender. That price works for me. There is no warping or anything. He uses a relatively fine aluminum oxide blast media, so the parts seem to be doing fine. I'll try to get them painted tomorrow if the weather is nice.

Michael

Wow, do you travel back to 1950 to have your stuff sand blasted at those prices? That is awesome. I had a guy do my frame and it was $100, which I thought was pretty good. He charges $50 bucks an hour with a two hour minimum....he did it in 45 minutes. I hope to take my tub to him shortly and have it completely sandblasted. It will probably be another $100, but it would take me a long time to do it with my little sandblaster. I hadn't thought about it getting warped from sandblasting, however. Fortunately, my tub is so wrinkled I don't think he can do any damage.

Awesome job on the fenders as well! I have some similiar work to do on my fenders, so it was nice to watch your progress.

[hell-fire]

I cannot even see where you welded those fenders Michael, Stunning work, well done.

[thidisbogus]

Yes very well done Michael...

[ILikePlanesToo]

Thanks guys. I that welding is a lot of work and takes a good bit of patience, so I rally appreciate the feedback.

Michael

[ILikePlanesToo]

I had a good weekend painting parts. I painted the fenders, so they are totally finished now. It feels nice to have them done. They look pretty good, but I’m always surprised how many little imperfections and small dents show up when the parts are a uniform color. I really don’t mind all the little dents here and there. It’s like how my hood was. I’ve just decided that I’d rather have a little bit of the vehicles history visible instead of using a bunch of filler and over-restoring it. So far I haven’t used any body filler on the project at all. It’s all just metal and paint.

I also painted my original combat rims this weekend. After abrasive blasting, there was a good bit of pitting left behind from the rusty areas between the wheel halves. I think it is pretty typical of original combat rims. I think they will be fine. Other than some dents, they look quite nice from the outside. I still have the solid rims on the GPW now, so I really didn’t need to work on the combat rims right now, but I figured that if I painted them now, the paint would be nice and hard when I put the tires on them. I’ve pretty much decided on the Cocker Firestone NDT tires (I'll probably get them from Summit Racing). They seem like a good deal, and I think they look quite nice. I think I’ll pick up 5 of them next time my budget allows.

Right now I have parts spread around the house. I usually have everything confined to my shop and our spare room (that use to be my wife’s sewing room), but while a few parts finish drying, I have them on the guest bedroom bed. I’m quite thankful for how tolerant my wife is. She really is awesome about my projects.

Michael

[The Raven]

So, what color are you using?

[ILikePlanesToo]

I'm using Gillespie 33070. It always seems to look strange in photos. The actual color of the parts is not well represented at all in those photos.

Michael

[The Raven]

Odd....my 33070 is MUCH lighter than that. Maybe Ron sent me a bumn batch

[ILikePlanesToo]

I really think it's probably just that the color never comes out right in digital photos. My parts are a lot lighter than they seem in these photos. When they are outside in the sun, they look almost light brown.

Michael