Rusty XJ, what to do?

[NOVAggie]

So I brought my "new" jeep home yesterday. Well for $500 what can you expect? Anyways, the driverside floor pan is rusted through asnd part of teh rear by teh passenger wheel well is rusted through. What is my best bet?

Buy some new plate and weld it in or buy a whole new tub??

 

[Mercenary]

Well, IMHO if that is the only spots on your XJ that are rusting out...then by all means find some replacement panels and weld them in there. You should be able to buy weld in replacement panels from your local autobody shop or even here online.

 

[langer1]

You must not have vehicle safety inspections in your state.


There is a U shaped channel running the length of the body that the engine, axles and the transmission is bolted to.

That will be the most important thing to repair.

You may have to do a little shopping around to find someone that will do it because of liability issues.

You may want to look for one with a bad motor and a good body.

 

[Matthew Currie]

We have safety inspections here in Vermont, but the patches do not have to be welded if they are not in a structural area, only well sealed. I have patched even huge gaping floor holes in XJ's with sheet metal, self-tapping screws and roofing tar. The patches last, and there is no problem if they're just in the floor pan. If your Jeep is not really very rusty, you might want do a more legit job and weld the patches, but if it is already pretty rusty, and you expect to use it fairly roughly, I wouldn't put too much energy into the cosmetics of rust repair, because in my experience a couple of years down the road your beautiful rust-free patches will be surrounded by moats of rust anyway.

You can buy repair parts, but not a new tub, since the XJ is a unit body.

 

[langer1]

We have safety inspections here in Vermont, but the patches do not have to be welded if they are not in a structural area, only well sealed. I have patched even huge gaping floor holes in XJ's with sheet metal, self-tapping screws and roofing tar. The patches last, and there is no problem if they're just in the floor pan. If your Jeep is not really very rusty, you might want do a more legit job and weld the patches, but if it is already pretty rusty, and you expect to use it fairly roughly, I wouldn't put too much energy into the cosmetics of rust repair, because in my experience a couple of years down the road your beautiful rust-free patches will be surrounded by moats of rust anyway.

You can buy repair parts, but not a new tub, since the XJ is a unit body.

I would aggree with that if ti were not for the uni-body construction of the Cherokee almost every area of uni-body is structural.

 

[NOVAggie]

I have no problem welding a patch in, i was just wondering if I need to go with sheet metal or do they actually have pans preformed?

If not I may just diamond plate the whole thing

 

[rock hard]

I tried to order pans... was told there were no such things from my 'stealership' since it was a uni-body. I just got sheet metal and pop riveted it in place then undercoated it.. worked like a charm...

 

[Dobbs]

Get them from the dealer. They list the front and rear floor pans they are one pc from side to side you can cut out what part you need. The front is around 175 and rear is 250. I can get the part # if any ones needs them or the web site

 

[Burley]

I asked the same question for my MJ floor pans. Eagle's idea was to go to Lowe's and buy some 16 ga. sheet metal and weld it in. I did and it works like a charm! Tons better than the road sign the previous owner crammed in there! Make sure you get the 16 ga. to give you plenty of strength.

Burley

 

[NOVAggie]

i was thinking of going OEM, but since it is a small area I will prolly just patch it

but now the heat issue is gonna bug me, b/c i dont want to run carpet, so maybe just black vinyl but wont I need that firewall pad stuff??

 

[Mercenary]

Burley: man, that road sign was probably aluminium. Way better than 16 gauge steel.

Heh. Just joking man.

NOVAggie: I guess it all depends on how large a hole you are patching. You may even want to consider stripping the carpet out an laying down some of that spray in bed-liner material once you are done with your patch job.

 

[NOVAggie]

Burley: man, that road sign was probably aluminium. Way better than 16 gauge steel.

Heh. Just joking man.

NOVAggie: I guess it all depends on how large a hole you are patching. You may even want to consider stripping the carpet out an laying down some of that spray in bed-liner material once you are done with your patch job.

That was my initial thought to just redo the whole floor in diamond plate and then line it with bedliner, but i was told in a previous post that heat would be an issue. SO then I thought of teh vinyl floor route with the firewall padding underneath...jsut liek a work truck with no carpet.

 

[silent derf]

got loads of rust in my passenger side, sucks balls man. I was probably gonna patch em up and bedline the entire interior; but now that i hear heat is an issue i might save my carpet/puke catcher.

What is the deal with the heat when the interior is bedlined? is it really that bad, or should i only worry about it if I'm taking Martha Stewart out for dinner.

 

[old_man]

Sounds like buying a battery powered sawsall and hitting the pull-n-same might be a good plan. Personally, I tend to stabilize the rust and fiberglass the holes. Have been doing it for 30 years and never had one come loose.