Rusty frame - anyone does body work and can help?

[VZ.TJ]

I just purchased a 2000 Sahara and the frame has some surface rust on it as any 10 yr old Jeep from Albany would (no biggie - a day of sanding and painting), HOWEVER one part of the frames got more rust than the rest - yes you guessed it, where the skid plate attaches to the frame.

Its so rusty that the 2 front bolts that hold the skid plate actually broke off!!! The first one on each side. :jawdrop:

They didnt rip out of the frame, but the bolts themselves broke off...the rust is not that bad that they ripped a piece of the frame off...i wouldnt have bought that (i think that it sounds 10 times worse than it really is)

I was wondering if anyone here is good with body work and such, who'd be willing to lend me a hand to drop the skid plate, clean up and paint the frame and then reattach the skid back up...

The Jeeps waiting for plates until i get this matter resolved, i dont want to drive it until its all settled to prevent any more pressure on the skid plate from the tranny. Other than that, the Sahara is SOLID in every aspect!

[BigBass]

How thick is the metal thats left on the chassis? Most of the time it looks worse then it really is. It could have cracked your skid plate if there was enough rust. I think its for every inch of scale rust you loss like 1/64th of an inch of actual material. If it just looks bad wire wheel it up and paint, undercoat or put some por15 on there.

[gamble3527]

post some pics so we can get a better idea

[565matt]

If it is in that bad of condition.. Quadratec sells replacement pieces for frames. You can get certain sections and then weld them in. Just remember to fishplate them for strength. I think the sections are only around $120 or so

[VZ.TJ]

I'll do my best to take some pics, but its sort of hard to see...

About the fish scales ^^^....there are PLENTY of them INSIDE the frame =/

And gamble3527 i really hope that what you said is true about the 1" of scales is = 1/64" of frame as i do have plentyyy of them laying in the frame...

Also, about the POR15...i have heard that it really is damn good BUT if and only if applied properly onto a totally rust free surface. There is NO way for me to get the inside of the frame cleaned up as to get the desired POR15 effect. I think that i am just going to vaccuum and pressure wash w/e i can out of it and fill it with some used oil. And then i'll keep adding more oil everytime i do an oil change (if it leaks out.

Oil in the frame should stop or at least considerably slow down the rusting inside the frame, correct?

[Phreak480]

yes it should. you should hit up jeepforum though and search for waxoyl. there just was a good thread about it and about "brewing" your own. it will work better than just regular oil. hmmm i need to make some too actually and do some rust work on my truck

[Tat2dfreak]

Look into Rust Bullet, must lest prep work than POR15 and it works great. Its silver in color but can be top coated black.

[WAD357]

Ive done some CJ-7 frame repairs make sure that the frame is not rotting inside out! this is how it usualy happends and your frame could be weaker then you think!

[gamble3527]

And gamble3527 i really hope that what you said is true about the 1" of scales is = 1/64" of frame as i do have plentyyy of them laying in the frame...

haha i didnt say that lol

[BigBass]

Or you could just cut it out and weld in some regular plate for a replacement.