Summer of 1997

Well this summer, I made some major progress on the RR... Getting extremely tired of trying to massage out dents in the rear quarters, I broke down and did the best thing I ever did... bought new rear quarters, and outter wheel housings!

June- Slowly but surely started working on the RR. First thing I did was break out the front fenders and check them over ( I had these plastic media blasted over the winter, turned out great, right down the the bear metal!) then went to work and patched a few holes in them, they are pretty much finished, but not quite. Next ground off rivits used to help pull dent on the brand new (close enough) trunk lid I got for the Runner, nice lid, inside and out (also had it blasted). Next I went to the engine compartment and spent a week patching that fore mentioned hole in battery tray area, all metal. Spent most of the time working the metal to the right shape, but you cant tell from the front or the rear.

July- Went straight to the Paddock (which is only 2 hours from me) and picked up my two rear quarters and two outter wheel housings. Then proceded to cut the passenger side rear quarter out with a spot weld remover. This little tool is great, just plug it into the drill, and your off. It actually leaves all the metal there to weld to! Got the quarter off and the wheel housing, looks great. Then I completely sanded inside the quarter, and painted everything with epoxy primer, and then shot it with color, so it looks factory. Even used that great body seam sealer in all the cracks. Next I welded the wheel housing on, with a little pursuasion (hammer) and then the quarter, which went on perfectly!

August- Well with the Nats comming, and me selling parts, I had to get the truck done first, so little got done to the RR here, we did pull out the front glass, so we can get into the cracks and check for rust, and so I can paint the dash pad. I think sometime Im going to pull the vinyl top off.

August 20- Well the RR is now in storage, and I still have a long way to go, but its slowly getting somewhere... as long as I dont stop now! I need to put the other side quarter and wheel housing on, piece of cake now that I know what Im doing. Might put a trunk floor in it while Im back there... who knows! (it dont really need it, but there are some bad spots) I also need to put some rear passenger floors in it, but I might just redo the entire thing, better to do it now while I can, than to have to rip it apart later...

Till next summer :)

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© Copyright 1997 Clay Cooke