Hello all,
Just a quick posting in case anyone else is interested as I did not find information before I started.
I am not a mechanic or a body man however I am mechanically inclined. I realize many of you will have a Cousin Vinny or something similar that does this for a living and could do a better job than me. That said "f"your Cousin Vinny and the horse he rode in on. [emoji16]
I am about to paint my 2001 TJ , I plan on going a sand color with black Rust-Oleum bed liner as a contrast in different areas such as the middle of the hood top of the doors Etc.
As such I needed to make some repairs to the body and fix a little rust here and there and my biggest concern was the rear passenger cab Corner.
It was dented in very badly by the previous owner as you can see in the pictures.
So first thing I did was find my way to get behind the damaged corner and start hitting it with a heavy Hammer which was difficult because there was not a lot of room to swing.
I managed to bang most of it out and I was fairly happy with the results I probably could have just left it at that.
I then primed over the bare metal and then Painted black over it as a protectant.
I was initially looking at getting a new cab corners however I was dismayed at the $100 price for a couple plastic Corners.
I wanted either aluminum or steel but I was surprised at how expensive cab corners were in steel or aluminum at nearly $200 for a pair.
I then came across these "Paramount" cab corner restyling pieces on amazon.com. The cab corners which actually extend all the way to front of the rear wheel wells were much less price than Smittybilt and not much more than just plastic cab corners.
I am fairly impressed when they came they are nearly 35 lb each very heavy steel.
In fact I would guess they would stop most handgun rounds from penetrating, not that you plan on getting shot at in your Jeep, but hey it can't hurt and I m sure it has happened.
Where as a normal body panel you hit it with your fist flexes easily and will Dent these don't budge at all when you hit them. I'm guessing nearly an eighth of an inch thick.
I then saw they offer new rocker panels as well as a restyling panel and to fix any minor damage.
I also purchase those off amazon.com, they are also very heavy duty.
I've heard others say that they weren't impressed with the powder coating on these pieces but it didn't bother me, I thought they look great but I went ahead and sprayed Rust-Oleum bed liner spray on both.
The cab corners were machined well and everything lined up fairly decently, they Supply stainless steel bolts that you use to tighten it against the body.
The nuts go on the inside of the Jeep behind the carpet on the sides as you can see. Everything seems to be very good quality. Use a 3/8 drill bit to drill holes after you line it up.
Remember to drill slow and use lots of cutting oil on your drill bit or it will go dull after the first two holes.
I use a cordless drill and it works fine, once I had those lined up, and they are very heavy and difficult at first to line up by yourself, I then went on to the rocker panels.
The directions say only loosen two out of the three body mount bolts under the doors, I however could not get the body to lift up enough with a Jack to fit the new rocker panel tabs between the body and the body mount rubber mounts. So I then loosen the front body mount as well. This allowed enough room to slide them in with the help of a block of wood and a heavy sledgehammer and it drove it tight. You then also drill holes with a 3/8 drill bit and use the included stainless steel bolts to tighten it. I also sprayed something back of these with bed liner spray for Extra Protection.
Also as an added level of protection prior to tightening the panels to the jeep I ran a heavy bead of silicone around each hole that I drilled to help keep moisture out of it and prevent a new possible spot for rust to form.
Both the new cab Corner restyling panels and the rocker panels fit together very well as you can see.
I am aware they offer a restyling front fender add-on which I am considering
for an even cooler tough look. I plan on leaving the bolts stainless steel look. These panels will remain black and the rest of the Jeep will be a desert sand color.
Couple of tips and things to keep in mind. once I took the body mounts bolts and loosen them I found that they were not long enough to get a good bite on the nuts up in the body after planning the new rocker panel in place. I plan on purchasing longer bolts that are perhaps a half inch longer.
The pictures as you can see I did not put the fender flares back on yet as I opted to keep those off until I'm done painting. I have a little bit more work to do including the second new front fender I haven't installed yet.
Also on the passenger rocker panel you can see I had some problems with rust which I cut out using a hand grinder.
I then primed and spray-painted the bare metal and then I also used some rubberized undercoating spray on the inside. I did not weld in a new piece of metal although that was my initial intention.
I realized the new rocker panels are extremely heavy duty and will cover the holes perfectly and no one will ever know they are there. I took good care to try to rust proof it from underneath the Jeep as well.
I am pleased with the modified look of the Jeep and how the new panels fixed some problem areas I had. I am impressed how heavy duty the panels are and much tougher and Dent resistant than the original body.
I like the look and I like the price that was cheaper than other more expensive Brands out there.
I did compare them as far as what type of Steel and how thick they were. I was happy to say I saved a lot of money over the more expensive ones and I'm very pleased with them.
I realize this isn't a real detailed write up. So feel free to post questions and I will answer the best I can. I am including some photos as they will tell the story better.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
Just a quick posting in case anyone else is interested as I did not find information before I started.
I am not a mechanic or a body man however I am mechanically inclined. I realize many of you will have a Cousin Vinny or something similar that does this for a living and could do a better job than me. That said "f"your Cousin Vinny and the horse he rode in on. [emoji16]
I am about to paint my 2001 TJ , I plan on going a sand color with black Rust-Oleum bed liner as a contrast in different areas such as the middle of the hood top of the doors Etc.
As such I needed to make some repairs to the body and fix a little rust here and there and my biggest concern was the rear passenger cab Corner.
It was dented in very badly by the previous owner as you can see in the pictures.
So first thing I did was find my way to get behind the damaged corner and start hitting it with a heavy Hammer which was difficult because there was not a lot of room to swing.
I managed to bang most of it out and I was fairly happy with the results I probably could have just left it at that.
I then primed over the bare metal and then Painted black over it as a protectant.
I was initially looking at getting a new cab corners however I was dismayed at the $100 price for a couple plastic Corners.
I wanted either aluminum or steel but I was surprised at how expensive cab corners were in steel or aluminum at nearly $200 for a pair.
I then came across these "Paramount" cab corner restyling pieces on amazon.com. The cab corners which actually extend all the way to front of the rear wheel wells were much less price than Smittybilt and not much more than just plastic cab corners.
I am fairly impressed when they came they are nearly 35 lb each very heavy steel.
In fact I would guess they would stop most handgun rounds from penetrating, not that you plan on getting shot at in your Jeep, but hey it can't hurt and I m sure it has happened.
Where as a normal body panel you hit it with your fist flexes easily and will Dent these don't budge at all when you hit them. I'm guessing nearly an eighth of an inch thick.
I then saw they offer new rocker panels as well as a restyling panel and to fix any minor damage.
I also purchase those off amazon.com, they are also very heavy duty.
I've heard others say that they weren't impressed with the powder coating on these pieces but it didn't bother me, I thought they look great but I went ahead and sprayed Rust-Oleum bed liner spray on both.
The cab corners were machined well and everything lined up fairly decently, they Supply stainless steel bolts that you use to tighten it against the body.
The nuts go on the inside of the Jeep behind the carpet on the sides as you can see. Everything seems to be very good quality. Use a 3/8 drill bit to drill holes after you line it up.
Remember to drill slow and use lots of cutting oil on your drill bit or it will go dull after the first two holes.
I use a cordless drill and it works fine, once I had those lined up, and they are very heavy and difficult at first to line up by yourself, I then went on to the rocker panels.
The directions say only loosen two out of the three body mount bolts under the doors, I however could not get the body to lift up enough with a Jack to fit the new rocker panel tabs between the body and the body mount rubber mounts. So I then loosen the front body mount as well. This allowed enough room to slide them in with the help of a block of wood and a heavy sledgehammer and it drove it tight. You then also drill holes with a 3/8 drill bit and use the included stainless steel bolts to tighten it. I also sprayed something back of these with bed liner spray for Extra Protection.
Also as an added level of protection prior to tightening the panels to the jeep I ran a heavy bead of silicone around each hole that I drilled to help keep moisture out of it and prevent a new possible spot for rust to form.
Both the new cab Corner restyling panels and the rocker panels fit together very well as you can see.
I am aware they offer a restyling front fender add-on which I am considering
for an even cooler tough look. I plan on leaving the bolts stainless steel look. These panels will remain black and the rest of the Jeep will be a desert sand color.
Couple of tips and things to keep in mind. once I took the body mounts bolts and loosen them I found that they were not long enough to get a good bite on the nuts up in the body after planning the new rocker panel in place. I plan on purchasing longer bolts that are perhaps a half inch longer.
The pictures as you can see I did not put the fender flares back on yet as I opted to keep those off until I'm done painting. I have a little bit more work to do including the second new front fender I haven't installed yet.
Also on the passenger rocker panel you can see I had some problems with rust which I cut out using a hand grinder.
I then primed and spray-painted the bare metal and then I also used some rubberized undercoating spray on the inside. I did not weld in a new piece of metal although that was my initial intention.
I realized the new rocker panels are extremely heavy duty and will cover the holes perfectly and no one will ever know they are there. I took good care to try to rust proof it from underneath the Jeep as well.
I am pleased with the modified look of the Jeep and how the new panels fixed some problem areas I had. I am impressed how heavy duty the panels are and much tougher and Dent resistant than the original body.
I like the look and I like the price that was cheaper than other more expensive Brands out there.
I did compare them as far as what type of Steel and how thick they were. I was happy to say I saved a lot of money over the more expensive ones and I'm very pleased with them.
I realize this isn't a real detailed write up. So feel free to post questions and I will answer the best I can. I am including some photos as they will tell the story better.
Sent from my XT1575 using Tapatalk
