Alright, as most of you on here know I own a 1998 Jeep Cherokee Classic 4x4, purchased a year ago, that has a rust hole in the trunk its about 4 inches by 4 inces, or so. My friend has a welder and most probably a dremel cutter as well (he's working on restoring a jeep cj-5, and has had to weld in body panels), he might be able to help me fix it, I have yet to ask him. Otherwise I went out today and looked at metal cutters, found a craftsman metal cutter that I am interested in purchasing, to use to remove the bad metal. My question is whats the best way to go about replacing the metal I have a few ideas of my own:

1. Cut out rusted metal, weld in new piece
2. Get a sheet of thick gauge aluminum and jb-dry weld that in

Those are just two of my idea's, also how do I remove a portion of that seam sealer stuff they have against the inner side of the tire well when you pull the carpet back?

The question's are:
1. How should I go about replacing the rusted metal?
2. How do I remove a portion of the seam sealer?

 

All ideas welcome, I just want to say, I have multiple times out of worry and fear, looked over the underside of the jeep there are no other rust holes anywhere (not even surface rust, except for the axles which that I can live with), this hole is here because of something the previous owner did, now I want to correct it. I have a new drivetrain in this jeep, and it runs great, so its deserves to last a long time. . And I intend to after fixing this problem remove the carpet entirely from the Jeep and bedline the interior. So bedliner reccomendations needed to, what do you guys find works best?THANKS A BUNCH!!!!!

 

Your first one is correct, Get a piece of good sheet metal same gauge as you are cutting out. Make a template around the rust spot and use a marker around template. Cut on inside of marker lines. Weld new piece in< this can be tricky because you have to spot weld or you will burn through. Grind weld back down shape it and fill the rest in with bondo.
Make sure you spot weld around the piece an let it cool every once and a while because you could warp the panel from to much heat.

 

[Quote] Your first one is correct, Get a piece of good sheet metal same gauge as you are cutting out. Make a template around the rust spot and use a marker around template. Cut on inside of marker lines. Weld new piece in< this can be tricky because you have to spot weld or you will burn through. Grind weld back down shape it and fill the rest in with bondo.
Make sure you spot weld around the piece an let it cool every once and a while because you could warp the panel from to much heat. [Quote]

Cool thanks man, it sounds easy, thanks for your help..

 

Oh yeah, forgot to ask what metal guage is the floor board of a cherokee? haha this is a kinda important question. lol.

 

I think its like 18ga. be sure to cut out as large an area as you can,
1. youll be sure to get all the rust (there is a good reason people call rust cancer)
2. larger area will resist warping a little better but still alternate your tacks also lay a wet rag on the patch panel to help pull the heat away from your welds.
3. if you start blowing holes in the metal you, use a piece of copper / or brass under the welds the weld wont stick to the brass but will keep the weld from falling through.