ats1971

I have a 94 xj sport....all stock 265k on the ticker! My floors are completely rotted as is the pinch seam on the passenger side and the roof has a 6" hole above the windshield. My question is, is it worth it to repair or should i just send it to the jy heaven. I have never welded before but i do have all the tools needed to do the job at school. She runs great but i think with the floors and roof along with a couple of other issues, it might not be worth it. What do you guys think?

Radi

What do the frame rails and leaf spring shackle mount points look like? If those areas are bad you'll have quite a project.
How about the rocker area under the doors and the trans tunnel? Anything left to weld floorpans to?

salad

If the inner rockers are in really bad shape (you mention rot around the pinch seam) you can cut out some bits and replace with either a 2x5 piece of tubing or 2x6

1ABrian

it does sound like a major undertaking. What is your overall goal with the particular Jeep? replacing all the floors, patching here and there for a daily driver so you can learn about fab work....prob not bad. If you want to build as an offroad rig, you may want to look into something in better condition so you can spend your money on a lift, tires and the cooler things IMO.

ats1971

Its been my dd only in winters for a couple years and as sad as this is to believe, i didnt notice how bad it was till this week. I want to replace the floors and think i cant just patch it here and there. I think its gonna need all new floors. My problem is the passenger side pinch seam is rotted about 12" and dont i need that to weld my floors to? Also thats the side that the rocker is completely gone.

salad

The pinch seam is where the inner and outer rocker meet, actually. The floor pan should have a slight lip on it to be welded inside the rocker. If I get to a real computer later I can draw a cross section of it

ats1971

Salad- ok but if my pinch seam is rotted, would i have to construct a new inner rocker so i can weld my new floor pan to it?

ats1971

Im also not using the floor pan replacements....ill be using 14 gauge steel. I have a 4'x8' sheet

salad

14 gauge! Holy crap, that's going to be the mother of all floors! lol

Lucky me, didn't have to fail at Paint. Here's what we're talking about



Though I think on my '99 the interior of the rocker facing inside the cab is actually reinforced with a plate. Anyway as you can see the floor doesn't touch the pinch seam. On my XJ the rocker between the pinch seam and floor is actually rotted out

ats1971

Sweet.....thanks for the pic. You think 14 gauge is overkill? Whats a good thickness, cuz i can trade it out with a thinner piece as my brother owns a metal shop

salad

Oh if I could afford 14 gauge I'd totally do it. The stock is like 20 and gets rigidity from the ribbing.