Hi guys, I have a 2000 Jeep XJ, with some body issues. First off, I had a roof rack and spare tire attached to my factory luggage racks, but I can in an accident and slid off into a ditch. The luggage rails, along with roof rack and spare tire got ripped off the roof, so I now have a nice set of holes I need to patch up. Could these hold be patched by welding, or would my best option be to grind them flush and patch them myself using a sealant and a piece of metal? Second, I took my factory flares off, and I have some rust starting to form pretty bad due to the previous owner attaching them using sheet metal screws and some epoxy. I am not opposed to cutting and folding all of them, but is this side too much rust to chop off? I think the pictures got attached, but I would really appreciate your opinion!


This is the worst of the fenders.

 

if it was me and I wasn't looking for high quality work on the holes in the roof I would use a ball peen hammer to hammer them flush. then use some all-weather caulking with some plastic or rubber plugs to fill the holes. slobber some on, put the plug in, then slobber some more on.

that rear quarter panel might be hiding quite a bit more rust than what you can see from the outside. get out a screw driver and start poking around the outside and inside of the fender well. that will give you an idea of how bad the rust is. you can also get out the wire wheel and go to town on it to get an even better view

 

Thats what I am leaning towards also for the roof. I forgot to mention also that this summer the whole thing will be sanded, preped and monstalined. I am hoping that the combo of the plugs and sealant along with the heavy coats of bedliner will keep out the leaks. As for the rear quarter, I am plannin on pulling the bumper cap tomorrow and seeing how bad the damage is

 

Good plan! keep us updated with pics

 

Thanks and I will do! I was reading online and it seems like plugging the holes is a fairly common fix! Bleepin Jeep used nickles and RTV on his, so it looks like I have some direction to go with. Also planning on re doing the bottom 1/4 in black monstaliner, and doing the rest in either a matte gray or matte tan monstaliner

 

If you want the roof done right, pull the headliner off and weld a patch to fill the hole. With the headliner off you can get to the backside if need be. The metal is thin so dont go too hot or you will burn thru it, and take it slow or it will warp. The 1/4 looks like surface rust but pull that bumper cap off as there is sure to be rust hiding behind that as well. The paint was starting to bubble back there on my 97 so i pulled the bumper cap off to find the panel was rotted thru. Poked at it with a screwdriver and 3/4 of it was sitting on the driveway by the time i was done. Took 1/2 the inner panel along with it.

Have fun.

 

 

pop the interior panels off and have a look from the inside.

 

and have someone hold a piece of copper over the hole from the bottom while you weld from the top....will make filling in the holes much easier, as weld doesn't stick to copper, and you don't have to worry about the slag dripping thru

just make sure whoever is holding the copper is using pliers & gloves.

 

 

I removed mine and it was full of rust. I'm doing the same thing on mine but welding new fenders.

 

does your driver side front tire stick out that far, too?

 

You will probably find a bag of sound deadner/jute stuff laying in the bottom of each quarter behind the wheel.

Get that outta there! check all the drain holes to.

 

Yes it does.

 

If you don't weld I would recommend Lexel for the holes instead of silicone or any other sealant.

http://www.sashco.com/products/lexel/

They really have some good products for other uses too. I work on buildings/houses a lot and like their products.