2000 Ex Weekend Warrior build
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 880
Likes: 13
From: Northcentral Wisconsin
Yeswelder has a 250 amp mig welder I'm interested in. Only $400, so I'm sceptical of its quality. So I thought I'd try some of their parts for my Lincoln.
$53 for a new gun and hose.
It was set up for .030-.035 wire so I had to buy a .023 liner and tips.
It sure welds nicer with the new gun. It feeds really smooth now. I can make some nice welds on solid metal. Now I'll have to think a little more about taking a chance on their mig welder.
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 880
Likes: 13
From: Northcentral Wisconsin
Got the outer rocker cleaned up and sprayed with weld through primer.
Finished making the patch panel. I reinforced it where I welded bolts in for the running board brackets.
Turned out pretty good.
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 880
Likes: 13
From: Northcentral Wisconsin
I'll use speed nuts and bolts for the bottom two. I'm going to weld nuts on for the other two brackets.
I had to cut the corner to push the original rocker up against the new one and weld it. Then I made a little wedge to fill the gap in the corner and welded that up. A little filler and it will be nice and flat.
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 880
Likes: 13
From: Northcentral Wisconsin
Freight rates still suck, so I've been driving this.
Widened the driveway and building a french drain so I don't need a culvert.
Work sucks, I'd rather finish the EX.
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 880
Likes: 13
From: Northcentral Wisconsin
Rear wheel well is rusted out.
Making my own patch from the RF fender.
The inner wheel well needs love too.
I made the patches from flat steel. Wish I have a plasma cutter.
The lip the fender welds to, I made from flat steel also.
Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 880
Likes: 13
From: Northcentral Wisconsin
Rough fitting of the patch.
The curved tape line is where the fender flare ends. I want to keep the repair under the flare because I'm not painting the whole EX.
Sprayed Eastwood's Internal Frame Coating in the opening. It covers pretty well. It's supposed to creep into any crevices before it cures.
I taped a piece of wire to the hose so I could control it better and get farther in. It covers better than the picture shows.
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Thread Starter
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 880
Likes: 13
From: Northcentral Wisconsin
Yes, I'm taking the week off to see how far I can get. I really want to finish this so we can enjoy some of our weekends. We're excited to get to drive it again too!
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 880
Likes: 13
From: Northcentral Wisconsin
Thanks! They might even outlast the originals. LOL
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Laughing Gas
Joined: Sep 2012
Posts: 880
Likes: 13
From: Northcentral Wisconsin
I've been dreading making a patch for this spot. Lots of curves and body lines.
Hard to get a good picture of it.
So what do you guys think? I can tell you it took a lot of time to make.
The last patch on the back of the wheel well got bigger. I found a rust hole just to the right of it. I'm done welding on the driver's side except for nuts on the back of the rocker panel for the running boards.
I thought about welding the running board brackets on, but wanted to be able to remove them when we go off roading.
