the body tub adventures

norcal pinz · Post by **norcal pinz** » Fri May 01, 2009 2:22 am

my body tub in the M has been patched in approximately nine spots the top of the braces for the battery and tool boxes most of the bed in the back and both driver and passenger side spots im wondering if this is common? because at first i didn't even notice this im wondering if the army patched it and im wondering if others have similar patches im going to get some close ups on here basically it was a quick fix thus rusting out the whole tub ?what do you guys think

undysworld · Post by **undysworld** » Fri May 01, 2009 7:38 am

Norcal,

From what I've seen/heard, that's a pretty common failure. In fact, I just got done helping with a similar repair on one of the Wisconsin Pinz owner's truck. All 6 of the brackets were rusted and the floor above was shot. There were several patches crudely welded on over the rusted areas of the bed. Interestingly, on that truck and another I heard about recently, those brackets were constructed of 2 pcs. of metal spot welded together. The rust seemed to have started there. On my 712, the brackets are one piece of metal, so the rust hasn't been much of a problem.

On Tom's truck, we cut out the brackets and the floor above it. We cut from the outer channel to the inner vertical surface of the bed (over the rectangular channel tube, near where the rear seats bolt in). We crimped the floor, so the patches laid down into the crimps, and welded the top. This left the seams more or less flat on the inside. Perhaps the biggest trouble we had is that the bed warped some near the patches, due to the heat from welding. It's not terrible, and it is a Pinzgauer after all, but a guy might be able to avoid that by limiting the heat build-up by either timing or a heat sink. (?)

Tom's bro is a body guy, and he provided us with expert advice. He's got plans to shoot some penetrating rust inhibitor into the problem areas between the bed's sheet metal and the rectangular tubes. I don't know how many pix Tom got of the work, perhaps he'll post some. If you've got more questions (it's difficult to write up a clear description) feel free to ask.

Paul U

Andre · Post by **Andre** » Fri May 01, 2009 7:48 am

I helped jim at ramona motors do some serious patch work on the rusted out carcas I sold him (sorry) if you plan on just playing with the truck and looks arn't too important, we used several metal pieces and bonded them to the holes with 3 part epoxy bonding puddy. worked great. just got to treat the rust with phospherous to stop the rust from expanding.

Erik712m · Post by **Erik712m** » Fri May 01, 2009 9:54 am

To prevent heat warp weld one inch skip six inches weld one inch and so on.
I was able to weld two 710 hard tops to make a 712 top with out any warping just took a long time.

norcal pinz · Post by **norcal pinz** » Fri May 01, 2009 6:13 pm

so do allot of them have these patches on them?I am in the process of pretty much replacing the whole bed and some spots in the front as well even the rectangle main frame piece is pitted with rust i have my work cut out luckily all the important things are good [body mounts, spring spots are good.

norcal pinz · Post by **norcal pinz** » Fri May 01, 2009 6:30 pm

" There were several patches crudely welded on over the rusted areas of the bed. Interestingly, on that truck and another I heard about recently, those brackets were constructed of 2 pcs. of metal spot welded together. "

this sounds like mine. Is this army repair? as far as i know the truck went from the army to the importer then the guy i got it from and im pretty sure he didnt do any repairs?

On Tom's truck, we cut out the brackets and the floor above it. We cut from the outer channel to the inner vertical surface of the bed (over the rectangu

i hade to cut the vertical piece as well as the brackets and floor above it

undysworld · Post by **undysworld** » Sat May 02, 2009 2:01 pm

I'm assuming they were all "army" patches. I'm pretty sure nobody had touched it since then.

Some of the patches were pop-riveted on, some were welded around the periphery of the patch, and some were tack-welded plus glued with some sort of gunk. The only patch we left was the one which was glued/welded as it wasn't really rusting behind there anymore, IIRC.

On that truck, as on mine, the place where the bed tin lays over that rectangular tube (right where the rear seats bolt on) is a prime spot for rust to start. The tin was only spot welded to the tube, and it seems like the spray-on galvanizing didn't penetrate.