Imagine doing this in a townhouse, with 2 assigned parking places, using almost no tools, but a 90a harbor freight flux welder, in the sun, with no shade.. When it rained i had to stop and toss everything in the back of my wagoneer.. I did what youre doing but mine was much worse. That hump under the back bench seat.. both corners of mine was completetly rotten, the floor board had like football sized rust holes in like 6 spots all over under the seats etc.. The frame in the back where the trailer hitch is.. was rusted through in 3 spots 4-5 inchs accross. The rear shock shackles and mounts were just paper thin. The body mounts were all gone, especially the very rear ones. I had to fab new mounts myself with NO table or clamp.. I was cutting metal by holding it in my hand. The body mounts or lack of them in the rear made it so i could grab the bumper and push and pull and the entire body will lift up and down.. Then the frame on BOTH sides the front shock mounts, was rotten.. take your shock mounts off, and look. If your very lucky there wont be rust behind them.. everyone SJ ive seen though has rust behind those.. some worse than others.. Mine on the drivers side was so bad.. I was able to pull the shock mount off by hand.. How it didnt break driving it 10k miles is beyond me.. Then the bottom was gone, AND the other side where the engine mount. It was also cracked on top.. I had to hold the engine up with a jack, and weld a new box in that section.. yes on the pavement outside in a townhouse parking lot. The frame by the gas tank, on mine was rotten fully about 12 inchs across. I cut a good frame from a cherokee cheif out, and cut all the rot out, i had only 2 inchs of frame on the top left.. and welded it all in. The cross members in the rear above the gas tank going to the passenger side.. were also rusted where they sit on the frame lip.. causing the lip to bend down. I fixed ALLL this.. all of it, i did by myself.. In the elements, on hot pavement in a townhouse.. no garage or shed or barn to work in LOL.. Im shocked i managed to do this. I did it properly too, cut it ALL out and put new metal in.
The lack of rust on Termite was a big draw for us - Wes had already dealt with loads of rust before that on previous projects, so he knew how to deal with it and also knew how much trouble it was to deal with it in certain spaces. Termite wasn't too bad, and made it top of our list when we were shopping. And having the shop helps tons - we are super grateful for it. Wes has worked on cars in the yard and on dirt for many many years.
