After seeing all the beautiful cars in Moab it motivated me to at least make a plan of attack. I know I will have some work with the hell hole, but I wanted some opinions on my longs. To me, the longs look OK, but the jack points are bad. Is this an indication of bad inner longs? I also see some people chopping off the jack pionts. Suggestions?

I have this same rust on mine. This is not indicative of inner rust. This rust is caused by road debris falling on the rocker panels and sitting for years. The front part looks good. You'll need new jack points for sure.

The metal under the jack points may need replaced also. Got a welder?

I bought a Licoln MIG, but it is still in the box. I have done a little arc welding and have a friend and a brother that weld pretty good, but I would love an online tutorial or something if you know of one.

Ben,

thats not too bad at all
seriously, that is better than most cars you can find out there.
Very... very.. repairable.

through restoration designs you can buy the replacement jack point and support structure. pretty affordable too
I'm guessing thats maybe 50$ worth of parts.

regarding the welding
I'd get some scrap metal
maybe a hood from the junkyard (any car, not a 914)
and I'd practice at length
it will be tough to weld with the old metal and paint, but not too hard
remember that welding is all about prep
get a cup brush and use your drill to really strip the paint well

and another option for such a small job like yours, would be to just pay your buddy to do it. or even a shop
its not going to be so big and expensive that you have to become an expert welder in order to save money.
heck 50$ parts and 50$ labor may do the whole job since you have a friend available.

really nice to meet you this weekend
when is your wife due?
boy or girl?
congrats to you!

brant

Cut or grind away all the bad metal. Get some new jack plates from Restoration Design. Looks to be a pretty easy fix.

Make sure you are not welding over rust though. Wire wheel all that crap out.

I agree with everyone else. This looks like a milk run. Hows your hell hole?

Zach

Thanks for the warm welcome and for putting on a great event!

The jack points are not the only problem. The driver side front fender has had some damage, so I bought a fender and headlight bucket and plan on welding that in after I strip it to see how much bondo is there. My Hell hole is also terrible , so I really would like to learn to weld it my self.
I think I will take your advise and get some scrap and practice a bunch.

My wife is due December 8th and it is a boy! His name will be Zach and he will be our third child (Samantha, 7, and Jacob, 6)

Send me a PM...I have a set of new Jack Point kits I never used during my restoration...

Better deal than RD and quicker shipping...

2-OH!

That is NOTHING! just two jack post covers and a small amount of patching. No need to buy any replacement panels except for the covers. They are about 30 bucks for the pair.

Good name!!!!

Zach

Definitely grind away all the rust, that's the only way you'll know for sure how much you'll have to do to make the repairs. Hard to judge from photos how far the rust penetrates.

Also, what is that all that wire wrapped around around your jack post going to?

Click to view attachment

I don't know why that is there, but it is just packing tape. I may hit it with my grinder this weekend

Yeah! I thought that is kind of funny because isn't your wife expecting too?

It will be Zachary Otto Schmalz.