M38 hat channel removal

Harleygaz · Post by **Harleygaz** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 1:22 pm

The hat channels appear from the paint to be original but they have rusted through. I know I can get replacements but my question is how to remove the old ones. I was thinking cutting wheel to remove the actual box section and then grinder to remove the sides welded to the tub but I was wondering if they were spot welded and if so is it possible to chisel under the welds and just break them? Wes K, I do have pictures but don’t have a computer to upload them, only my iPad, sorry.

mdainsd · Post by **mdainsd** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 1:40 pm

They are spot welded. Easiest for me was buying a spot weld cutting tool.

Locate a spot weld, center punch it and use the tool to drill through the hat channel (only) from the hat channel side. Piece of cake.

Post by **wesk** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 1:42 pm

You have no friends on the planet with a laptop!

Those hat channels are spot welded. Common removal procedure is to locate each spot weld and using a drill bit larger in diameter than the spot weld, dril it out. Yes, it is boring but a lot easier than a chisel process.

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 1:57 pm

Probably the wrong place but since the subject was breached...
I regularly upload photos from my iPhone. If your photos are on your laptop I see no reason that won’t work either.

The biggest problem is your photos are probably too big for the site. Just resize them down and save again under a different name. I use the same name but add crop in the title. You can use Paint to resize them.

They should upload just fine.

Brian

Harleygaz · Post by **Harleygaz** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 3:30 pm

4x4M38, I tried a while back from my iPad but got errors. What process do you go though to upload to this forum and what max picture size do you use?

4x4M38 · Post by **4x4M38** » Tue Feb 18, 2020 3:51 pm

Hi Gary,
It’s been a while but I think I started with 50%, then 25 more percent. I started by experimenting with one photo.

It just takes forever to load if it’s too large. The right size loads pretty quickly.

Brian

Post by **wesk** » Wed Feb 19, 2020 1:07 am

If you read the rules for posting and loading photos that I sent to everyone with a photo album here the size is limited to a maximum of 250K for photo put in a post. The albums are limited to under 500K.

I sent this to everyone that has an album on our web site. The tutorial for posting photos in posts is on the web page Photo Posting & Gallery requests/problems which I think is self explanatory.

Here's your album:
XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

Here's the rules:
http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... opic&t=498

Here's the tutorial for loading your album:
http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... _album.php

Here's the tutorial for posting your photos:
http://www.willysmjeeps.com/v2/modules. ... pic&t=8670

Harleygaz · Post by **Harleygaz** » Wed Feb 19, 2020 4:55 pm

I found the spot welds and got a couple of HF spot weld removal tools. Hopefully it’ll work out OK from here.

jnissen · Post by **jnissen** » Wed Feb 19, 2020 5:09 pm

Some guys prefer to use small belt type sanders 1/2" wide to remove the spots. A lot faster and more control.

https://www.harborfreight.com/53-Amp-12 ... 62863.html

Just avoid cheap abrasives. 3M brand works the best
https://www.amazon.com/Cubitron-3M-3344 ... ial&sr=1-3

Mike_B · Post by **Mike_B** » Wed Feb 19, 2020 8:16 pm

I agree,the small belt sander works great and is also good for dressing up the plug welds on the new hat channel...just make sure you buy lots of extra belts as you will go through them fast. 80 grit for fast cutting and 120 grit for finish work.

Mike B