Bumper dumping time

I had backed the Willys into the garage when I first brought it home so that when I'm ready to get the motor running, I'll be able to do so easily.  Unfortunately, that placed the hideous mega-bumper towards the inside of the house, which urged in me some extra caution today as I had at it.

Of course, the original owner had welded the entire beast in place--no bolts here.  Prior to my purchase, Charlie had started the excision, cutting some holes in the steel diamond plate (no wimpy aluminum here), which gave me a good sense of how to go about removing this thing: in pieces.

 

There were three main structural beams under the plating, two vertically-aligned beams of 3/8"x3" steel on the outer edges of the step/bumper and an inverted T-beam in the middle of the same thickness.  They reached out to a second, beefier-than-stock C-channel bumper, garnished with a heavy hitch and a U-shaped rod as an attachment point.

 

I cut from underneath to weaken the structure, working my way through the bottom of the T-beam with the sawzall and the grinder, switching back and forth as needed.  I hadn't worked with a grinder before, so I took my time, easing into it to avoid injury to myself or damage to the tool. I took out some of the diamond plate to get access to the right side beam from up top.  I cut through it rather easily.  To get better access to the center beam, I sliced down through the C-channel second bumper just to the right of the T-beam.  I folded it down and finished it off.

Off to the left side to do the same.  Remove a chunk of diamond plate.  Grind/saw through the steel beam.  Bend it to get better access to the T-beam.  Cut away the last bit.  Repeat.

My steel scrap pile is beginning to grow.  I hope to get a bit of cash for all this stuff.  Thirty cents a pound will start to add up, given that the bumper is at least fifty pounds, if not more.  Between that and the shot body parts, I've got a hundred bucks worth of steel in the backyard.

All in all, this was a satisfying start to the body work. Upon completion, the original rear crossmember/bumper is now visible.  Not surprisingly, it will need to have the last remnants of the structural beams cut off and/or ground down, followed by some grinding/sanding to clean it up.  Then I will paint it to match the rest of the frame.  It's all about returning this little rig to its former use and glory, stripping away or repairing the mistakes made in its previous life.

Next up, the sheet metal on the keeper tub.  My idea du jour is to use bits of the shot tub to piece together the keeper.  We'll see.