[boss73]

Sweet rig.. I don't think I would call her ugly !!! I have seen alot more rust than that on other rigs...
Great find I hope that you enjoy....

[tmarx]

Thanx man. This is a first for me so I am doing lots of reading and I am learning as I go.Actually the rust doesn't look as bad as I originally thought.The worst is in the hard top/gutter area.I have been wirewheeling the rusted spots on the outside of the tub and treating that, just to stop it from spreading untill I can strip her down completely.Next I will move to the inside of the tub and do the same.PO had the rust treated but not sure how good.There is way more bondo on her than rust Sofar I have found mainly smallish holes in the usual areas and a few spots where the bondo was cracked and the metal underneath has gone darker(if that makes any sense)? My thinking is to wheel the whole thing down to bare metal in order to see how bad/good she really is ?

[bsmith123]

Here's my Project "Ugly Betty" although she looks better now with the lift and BFGs on her. So there are two Ugly Betty's on the board now!

[matty_sunn1]

i wish i had your ugly betty.
i dont want to now wat mine would be called

[bsmith123]

I've seen a lot of ugly ducklings turn into swans on this board!

[tmarx]

Originally Posted by bsmith123

Here's my Project "Ugly Betty" although she looks better now with the lift and BFGs on her. So there are two Ugly Betty's on the board now!

Apologies for that, it was Swambo who named her and I didn't bother to check You are a lot further than me though and the lift and tyres looks great!
Just came back and happy to announce that she just passed her roadworthy test !

[M5driver]

Originally Posted by tmarx

Apologies for that, it was Swambo who named her and I didn't bother to check You are a lot further than me though and the lift and tyres looks great!
Just came back and happy to announce that she just passed her roadworthy test !

Good news! Now, it's time to get to work

[bsmith123]

I don't know about further the body is off now and I'm stripping the frame. At first I was going to do the lift and a fix up but once I saw the metal was in good shape I knew I had to preserve it or watch it rot away so I got to work.

Yours looks pretty good, what plans do you have for it?

[tmarx]

Originally Posted by bsmith123

...
Yours looks pretty good, what plans do you have for it?

Plans, mmm she has got most of the good stuff OEM already so once I have dealt with the rust I am thinking 4" Parabolics, 33x12.5/10.5 and the turbo I have waiting in a box in my garage The plans for dealing with the rust though, seem to change as I discover the true shape of the truck which also seems to change from day to day. Yesterday I removed the old Mask bumper and found that although the bezel itself is 100% the bib is not in good shape.I also found some patch welding on the left rear corner which had not been grinded down properly(even I as a complete noob could see it).Instead it was flatened out by using lots of bondo which is probably why, just about the whole truck is covered thick with bondo . The fact that the 4*'s were never released in ZA means I have to either preserve/fabricate or import anything that I cannot source off an old 45 ser. Therefore I have to go frame-off and take the risk to galv the frame.POR15 is not availeble down here at all and importing enough of it to do the frame will cost wise not make sense as shipping is a killer. I would like to do this only once and never have to deal with the rust again.I don't want a showroom truck as she will be used regularly for trails and even short overlanding trips.I will post some pics later today so you guys can judge the state of the rust yourself.I will appreciate any advice/comments etc

[tmarx]

Time for an update as I eventually started stripping her about 2 weeks ago.I know I am going slow but this is a first for me so I take lots of pics and make notes of just about everything. once my shop gets its new lights tomorrow, I should be able to work after dark also.




























Perfect fit on the long ranger tank !

[tmarx]

I also got her registered and on the road and for a week I absolutely enjoyed having her topless





But then I finally parked her last weekend...

[tmarx]

Which is where we are at the moment.

[tmarx]

Time for an update.

Hidden beneath all the bondo...




Time to remove the heat & sound matting to see what it might hide..



Only this spot in the back

The front floor being a mix of good and bad

[tmarx]

The total amount of sound and heat matting removed



Then after countless hours to remove the sticky residue she now looks like this.

[tmarx]

New floor piece shaped and fitted all the way into the sill.










new lip fitted above the floor piece












From the bottom

[tmarx]

Rough grinded, etched cleaned & temporarily painted with NS4 untill the Rustbullet Silver Label arrives...










Once again the whole seam is opened and a new lip made to replace the old. NO SHORT-CUTS !




























New lip to replace the old which was covered with Rust Bullet on the inside before being welded in, just like all the other closed areas..










Seams that are too good to be cut out are drilled open and painted with Rust Bullet on the inside before being closed up and spotwelded again.

[tmarx]

Rear ambi door
















Driver's door: New bottom piece already Rust Bulleted and welded in.










Hardtop



And that is it,.... so far

[M5driver]

Nice work, Theo! Really wish I had the tools here to do those things myself, but at least the panel beater has a really good welder. Keep plugging - it'll be worth it at the end

[thebludger]

top score nice looking 40 the rust is easy to fix along as she good thats all you need

[tmarx]

Thanks for the kind words but to set the record straight, those welds are not mine. I have a beater who comes around to help me, so my participation has been limited to some cutting, grinding and some shaping of the patches, but I am learning so .....

[jus cruzin]

Originally Posted by tmarx

those welds are not mine. I have a beater who comes around to help me

mate he's worth his weight in bronze, its looking great, keep it up.......the patches are tops too so dont sell yourself short

[NamSand]

Just noticed your PLN – NICELY DONE

[tmarx]

Some update pics.











Self etching metal cleaner prior to the temporary NS4


New lips on inside...


From the other side
















Getting ready to test-fit all the doors etc before fine grinding, dressing etc can begin...

[tmarx]

A few more



Both the inner and outside pieces needed to be replaced..


We cut, bent and shaped the new outside piece after lots and lots of calculations...




and after tacking, welded it in place.


All grinded down..






Although the inner piece has been shaped we did not weld it in as I needed to Rust Bullet the areas that would not be exposed to normal paint, once welded up and we wanted to test-fit the new bottom with the fenders etc first(in case we need to make alterations) before final welding and drilling etc

So it was time to see if the "new" bib would fit properly which meant I had to refit both fenders and side panels.




The culprit..




Is this a perfect fit or what ? Even the angles of the swivel hinge was good !


That meant we could weld in the inner part that acts as reinforcement


With our spirits up, we decided to check on how some of the other parts that we had butchered, lines up..




So far all good

[bsmith123]

Getting stuck in I see!

Isn't removing all the old paint fun?

keep up the good work, nice posts


It helps to have all those pre disassembly photos later

Just a tip if you pull the wiring loom take good photos of the under dash routing

I used tape and a perm marker on each wire to id where it goes--beats looking at wire colors in the schematic

If you ever find one of those tachs laying around let me know I have a big ol hole in the dash to fill!


It gets better but there is no getting around the hard slog up front

[tmarx]

Originally Posted by bsmith123

Getting stuck in I see!

Isn't removing all the old paint fun?

keep up the good work, nice posts


It helps to have all those pre disassembly photos later

Just a tip if you pull the wiring loom take good photos of the under dash routing

I used tape and a perm marker on each wire to id where it goes--beats looking at wire colors in the schematic

If you ever find one of those tachs laying around let me know I have a big ol hole in the dash to fill!


It gets better but there is no getting around the hard slog up front

Thanx man. Yeah unfortunately winter came early so we couldn't spray the tub with the Rust Bullet, so now the rest of the body work will have to wait for about 2.5 months.

I have taken about a gazillion pics already and still continue to do so. When I did the wiring loom I took lots of pics and as you said, marked every wire, plug etc with tape and a sharpie.I even made detailed notes about it but I am sure when the time comes to put her back together it would have been worth it

[tmarx]

After finally finishing the last of the welding(on the outside) and the test fitting it was time to remove the tub and face whatever she was hiding underneath, so the tub finally came off !

From the beginning I was praying/hoping that rustwise, she would be better underneath than on the outside and ontop as it seemed that the PO had sprayed her with some rubberising underneath. Most thought I was nuts and looked sceptical....

What a pleasant surprise it was to find that what looked like rust is actually very fine dust...

Bar a small spot at the left tub mount the sill is very good.

It even still had the OEM stickers covering the factory holes


If it wasn't for the rain preventing me form painting the Rust Bullet on the few patches we need to weld, we could have finished all the outstanding welding.( When some of the helpers found other entertainment we took it as a sign and called it a day early...

[tmarx]

Time for an update: In prep for engine and box removal we removed the tierods , shocks and last of the brake hardlines. The help arrived early enough for the rugby and cladded in traditional war-dress nogal, well we lost and then I got my own revenge by putting him to work!








Thanks mate !

Then today I got a huge pressie !!












These were custom made for an 80 series but we have already worked out how to fit them in the 40. Watch this space...
Thanks JB ! You are the best ! Now I just need to find the 2 outside seatbelts etc

[tmarx]

Got a little done ..

[tmarx]

In preparation for pulling the motor and boxes I have been stripping some more stuff ...

















The intake side I may just leave "intact", as far as possible