Welding roof rack holes and headliner removal (1 Viewer)

[treerootCO]

Decided to remove the factory roof rack and headliner today. I was going to just weld up the holes but Nakman didn't think that was the best idea so I dropped the headliner as well. It is not as brittle as people make it out to be. It will break if forced but handled as one piece it is fairly strong.

 

[treerootCO]

All of the holes up front are above the sunroof assembly so that had to come out as well.

 

[treerootCO]

The welder's blanket is just tucked into the roof seams. I propped the rear higher with the hatch to keep the slag off the tint. You can see from the first pic that the roof rack holds a lot of moisture under it. All the holes are welded now and not one fire. The metal got hot in one spot only so it will need a little love but the others welded without any heat warp.

 

[cstamm81]

Wow that's nuts. I just used screws into the existing nutserts with special washers. That with plenty of silicon and no problems in over a year. Kudos to you though for doing it the right way. You will have no leak worries ever that way.

 

[cruiserdan]

Nice job Mike. I would have liked to do it that way with mine but the suspended headliner in the 91-94 is way harder to remove and is very fragile and almost impossible to re-install and have it look right when you are finished.

 

[treerootCO]

Wire feed mig welded the holes with .024 wire paying special attention to not build up too much heat in the panel. I did not quench the welds, just jet them cool on their own. Followed that with a grinder to knock down the weld, then a flapper disk, then 80 grit sandpaper on a dual action sander. They don't need any body filler this way but I'll put on a skim coat just because.

 

[bugsnbikes]

If i were you - id remove that stock roof fuzz- and add some dynamat type to your roof panels...........that roof acts like a huge drum for noise.

*wishing i had a later vintage 80 for this reason*

 

[C6H12O6]

I'm the rookiest of all rookie welders. Any tips on the procedure for welding the holes shut? I'm contemplating doing the holes from the flares, but I'm a little worried my zero welding skills mean that I'll be filling them with body filler and durabake.

 

[treerootCO]

If i were you - id remove that stock roof fuzz- and add some dynamat type to your roof panels...........that roof acts like a huge drum for noise.

*wishing i had a later vintage 80 for this reason*

Sound deadener will be added. The factory fuzz has already been removed.

I'm the rookiest of all rookie welders. Any tips on the procedure for welding the holes shut? I'm contemplating doing the holes from the flares, but I'm a little worried my zero welding skills mean that I'll be filling them with body filler and durabake.

Clean the area first. If not you get splatter. Sheet metal is very thin so if you stay too long in one spot, it will blow through. You do need to stay there long enough to pool the metal though. I use quick bursts and lay a bit of weld all round the hole. Once that is in place I weld around in a circle until the hole is shut. It takes some practice but when done correctly, the weld pools out and almost nothing has to be ground down. .024 wire at 2.5 50 is what I have my Miller set to.

 

[treerootCO]

Bought 50 sq. ft. of the B-Quiet Ultimate to insulate and sound deaden the roof.

B-Quiet sound deadening materials - B-Quiet Ultimate - Better than Dynamat!! brownbread

One observation after taking out the sun roof assembly is that the 80 roof is really really flimsy!! It would take about 25lbs to crease the roof just behind the sunroof hole.

 

[knorrena]

What year is your 80? I ask because I have read that the 96 and 97 80s dont have the wiring for a rear cargo light. Can you confirm?

Karl

 

[treerootCO]

What year is your 80? I ask because I have read that the 96 and 97 80s dont have the wiring for a rear cargo light. Can you confirm?

Karl

Mine is a 95 and I added another stock midrow light to the rear. The electrical is tied into the one just forward of the new one. I researched the OE rear light and it is a different style light so I did this instead. I could not locate the factory wiring when I looked for it.

 

[NLXTACY]

Decided to remove the factory roof rack and headliner today. I was going to just weld up the holes but Nakman didn't think that was the best idea so I dropped the headliner as well. It is not as brittle as people make it out to be. It will break if forced but handled as one piece it is fairly strong.

ARE THOSE SPEAKERS UP THERE?!?!?!?!?!

My LX didn't come with those, WTF!?

 

[Beowulf]

My LX didn't come with those, WTF!?

The LX is considered the equivalent of the OZ poverty pack. They did not get the extra speakers, one of the cargo area sliders is disabled just to piss you off, and the center console is filled with a useless sub-woofer instead of the valuable real estate we Land Cruisers got.

It is not widely known outside of the insider's circle, but the LX variants were Land Cruisers that didn't pass the paint quality check. The factory would pull any LC that failed QA and they would drill holes in the side panels and plaster goofy plastic trim to cover up the bad paint.

Any other tid bits you'd like me to share.

-B-

 

[NLXTACY]

The LX is considered the equivalent of the OZ poverty pack. They did not get the extra speakers, one of the cargo area sliders is disabled just to piss you off, and the center console is filled with a useless sub-woofer instead of the valuable real estate we Land Cruisers got.

It is not widely known outside of the insider's circle, but the LX variants were Land Cruisers that didn't pass the paint quality check. The factory would pull any LC that failed QA and they would drill holes in the side panels and plaster goofy plastic trim to cover up the bad paint.

Any other tid bits you'd like me to share.

-B-

LIES! BLASPHEMOUS LIES!!

 

[treerootCO]

Welds sanded down with 80 grit and a very light film of body filler.

 

[cruiserdan]

Nice Mike.

White is a very forgiving color as well and by the time you are finished no one will be able to tell. I wish I had been able to get white when I bought mine so long ago.

 

[Beowulf]

I wish I had been able to get white when I bought mine so long ago.

Nahh.... too easy.

-B-

 

[cruiserdan]

At least they had enough paint on hand to make mine all the same color...











Tu-tone paint came about as the result of running out of the proper color

 

[Romer]

The LX is considered the equivalent of the OZ poverty pack. They did not get the extra speakers, one of the cargo area sliders is disabled just to piss you off, and the center console is filled with a useless sub-woofer instead of the valuable real estate we Land Cruisers got.

It is not widely known outside of the insider's circle, but the LX variants were Land Cruisers that didn't pass the paint quality check. The factory would pull any LC that failed QA and they would drill holes in the side panels and plaster goofy plastic trim to cover up the bad paint.

Any other tid bits you'd like me to share.

-B-

My paint has held up well and is Flat Nasty, Moab and Rubicon tested and I didn't wrap it in Saran wrap to protect it either