Roof Rack Removed. Opinions needed

[haydenwyatt]

I am so thankful to have an 80 that spent its entire life in California and Arizona!!
I sprayed some PB Blaster on the screws last week and came back last night and EVERY single one came out without spinning any of the nutserts!

I did have a little bit of surface rust around them and the color is faded pretty badly.
Since I have no holes to weld, blah blah blah, and I just need to seal it to keep water out and rust from developing, what do y'all suggest is the, best (cheapest) method to do this?

Should I just use one of these http://www.boltdepot.com/Product-Details.aspx?product=6677 with a sealing washer? Do i need to do more?

I will definitely sand down the areas and try to match the paint white.
Anybody know what the exact color code is for a white 93 LC?

Here are some pics for y'all!

 

[gofast]

Mine were the same way.

I scuff sanded and cleaned with a wax/silicone remover (I use brake clean) then painted the newly exposed areas with rust bullet. I didn't take it down to bare metal. Rust bullet is designed to stick to paint and rust. Mine had some surface bubbles which were exposed when I sanded.

I then installed new bolts and sealing washers. However, I used a thread sealant putty ( used in plumbing) on the threads before I tightened them up.

I then cleaned the areas again to remove any excess putty and then applied several coats of rust bullet right over top of the areas including bolt and washer. Rust bullet fills small gaps and sealed the washers and bolts up. I top coated with a body match paint.

A year later looks nice and sealed.

Best to use a a flat faced bolt though. I think the counter sunk ones you show would not sit well against the sealing washer.

 

[Aggiesdm]

I think the paint code is 045

 

[western flyer]

I made some suggestions here:

https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-tech/597910-wind-deflector-woes.html

post 19:
https://forum.ih8mud.com/80-series-...ve-roof-rack-how-avoid-spinning-nutserts.html

 

[haydenwyatt]

The Deed is Done.

So I finished up the job this afternoon. I really don't trust Colorado weather so I wanted to seal up the nutserts and feel comfortable about the state my 80 until the next problem surfaces. Here is the part list which was all found at home depot and advanced.

8x #10-32 by 1/2 inch SS button head socket cap screw
8x #10 sealing washers
permatex clear rvt
100 grit sanding block
wax and grease wipe
rust neutralizer
duplicolor paint in a can
clear coat in a can
blue painters tape

I started out by sanding down all the affected areas to get rid of the little surface rust and the rest of the crud.
As I expected, there was hardly any rust and I was very pleased by this. Picture 1 shows the surface right after the sanding

I then tested the nutsert one more time to make sure the non metric hardware worked, it works, so im happy. picture 2 shows the hardware attached and the washer beside it

I then treated all the nutserts with some loctite rust treatment found here http://shop.advanceautoparts.com/webapp/wcs/stores/servlet/product_extend-rust-treatment-loctite_10189462-p?searchTerm=rust+
I'm not sure how good it really works. I wanted to use Por 15 or rust bullet but I wanted to get this done today and neither of those products would be accessible for any less than a week. It gives me some peace of mind though so I'll take it

Then I put permatex inside the nutserts and around the sealing washer and tightened them all up, as shown in picture 3.

After letting the silicone harden a bit, i gave all the areas another wipe down and taped them off with the painters tape to get sprayed.
I sprayed over the hardware bc I didn't really see any reason why it would be bad. If it was a bad idea :whoops:
Pic 4 shows the paint process.

Tomorrow i will spray it one more time then put a few clear coats over top.

Hope this helped anyone who wants a relatively cheap fix! I spend $40 for everything.