1989 FJ62 "The Woody", rust repair begins

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Just a tip, but USG makes "icing" and it is excellent for finish filling, is "thinner than bondo" but air bubbles could also be from too much hardener or pressing to firmly when applying. Get the icing it will make your life a whole bunch simpler
 
Realultpwr said:
Just a tip, but USG makes "icing" and it is excellent for finish filling, is "thinner than bondo" but air bubbles could also be from too much hardener or pressing to firmly when applying. Get the icing it will make your life a whole bunch simpler
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Now he tells me.. ;) No worries, I got them all closed up. Here is the latest, not really happy with the quality of my sanding, but as I explained, its much much better than rust. My goal is to fix all the rust and then have a professional body shop smooth things out and repaint the whole mess in a desert tan color. The gasket should be here tomorrow and I can button the whole thing up. I used 045 white, which according to the paint guide here is correct, but mine looks grayer and the original looks yellower.. {sigh} It's all good though.

I marvel at the guys on here doing full frame off restores, SOA, etc. I am happy just to keep her running and fix the more visible issues.

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I have some bad news, the rig was repainted at some point and the paint is NOT the original 045 white.. Good thing I plan to repaint the whole thing. They just masked off the windows at the weather stripping, the "original" paint inside the lip of the rear hatch matches what I spayed perfectly. Good thing its all getting redone eventually.

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only if I had a garage + another vehicle + money

I have done a wheel well repair and nothing more. But if I had all those other items, I would be very happy to do my body repairs start to end..the right way.

BTW, There is more of a immediate need to build a new rear wheel well for my 60 or...spend to much time asking other people if thay have a rust free one..which I feel would take to much time to find on then, have a panel beater make a new inner wheel well for me. BTW, are these inner wheel wells one or two piece?
 
rustybucket said:
I have done a wheel well repair and nothing more. But if I had all those other items, I would be very happy to do my body repairs start to end..the right way.

BTW, There is more of a immediate need to build a new rear wheel well for my 60 or...spend to much time asking other people if thay have a rust free one..which I feel would take to much time to find on then, have a panel beater make a new inner wheel well for me. BTW, are these inner wheel wells one or two piece?
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Not sure I completely understand your question/comment. What do you mean by, "do my body repairs start to end..the right way." Do you mean completely replacing the panels or hatch with a non-rusted/new part? I considered replacing the entire hatch, but the cost+shipping ruled that out. Sorry if I am misunderstanding your comment. My rear inner wheel wells are two piece and the rust is very minor (about 6 inches total, see picture of right rear well). I will just cut to clean metal and then bend some pieces to replace, paint, blah blah..

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Don't have the weather strip yet, but here is a before after side-by-side. Will post one more when I get the window in.. But this particular project is about wrapped up. Is anyone interested in details of re-installing the rear glass? I was going to document each step of my method.

Install the weather stripping on window first, install trim/lock, place string in the bead that goes over the metal lip. Soap/water in the bead with a little on the metal lip. Slide the window up so the top and some of the sides are in the lip. With an assistant pressing lightly against the bottom of the window, pull string to pull bead over the lip on the sides, working down and meeting in the middle of the bottom part of the window.

Sound about right to anyone? People keep mentioning a video or a thread on installation, but I can't seem to find it.

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Rear glass is in, don't ask about the bottom lock trim, it's a long story that involves a dog and lots of chewing. Anyhow, the cord trick worked well, just pulled the rubber right over the metal lip on the hatch. Other than the trim, this project is done. :hillbilly:

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Great work! :clap: I have similar bits of rust repair to tackle once the weather gets better here and will use your work as an inspiration to get 'er done! :cheers:
 
Outstanding job. Looks professionally done.
 
Rear Gate Repair

So, I wrapped up the hatch and have moved onto the gate. This one has 2 issues. The big one is where the 4 wheel drive emblem used to be. The second is about 8 inches from the bottom left hand side, no pics of the before for some reason. Interestingly enough, the left hand rust spot had body filler in it, so someone had covered over without repairing the rust. The repairs are 8 1/4" x 2" on the left and 12" x 14" on the right. The stamped pattern on the right will make this an interesting repair.

Question for any rust repair experts, what do you recommend for the interior of a repair? Is there a particular brand/type of rust preventative/primer I can spray inside the panels to keep these patches from rusting on the inside?

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Here is the larger patch cut and bent and ready to be tacked in.

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I hate tacking..

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Had to remove the gate to get a better angle on the bottom welds and so I could grind.

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Here is the smaller repair cut out and the second picture is of the patch. There are actually 2 pieces of metal, one for the inside and another for the gate skin. Didn't take any picks of the inside for some reason.

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Lots of filler and sanding to do. The smaller repair is sanded and ready for paint. The bottom of the big repair is sanded, however the top is very low and needs a lot more filler. Should've checked with a straight edge before beginning the filler and knocked it out from the inside. :whoops:

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Every time I take something apart I find more issues. Not even sure how I'm going to fix these two problems.

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I'm a little concerned about the rust by the driver-side body mount. The boxed in section by the gate hinge on the bottom is completely gone and the rust by the body mount is very bad. Won't know for sure until I start cutting it out, but it looks bad. I don't intend to remove the body, so repairing this is looking exceedingly difficult. Anyone have an issue like this? Suggestions?

The right had side is fixable, just cut out the rust and patch, the bottom seems solid.
 
I have the same rust issues as you, actually worse. I was thinking of cutting out the floor board in the rear to access the body mount, or what is left of it. Then I can fab the C-channel and weld it in from the inside, then weld the floor back in. Still trying to figure out how to fab the body line under the tail lights and around the corner. Will probably do the same for the front mounts if needed, afraid to look right now. Mines an 89 as well seem to be known for rust?
 
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