1989 FJ62 "The Woody", rust repair begins

[LordHz]

I'm trying to use up the last of my el'cheapo "bondo". I hate filler work. By the time its mixed its already starting to harden and I can't get a clean spread. I can get a good mixture in about 45 seconds, and setup time is supposed to be 5-7 minutes. Someone suggested warming the filler and that helped a bit. I will be trying the icing for the final layer. Another issue is I am working in my garage and its relatively chilly.

 

[dorian2112]

i have a few rust bubbles that are right at the gasket area on the bottom of the glass and need to get them fixed, always wondered if there was a trick to gettin the glass out and in. i would love more instructions, what you posted is a huge help, i need a friend it seems too to help. thanks for your posts.

 

[LordHz]

Out is easy, from inside the truck use a couple of screwdrivers to pry the weather stripping over the bottom and mid-way up the sides. Then from the outside grab the glass and weather stripping and pull down. One person job and only takes a few minutes. In is another matter altogether. I managed to do it myself, but it was very difficult. The big trick is to use some 3-4 mm nylon cord in the weather stripping to pull the rubber back over the metal lip, starting from one of the top corners. Make sure you have the trim in before doing this as once the window is in its nearly impossible it re-install the trim. One trick with the installation is the window will want to wander, for example if you start on the top left, it will slide to the right and pop loose. I used some boards and large c-clamps to hold the glass against the window/frame to hold it in place. Wish I had a picture, it was comical to see.

 

[LordHz]

<rant> I hate filler, I hate filler, I hate filler! </rant> I'm better now, back to sanding and filling.

 

[Spook50]

Out is easy, from inside the truck use a couple of screwdrivers to pry the weather stripping over the bottom and mid-way up the sides. Then from the outside grab the glass and weather stripping and pull down. One person job and only takes a few minutes. In is another matter altogether. I managed to do it myself, but it was very difficult. The big trick is to use some 3-4 mm nylon cord in the weather stripping to pull the rubber back over the metal lip, starting from one of the top corners. Make sure you have the trim in before doing this as once the window is in its nearly impossible it re-install the trim. One trick with the installation is the window will want to wander, for example if you start on the top left, it will slide to the right and pop loose. I used some boards and large c-clamps to hold the glass against the window/frame to hold it in place. Wish I had a picture, it was comical to see.

Hard as it is to get the trim in with the window in place, it would still be beneficial since then you would be able to peel the outer lip back in sections and put glazing compound in there to better seal and prevent future water ingress. I have a couple tubes of 3M stuff that's supposed to work great. Once I get a new lock strip type windshield gasket I'll be doing that.

 

[GLTHFJ60]

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

I had rust like that on my old body. That's deep structural rot there man. No clue how that's to be repaired, I've never seen it done before. Not that it can't be done, I just haven't seen it.

I will say though that if those two mounts are rotted out, then others are likely rotted out as well.


Good luck!

 

[LordHz]

GLTHFJ60, I have inspected the other mounts, they are all fine. The right (passenger) side is only on the surface, while the drivers side the rear and bottom sheet metal is in bad shape. For now I am going to cut out to clean metal and weld in a temporary rough patch to keep the back corner from collapsing. Will just shoot it with a bunch of primer and dig into it later. Need to get it out of the garage before the little lady is back from a trip. I'll take a few pictures as I do this for posterity. I love this darn truck, but the rust is going to drive me nuts.

 

[LordHz]

Hard as it is to get the trim in with the window in place, it would still be beneficial since then you would be able to peel the outer lip back in sections and put glazing compound in there to better seal and prevent future water ingress. I have a couple tubes of 3M stuff that's supposed to work great. Once I get a new lock strip type windshield gasket I'll be doing that.

I have the FSM and it doesn't mention using any sealant on the rear hatch glass, so I didn't. YMMV and the hatch lip needs to be very clean for a good seal. If you look at the weather stripping, its a very good design that shouldn't leak for many years if properly installed.

 

[LordHz]

Here is a better pic of the driver side rust by the body mount. This is at the bottom left corner under the rear gate. What I wouldn't give for a buddy close by with a media blaster.. I need to get down to clean metal so I can patch. Probably need to do what someone else suggested and cut some of the floor out to get a proper angle on all this for welding. There is a lot of frame and cross-member in the way from underneath. Plus I hate overhead welding. The bumper will also need to come off. {sigh}

 

[buckjoey]

Your commitment to this truck is admirable......or crazy!

 

[LordHz]

Here is my good night photo, while not 100% finished sanding, it is close. Paint going on this weekend.

buckjoey, if you search for my introductory post, I relayed the story of how I got stuck with this particularly sad specimen of a FJ62. Basically, my wife thought the wood paneling was cute. I just wanted something 4 wheel drive, could tow, had working mechanical's and cold A/C. So from that standpoint its fine. The body work enabled me to talk the significant other into a lot of cool tools that I had wanted. So again, a winner. As much of a pain as its been, it has also been fun to learn a lot of new skills. Beats my day job of sitting in front of a computer all day developing software.

 

[LordHz]

Here is some surgery on the passenger side rust that was behind the gate. This is right over the box for the body mount. Need to clean off some surface rust. There are actually 3 layers of 22 gauge steel where the floor meets the side. I'm going to weld in some much thicker steel and then grind, prime and paint. Won't look original, but it should last a while.

Sorry for the blur, didn't realize I didn't hold still.

 

[LordHz]

Here is the patch on the passenger side over the rear body mount rust closed up. I think I have figured out how these rusted out. There are 5 spot welds that tie the three layers of sheet metal together. There is a gap behind the outer most layer (right hand side skin). So the rust probably starts where the spot weld melted the primer away and then any water/salt that splashes up there has 5 little spots of metal to begin eating away. There was nothing sealing it up from underneath. In a dry environment it would last forever. That's just a guess, but the rust was worst around the original spot welds and worked out from there.

 

[LordHz]

This can't be good

I was noticing a clunking when going around corners, so while I had it in the garage I started looking for loose connections around the rear suspension. This picture is of the rear spring and the shackle. Guess new springs and shackles are in order.

 

[Mildot]

Here is my good night photo, while not 100% finished sanding, it is close. Paint going on this weekend.

buckjoey, if you search for my introductory post, I relayed the story of how I got stuck with this particularly sad specimen of a FJ62. Basically, my wife thought the wood paneling was cute. I just wanted something 4 wheel drive, could tow, had working mechanical's and cold A/C. So from that standpoint its fine. The body work enabled me to talk the significant other into a lot of cool tools that I had wanted. So again, a winner. As much of a pain as its been, it has also been fun to learn a lot of new skills. Beats my day job of sitting in front of a computer all day developing software.

Hey you sound like me! Sitting at a desk all day and buying tools!

 

[GLTHFJ60]

I was noticing a clunking when going around corners, so while I had it in the garage I started looking for loose connections around the rear suspension. This picture is of the rear spring and the shackle. Guess new springs and shackles are in order.

I'd say! Holy cow man. Keep up the good work!

 

[LordHz]

GLTHFJ60, thanks for the encouragement, I need it right now. The broken rear spring has me a little down, I didn't want to spend a ton of money for suspension bits right now. Anyone have a used set of rear FJ62 springs that aren't totally shot?

Also, I keep failing to mention the rust under the rear gate weather stripping. Mainly because I don't want to think about it right now. About 60% of the "lip" that the weather stripping attaches to is gone and the rust extends down to the inner skin about an inch. I think some of that is just surface rust, but I won't know until I start grinding. So that plus the driver side hole(s) pictured in post 49 will keep me busy for several weekends. I only get short blocks of time to work on the rig, since I have a lot of other real-world stuff to do.

 

[robustbambi]

GLTHFJ60, thanks for the encouragement, I need it right now. The broken rear spring has me a little down, I didn't want to spend a ton of money for suspension bits right now. Anyone have a used set of rear FJ62 springs that aren't totally shot?

PMed

good work killing the rust

 

[gregnash]

Here is my good night photo, while not 100% finished sanding, it is close. Paint going on this weekend.

buckjoey, if you search for my introductory post, I relayed the story of how I got stuck with this particularly sad specimen of a FJ62. Basically, my wife thought the wood paneling was cute. I just wanted something 4 wheel drive, could tow, had working mechanical's and cold A/C. So from that standpoint its fine. The body work enabled me to talk the significant other into a lot of cool tools that I had wanted. So again, a winner. As much of a pain as its been, it has also been fun to learn a lot of new skills. Beats my day job of sitting in front of a computer all day developing software.

LOL... know that feeling. I do Requirement Writing for our software developers (basically am the go between for the lay-man to our software nerds) and when I am done doing that I am here on the forums figuring out what next to do to my truck. However, my significant other limits me on my spending?!

 

[LordHz]

gregnash, feeling you on the limited spending. Heck if I spent half of what my wife does on shoes, purses or antiques, I could replace the truck twenty times over. I shouldn't complain, I have lots of toys as well. I also have a 1991 BRG Miata that I wrench on. As for us nerds, we have to have a non-computer hobby. The Toyota Land Cruiser, Miata, Soccer and Mountain Biking are mine.