Build 1st FJ40, '76 - SMOKEY - Puttin’ her Back Together

[shipmag]

Real steel i got for qtr panel and rear bed did not include any nuts welded to metal.

 

[Vae Victus]

This was the rear quarter after cleaning it up a bit more. I'm going to try sand blasting next with the small pressure pot. It won't be fast but it will show me wether or not I want to rent a big rig and do it myself.

Much damage. Ugh.

Old spare tire mount holes.

 

[TheHardWay]

BONDO. First choice of low budget rust repairs! WOW

 

[Bambi Girl]

Hi V V
Have you considered that Blasting could damage the panel making your job harder.
I'm not a lover of blasting, as well as stretching body panels you will always find traces of grit when you come to the final finish.

Have you tried 80 grit paper on a wobble sander?
A wire brush or a purple wheel are good air tools too when it comes to panel repairs.
80 grit will remove the bog as we call it here down under and not add to further panel damage.
These are the tools I used.
Keep up the good work.
Cheers Peter

...via IH8MUD app

 

[White Stripe]

I haven't seen a lot of your thread. But if u need new quarters, and inner fender and floor and rear sill repairs, I would just get a half tub from ebi. http://www.extremebends.com
It would speed up the process a ton and just leave the front half for rust repair which isn't too hard. Also, a tech tip, for any spot weld areas that may have a little rust in the seam, I take Eastwood's rust converter n let it run into the seam.

 

[Vae Victus]

Hi V V
Have you considered that Blasting could damage the panel making your job harder.
I'm not a lover of blasting, as well as stretching body panels you will always find traces of grit when you come to the final finish.

Have you tried 80 grit paper on a wobble sander?
A wire brush or a purple wheel are good air tools too when it comes to panel repairs.
80 grit will remove the bog as we call it here down under and not add to further panel damage.
These are the tools I used.
Keep up the good work.
Cheers Peter

...via IH8MUD app

Peter,
Thanks for showing me the tools you use - very helpful. Yes I've been concerned about the blasting piece, but I was more concerned with the issue of getting off all that bondo and undercoating in a fairly efficient manner. I've got lots of wire wheels and getting a good supply of other sanding disks. The angle grinder is my first air tool. Love it. The little 2" discs grind down too quickly though.

I'll keep experimenting. May do a little blasting in hard to reach areas and hard to clean areas and see how that does. I'll use the rotary tools for the simpler areas where it is flat, or where I risk damaging the panels.

 

[Vae Victus]

I haven't seen a lot of your thread. But if u need new quarters, and inner fender and floor and rear sill repairs, I would just get a half tub from ebi. http://www.extremebends.com
It would speed up the process a ton and just leave the front half for rust repair which isn't too hard. Also, a tech tip, for any spot weld areas that may have a little rust in the seam, I take Eastwood's rust converter n let it run into the seam.

I am fortunate the rear is pretty good except the rear sill area. Have a new sill already. Rear tub is pristine-ish (fender wells have an extra hole or two from the PO but not from rust). Hopefully I can patch, but I need to strip some more paint down and see what I have in a couple of traditional trouble areas.

Thank you for the input and the link. I'll check out extremebends.com.

 

[RWBeringer4x4]

@Vae Victus - I must have missed it previously, where did you source your rear sill? There seems to be a number of places that offer it. Will be curious to see how it all lines up.

 

[Vae Victus]

Rick - Mud member @Awl_TEQ. I got it about a year ago and haven't even opened the box yet. [EDIT: Confirmed and linked Awl_TEQ into thread]

 

[Vae Victus]

Been a couple weeks. I finally finished a few projects I was working on around the house. Now I can get back to the cruiser.

I removed the last things that are still attached to the frame. Who knew there were so many damn rusted bolts required to get the steering box and damper off as well as the front bumper. They were all rusted and all hard to remove. The Sawzall came in very handy a couple of times.

Also, there was just a little bit of dirt in the frame that I was able to clean up.

We were supposed to go to the beach two days ago but there's major flooding where we were going to be postponed the trip. That's given me a little bit of time to work on things.

Frame is very rust free and solid. Thankful for that. Picked up 4 bags of good media blasting material. 2 bags of #4 crushed glass and 2 of AlOx 120 grit. I may do some work on frame and see how much I can do myself. It'll be fun - like painting the Statue of Liberty with a tooth brush.

 

[shipmag]

God invented oxy acetylene tourched to heat bolts up red hou and let them cool and they turn right off.

 

[Vae Victus]

Mmmm, true, true. Most snapped before needing the saw, but a couple of the bumper flat-headed bolts would have benefitted from remembering that.

 

[Weber Sarge]

Favorite tool has been the "red and green" wrench as of late - on an '05 Chevy Equinox . I will say - if someone asks for help removing the front wheel unit bearings , tell 'em to go pound sand . I've never had to use a -4 heavy tip on my Harris on a car , but really needed a -5 instead . Aluminum and steel doesn't get along , just saying . GM and others don't know what anti-seize is for , I guess .

Trick for bolts that have to be saved - use some heat , just to a dull glow to not hurt material strength and apply some paraffin canning wax . Let it cool a little and they'll come right off . Be careful using it around areas that have to be painted - it soaks deep into the metal and paint won't stick . Trick to using a torch is to heat it really hot really quick and remove the fastener while it's nearly glowing . Be wary of your tools - over time the heat soaking will weaken hardened steels - especially chrome vanadium and make them really brittle .

Sarge

 

[Vae Victus]

Trick for bolts that have to be saved - use some heat , just to a dull glow to not hurt material strength and apply some paraffin canning wax . Let it cool a little and they'll come right off . Be careful using it around areas that have to be painted - it soaks deep into the metal and paint won't stick . Trick to using a torch is to heat it really hot really quick and remove the fastener while it's nearly glowing . Be wary of your tools - over time the heat soaking will weaken hardened steels - especially chrome vanadium and make them really brittle .

Sarge

You've told me this 3x in the past two years, and I keep forgetting to try it.

 

[Vae Victus]

Finally got an hour on the truck today. Discovered a 7" flappy disk that absolutely ate the paint (and metal if not careful) off the truck. I got this quarter done in less than an hour.

Sorry for the crap photo.

Uncovered more hidden cancer.

Any issues with this 40 grit disk?

Do I need to prime immediately? I don't know what I'm doing now.

 

[Bambi Girl]

Hi VV
Good to see your pushing onward with the project.
What would i do next?
Sand 80 grit with the wobble sander.
If it is going to be a little while before your next step put some etch primer on what you have sanded. This will stop rust.
IMPORANT be sure you use an etch primer compatible with what is going to be your final finish.
IMPORTANT be sure you wipe the panel down with a good grease and Wax remover before applying the etch primer.
The etch primer only needs to go on lite as you will remove most of it as you start your body repairs.
Cheers Peter


...via IH8MUD app

 

[Vae Victus]

Having never painted a vehicle before I've got a lot to learn.

Hopefully some Mudders will put me a link to their favorite paint education thread in a reply.

For example I *think* I'm going to use a single stage paint. I *think* I've seen PPG is what I need, but I'm not sure what I need factor in so I can make that decision. No clear coat - traditional FJ40 paint.

I'll start searching ....

Thanks for the info Peter. (I can't tell you how hard it is to read your posts knowing now that you are male. For about a year I thought you were female until I read a post where you clarified that. Whenever I read you post I have to put a new voice in my head for you. No offense, the name just threw me off.)

 

[SuperBuickGuy]

Having never painted a vehicle before I've got a lot to learn.

Hopefully some Mudders will put me a link to their favorite paint education thread in a reply.

For example I *think* I'm going to use a single stage paint. I *think* I've seen PPG is what I need, but I'm not sure what I need factor in so I can make that decision. No clear coat - traditional FJ40 paint.

I'll start searching ....

Thanks for the info Peter. (I can't tell you how hard it is to read your posts knowing now that you are male. For about a year I thought you were female until I read a post where you clarified that. Whenever I read you post I have to put a new voice in my head for you. No offense, the name just threw me off.)

Single stage is your friend on a 4x4 (of course, I'm ignoring this on my build because I'm an idiot). That said, there is no law against putting single stage clear over a single stage base. The benefit of the clear is you can cut and buff it with far less fear of going too far (if the sanding starts being the color you painted the car - you went too far) and even if you do, it's pretty easy to spot in some clear.

That said, in my opinion you're asking the wrong question - what type of paint should you use e.g. enamel, acrylic, and lacquer (heh, NO) makes far more difference then who made it. On a metal body with nothing flexible (rubber or fiberglass), the hardest paint works best (I painted a Corvette acrylic enamel, then flaked it off several years later). Not to mention that in some areas, the carrier (water or solvent) is determined by the government.

So the most relevant advice is this - you can buy paint online for cheap, don't do it. It's exactly the same as the paint you buy from your local automotive-paint supplier however it fails in this - you don't get the advice from the guys behind the counter. Find a good paint store, and buy from them. You'll pay about double the online price - but what is your time worth when you have to sand it all back off and start again? A paint store knows what works in your area (humidity, temperature, even wind make huge differences in how paint turns out), and they also know what you want - a color chip online looks far different then what it looks like IRL. That said, don't buy supplies from the paint store (sand paper, etc) - I have some $10 2000 grit DA disks that cost less then a dollar online (needed it to finish, but good grief, I honestly didn't want to make their house payment).

Heck, Rustoleum works as a body paint but, only use it if you're planning on throwing the car away when it is used up because it simply doesn't ever come completely off and it fades really, really quickly.

All that said, most backyard hobbiests have, at some point in their life, painted a car outside. Despite the "OMG YOU'RE AN IDIOT" comments that it can garner - the reality is it can work fine, it just takes more time to color sand the bugs out (the trick here is not to paint on a windy day).

 

[Vae Victus]

Thanks SBG. I'll go to the local paint place, and inquire from a friend who is a custom painter regarding paint and primer.

Back to Peter (Bambi Girl's) recent comments: I'm looking at a Hutchins DA 4650 sander and a 4500. I see that a 4650 is more aggressive (the stage I'm in now) vs the 4500 which is better for finishing work. If I buy a good DA, should I get one that is better at finishing and use the other tools (like the heavy disks I used yesterday) for removal, or am I doing too much damage with a 40 grit wheel?

 

[Bambi Girl]

Hi VV
Thank you for putting a smile on my face. You even put a smile on Nats face.
Sorry to squash your mental picture of us.
Found these photos of the wobbler and the bonnet after sanding and the bonnet after etch priming.
For what it's worth I used two pac . Was a bit nervous at first but this stuff is so easy to spray.
In my mind it was the right decision .
I used around 300 sanding disc on my build.
Cheers Bambi Peter Nat

...via IH8MUD app