Advice on Rust Fix and Paint Job (1 Viewer)

[snye]

I need a little advice on doing my own body work and paint. You can see in the pics below I've got some significant rear quarter rust, as well as at the bottom of the tail gate, on the inside of both front doors just above the hinge, and worst of all, in the rear wheel wells near the back seat anchors.

I've got a friend with a shop and all the equipment (welders, sheet metal, etc) to fix the rust, and he has some experience in doing so and has offered to help. Question is what am I really getting into? Will this be a bigger job than I am anticipating?

If I do go ahead with the rust repair, that leads to a new paint job. Same friend is restoring a 60's Chevy pickup and will soon build a paint booth in his shop and paint his. So again, I will have a place and the tools to do the job. My paint currently is two stage and the clear coat is peeling quite bad on the hood and roof. If I do paint, I would like to do single stage acrylic enamel. And if I do paint, I would like to go white. But, if I go a completely different color, do I need to pull all the trim off around windows/door, pull the windows completely out, or just tape everything off? Is it wise to switch colors so drastically?

This is my first cruiser and I got a great deal on it, so part of me is wondering if I should just drive it and enjoy it until it rusts to the ground or fix it right now. It's really a matter of doing it myself or not doing it at all. Maybe I should put my time/money into building some nice custom bumpers that I could carry over to the next cruiser? I've got a bunch of time until July, then come July I start a residency program and won't have much time for the next 6 years.

Any advice or past experience you can provide on the above questions is greatly appreciated.

 

[FJ62Landcruiser]

If it were me...I'd sand it, POR it, fill it, paint it, and drive it like I stole it.

Aside from the rear rocker panel, it doesn't look all that bad although it's always worse when you get to sanding and grinding on it...You should have seen mine...

Get a guard and rear bumper for it and enjoy it.

Rod

 

[ad20k]

You can get rust repair panels at
Toyota Land Cruiser Rust Repair Panels

 

[snye]

If it were me...I'd sand it, POR it, fill it, paint it, and drive it like I stole it.

Aside from the rear rocker panel, it doesn't look all that bad although it's always worse when you get to sanding and grinding on it...You should have seen mine...

Get a guard and rear bumper for it and enjoy it.

Rod

Thanks Rod. I have given that a lot of thought as well. I have a hard time deciding where to start and more importantly where to stop. I get ambitious, and then the next day come back to reality.

You can get rust repair panels at
Toyota Land Cruiser Rust Repair Panels

Thanks, I've looked at those. But two of those and I'm paying about half as much as I paid for the whole truck.

 

[DanaH8sFJ]

Snye, your rig doesn't look to rusted out , I agree with FJ62 landcruiser ,maybe cut out what cancer you can then weld it up , por 15 and fill ,paint and drive . Unless your going for a complete frame off restore , then your talking big$ . If your friend has some left over or unused metal you could fab it in , I need a friend like that! As far as color , white looks good , and a good paint job is in the prep work so if you have the time sand and scuff every nook and cranny you can then use a good wax and oil cleaner to wipe it down something like prekleeno. Bytheway nice job on the interior how did you cut the diamond plate ? And attach it to the panels ? Also how did you find the contour of the replacement panels?

 

[meigsrock]

I say fix it! It does not look too bad, your frame even looks pretty good.

Power wash the underside, and por-15 the frame. Then fix the holes and any open seam. Then por-15 or coat the inner fender wells.

You can then pain the repaired parts or do like many people do and use a heavy duty roll on paint for the rocker panels and fenders. Then you should be able to get another 10+ years out of it easy.

Now is the time, especially if you have a little time and some friends willing to help.

You can always just buy bumpers and put them on later when in school.

It looks like it is worth saving, plus it already has a lift on it.

SAVE THE CRUISER from the rust!

 

[LB LandCruiser]

Fix it right. Cut the rust out and repair with fresh metal. You may find once you cut the rust out there is more on the inside, especially rear quarter panels. Doing entire panels from door jamb to tail lamp are a PITA because of drilling out old welds and aligning new panels. My experience has been that every panel I have ever welded on never fit right the first time. Always needed some massaging. However long you think that might take you, multiply it by 3. Plan for the worst and hope for the best.

There are spray can a "weld through primers" that allow you to prime the metal inside and out, then weld parts together. Works pretty well. +1 on POR, too. I have cut metal out, then used POR 15 mixed in a 1 gallon home depot type insecticide sprayer to reach inside cowls, rear quarter panels and frames.

Take care of your truck and she'll take care of you.

 

[snye]

Fix it right. Cut the rust out and repair with fresh metal. You may find once you cut the rust out there is more on the inside, especially rear quarter panels. Doing entire panels from door jamb to tail lamp are a PITA because of drilling out old welds and aligning new panels. My experience has been that every panel I have ever welded on never fit right the first time. Always needed some massaging. However long you think that might take you, multiply it by 3. Plan for the worst and hope for the best.

There are spray can a "weld through primers" that allow you to prime the metal inside and out, then weld parts together. Works pretty well. +1 on POR, too. I have cut metal out, then used POR 15 mixed in a 1 gallon home depot type insecticide sprayer to reach inside cowls, rear quarter panels and frames.

Take care of your truck and she'll take care of you.

Your advice about it taking 3x's longer is absolutely true. Every house job I tackle always takes twice as long and twice as much $$$.

That's my biggest hesitation, is starting in on it and then wishing I would have just left it alone. However, when I got into my rear quarters from the rear cargo area, they actually looked really good. Maybe now is the time before I have to replace the whole rear end.

Thanks for the tips on the weldable primer. Good to know.

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

I used replacement panels from 4wheel auto.

They require some stretching and shrinking and modifying to fit right.

Use seam sealer
Use weld through primer
Use a good high build primer and give it plenty of cure time

My rust had eaten away the inner lip so I had to rebuild that as well so as to have something to spot weld to.

If you are picky about the end result I'd think twice about doing this project yourself, unless of course you know a fair bit about body work. I'd hate to see you screw up such expensive replacement panels.

On the other hand its nice not to see any rust back there and know it wont be back for a very very long time!

My.02

I have many more pics documenting the whole process..... let me know if you'd like to see any more of them.

Good luck!

 

[DanaH8sFJ]

So I was thinking about your original ? And realized that the fun is in the journey . If you have the time , I say fix it right, possibly frame off restore , then in the end you know what you have. More so if you have the means and resources. Just my 3 cents. I use to have friends like yours , then they all went and got educated and became doctors and lawyers and day traders , and oilmen , now the only time I hear from them is when they want to barrow tools or help with fixing their stuff . I'm not trying to hijack your thread but you seem like a like able guy with a level head and some real skills. So when you get ready to do the restore let me know and I can schedule a few weeks off and come help you .ive got a travel trailer just need a place to get some electric.? Maybe I could park it at your friends shop? Just let me know if you'd like my help.

 

[vipergrhd]

SWEET!

That is sweet lookin after cutting out the cancer and replacing the panel looks like nothing happened.any pics of the rig?

 

[snye]

I used replacement panels from 4wheel auto.

They require some stretching and shrinking and modifying to fit right.

Use seam sealer
Use weld through primer
Use a good high build primer and give it plenty of cure time

My rust had eaten away the inner lip so I had to rebuild that as well so as to have something to spot weld to.

If you are picky about the end result I'd think twice about doing this project yourself, unless of course you know a fair bit about body work. I'd hate to see you screw up such expensive replacement panels.

On the other hand its nice not to see any rust back there and know it wont be back for a very very long time!

My.02

I have many more pics documenting the whole process..... let me know if you'd like to see any more of them.

Good luck!

Awesome!! Love it. Would love to see all the pics. Feel free to post them here so we can all learn (and lust of course) or you can email them to me if that is easier. PM me and I'll send you my email if you want to go that route.

I agree, it will be very nice to look back after it's fixed and know that I won't have to jack with it again, but my 2 year old son might in 20 years.

To be quite honest, I know very little about body work. But, I also know that I love doing something for myself and the satisfaction that comes back to you every time you look at what you did. IMO that's much nicer than looking at it and thinking, "Wow, I paid so and so $2,000 to fix that and I probably could have done just as good of job myself." I'm also afraid that too many body shops would do a nice cover up of the rust, but not a full extinction of it. I even had one tell me flat out that's what he was planning on.

So, perhaps the thing to do is take a good close look at what I'm getting into. Maybe even dig into one of the rear quarters a bite at a time and see what's under there, then go for a replacement panel if necessary. In the meantime I'll keep my eyes posted for nearby part outs where I could maybe get some scrap panels from.

Appreciate your .02.

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

Awesome!! Love it. Would love to see all the pics. Feel free to post them here so we can all learn (and lust of course) or you can email them to me if that is easier. PM me and I'll send you my email if you want to go that route.

I agree, it will be very nice to look back after it's fixed and know that I won't have to jack with it again, but my 2 year old son might in 20 years.

To be quite honest, I know very little about body work. But, I also know that I love doing something for myself and the satisfaction that comes back to you every time you look at what you did. IMO that's much nicer than looking at it and thinking, "Wow, I paid so and so $2,000 to fix that and I probably could have done just as good of job myself." I'm also afraid that too many body shops would do a nice cover up of the rust, but not a full extinction of it. I even had one tell me flat out that's what he was planning on.

So, perhaps the thing to do is take a good close look at what I'm getting into. Maybe even dig into one of the rear quarters a bite at a time and see what's under there, then go for a replacement panel if necessary. In the meantime I'll keep my eyes posted for nearby part outs where I could maybe get some scrap panels from.

Appreciate your .02.

Looking at your pics it appears that the old bondo over rust approach has already been done once to your rig by a PO.

If you take your time you'll find the job fun and rewarding.Feel free to PM me any questions and Ill help as best I can. I must admit I've been out of the auto body trade for ten years now but I still know a thing or two.

Here is a link to the bodywork page of my build thread.
Hope this helps.

Cam

https://forum.ih8mud.com/ca-bc-vanc...66-new-member-hello-there-vi-bit-intro-5.html

 

[snye]

Looking at your pics it appears that the old bondo over rust approach has already been done once to your rig by a PO.

If you take your time you'll find the job fun and rewarding.Feel free to PM me any questions and Ill help as best I can. I must admit I've been out of the auto body trade for ten years now but I still know a thing or two.

Here is a link to the bodywork page of my build thread.
Hope this helps.

Cam

https://forum.ih8mud.com/ca-bc-vanc...66-new-member-hello-there-vi-bit-intro-5.html

Thanks Cam, A little warning of HARD CORE would have been nice! Very nice work man, and very intimidating.

I really liked the paint you used on your body repair. What color is it? And it almost looks like it might be a bit metallic?

I agree with your assessment that it has some previous bondo work already done. I'm afraid if I took it to a body shop that's exactly what they would do. There is a cruiser shop here in town. Maybe I'll swing over there and get their thoughts.

Also, is that a glasspack under that thing? How does it sound? I am leaning toward a glasspack.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Steve

 

[slowandsteady BJ]

Thanks Cam, A little warning of HARD CORE would have been nice! Very nice work man, and very intimidating.

I really liked the paint you used on your body repair. What color is it? And it almost looks like it might be a bit metallic?

I agree with your assessment that it has some previous bondo work already done. I'm afraid if I took it to a body shop that's exactly what they would do. There is a cruiser shop here in town. Maybe I'll swing over there and get their thoughts.

Also, is that a glasspack under that thing? How does it sound? I am leaning toward a glasspack.

Thanks for the inspiration.

Steve

Paint is a factory color... code 8B4. I could have taken a little more time on the blends as the new paint was mixed to the original color (not the 25yr. old paint.) It all seems to look good now though after scratching it all up on trails.

Muffler is a resonator thing I had lying around.
As for the sound.... kinda apples to oranges as I have a turbo diesel four and you have a n/a six gasser. (so i assume anyway)

Good luck

 

[SHERMAN FJ62]

• Has anyone used these guys recently. Panels good quality?

Toyota Land Cruiser Rust Repair Panels

 

[Jentuh]

I haven't used these specifically, but I'm keen to see how they fit. I've used similar aftermarket replacement panels.
Shape is far far from perfect on the ones I used, but puts you in the right direction and helps a lot! the rear quater panel replacement looks interesting!

@slowandsteady BJ have you considered boxing the arch?