BJ71 Body Off resto-mod prep

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Biker

Biker

10 Year
Joined
Jan 21, 2013
Threads
10
Messages
26
Location
Boise, ID
I've got a BJ71 and I'm looking to pull the body off sometime in the next few months and send it to a body shop for a strip, rust/dent/scratch repair, and repaint. Looking for pointers tips from someone who's done something like this.

Is there anything I need to worry about or be aware of? Anything that I should do before-hand for prep? Can I leave the fenders and front core support attached and remove it all as one assembly? I do intend to remove the doors, hood, and all the glass.

Also, is there anything special that I might want to do before I put the body back on? Aside from having the underside of the body sprayed with bedliner.
 
I haven't done it but I have seen plenty being done. You can lift the entire body off in one go. Just make sure you have the height. But I think a lot of people take the front off to make it lighter and avoid having to lift it above the engine
Spray all the body mount bolts with something to dissolve any rust a few days before.
On a lot of restos I have seen on 7* series, they forget or cant be bothered to replace the rubber beading between the inner and outer fenders, a small thing but they shrink over time and it always seems to stand out when its back together.
 
POR15 or Rust Bullet ever hollow panel on the truck after body work but before final paint. Do the same to the frame unless you are powder coating it. Difficult to do to the frame since it is fully boxed but I have done it a number of times and it is doable.

Remove seam sealer any where in the body that looks shoddy like roof gutter rails. Apply new seam sealer. Por15 makes an interesting product for this, haven't tried it yet but I will soon. 3M makes most of the seam dealers out there.

If you are going all out pull all the glass and look for rust at all the seam/pinch welds. It is worth the money for all new weather stripping and rubber in the whole truck since you are doing a restore.

Lizard skin the underside and even the floor inside plus firewall both sides. This is a good first layer for sound deadening.

Cheers
 
I appreciate it y'all. It's gonna be a little bit before I actually get this started, but it ought to not be too much longer. I'll post progress pics as I go.

As of right now, I'm only planning on a body-off. The frame looks in great shape, fingers crossed that I don't find something stupid...
 
Biker said:
I appreciate it y'all. It's gonna be a little bit before I actually get this started, but it ought to not be too much longer. I'll post progress pics as I go.

As of right now, I'm only planning on a body-off. The frame looks in great shape, fingers crossed that I don't find something stupid...
Click to expand...


I just realized you are local to me. If you want to hook up and have a beer and chat up the truck, drop me a pm or email. I have a 70 as well and lot's of local resources. I also owned and ran a restoration shop for years so can probably give ya some face to face advice.

Cheers
 
RMP&O:

Most Excellent! PM sent
 
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