Body Delamination - should I buy this 97?

[Jadesdan]

Hi Guys,

I'm picking up this 40th Anniversary LC tomorrow, after a very successful test drive today. I think I have a good line on everything it needs, but this. Do you know what's going on here? How to fix it?

Thank you!

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

A bodged repair with too much body filler leading to paint cracking and water making its way in. Horrors lie beneath no doubt. Fix it with either a lot of skill or a lot of money.

 

[Marvelicious]

A bodged repair with too much body filler leading to paint cracking and water making its way in. Horrors lie beneath no doubt. Fix it with either a lot of skill or a lot of money.

100% agree.

 

[devo]

Hammer and chisel time!
You’ll have to keep us posted on how much bondo you actually find.

 

[Jadesdan]

A bodged repair with too much body filler leading to paint cracking and water making its way in. Horrors lie beneath no doubt. Fix it with either a lot of skill or a lot of money.

Little skill here, and I'd like to spend my money elsewhere to start (cleaning and repairs, not fashion accessories). Is there anything I can do to delay additional damage for a bit?

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Little skill here, and I'd like to spend my money elsewhere to start (cleaning and repairs, not fashion accessories). Is there anything I can do to delay additional damage for a bit?

Not really as water gets down there and rots it out. You could chip it all off and spray some temporary paint over the bare metal, but it would probably look hideous and looking at tha quarter panel it looks to be extensively damaged, round the light cut-out, down to the swage where the rear running light trim is, and probably down to the wheel arch.

 

[TXMeatball]

Hatch isn't lining up either. That's a can of worms if I've ever seen one.

 

[Squeegee]

Lotion may help with the dry cracked areas

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

Unless it's a dirt cheap beater, if it's not too late, run like hell. That will cost far more to put right than you would spend just buying a better example in the first place

 

[Jadesdan]

Unless it's a dirt cheap beater, if it's not too late, run like hell. That will cost far more to put right than you would spend just buying a better example in the first place

$2500 total. No other major problems that I can see.

 

[Mark W]

I am gonna apologize right away for sounding harsh. And I will be honest. I literally spewed coffee on my screen. When I read "body delamination" I thought "WTF is he talking about and I had to click in to see. Then I saw that pic... evidence of the village idiot and his blind brother going on a bender and trying to hide the evidence of their adventures and molestation of that poor abused rig. That was when I had to clean my computer screen .

I do not think I have ever seen worse butchery pretending to be "body work" on an '80. And I only live about 50 miles from Dirtbag Dave!

Don't Don't Don't assume that there is not more buttfuckery about that rig that someone has attempted to hide. Even beyond the 46 lbs of body putty slapped over dented and rusty metal. And I promise you... that corner is far worse than you think it is

This is where I am gonna sound harsh... If you had to ask what was going on there and wonder how to fix it... If you did not immediately realize what a hash up you were looking at... I would really suggest getting someone else to inspect the rig for you before you buy it. I'd bet a hot stripper's Saturday night take that they would find a long list of other... lets just say "defects"

And... this is a parts rig or a rig to beat and bash in the rocks. This is not a rig to buy with plans on making it a pretty daily driver.

BTW, does it have a salvage title? Around these parts, repairing that 1/4 panel properly would have pushed that rig into the "total write off" column so far as an insurance claim was concerned. Then it would have been sold at auction to a shady "rebuilder" who would have actively tried to find sellers that did not know to be suspicious of... shady rebuilders selling seemingly pretty rigs with salvage titles.

I know '80s are few and far between in MT. If the seller let you think this was some sort of "body delamination" that was no big deal...I still say run, don't walk from this one.

Mark...

 

[Kabanstva]

That’s a gallon bondo job if I’ve ever seen one.

 

[Eurasiaoverland]

This is where I am gonna sound harsh... If you had to ask what was going on there and wonder how to fix it... If you did not immediately realize what a hash up you were looking at... I would really suggest getting someone else to inspect the rig for you before you buy it. I'd bet a hot strippers Saturday night take that they would find a long list of other... lets just say "defects"

Exactly what I was thinking. Only a crook would do a repair like that to a vehicle with any value, so I assume it's a bag of with a rotten chassis or an engine that is ready to expire.

That said, 2.5k for an 80 seems like nothing to me (in Asia), I expect it's worth more in parts.

 

[Kernal]

You could remove the cargo area panel and look at the backside of the quarter panel but the photos above already show it's had a good whack
which was "fixed" with a ton of bondo. You then have to wonder what else has the seller done to try to sell it ie: did he dump a bottle of head gasket
sealer in the cooling system to hide a an expensive head gasket leak repair??

FWIW there are detectors that help find where there's bondo on a vehicle but IDK how accurate they are:

The Filler Detective

Find Hidden Body Damage and Body Fillers Pays for Itself in One Use! Sound alert for location and depth of hidden filler Will tell you where body filler is and how deep it is Operates on 8 Volt Battery (included) Spot check the body of the vehicle Micro-Fiber...

www.autobodytoolmart.com

Here's a video showing a similar product:



Already mentioned above, I'd approach that as a parts truck and $2500 isn't bad looking at it that way.

Personally I'd offer $2000 (bring $2500 cash), drive it until you figure out what you're going to do with it.

How many miles, what does the rest of the vehicle look like, undercarriage rust??

 

[Jadesdan]

How many miles, what does the rest of the vehicle look like, undercarriage rust??

240k, the rest of the vehice is decent, and no frame rust, but a bit of body rust by the rear wheel wells. I have tons of pictures... should i post them here or start a new thread?

 

[Kabanstva]

240k, the rest of the vehice is decent, and no frame rust, but a bit of body rust by the rear wheel wells. I have tons of pictures... should i post them here or start a new thread?

Post them here

 

[mudgudgeon]

Post them here.

That's enough of these threads already, don't start another.

I agree with above.

If you have no illusions about this truck, could be a fun truck.
It'll never be a pristine truck you take home to meet your mother.

Its been fondled in ways no self respecting truck should, and has the tattoos to prove it.

She's destined for the strip club, not pretty enough for OnlyFans

 

[Jadesdan]

Thank you all for your responses. Mark, you're not being harsh... I am obviously naive when it comes to body work and bondo, but I'm hopeful that's about where my ignorance ends.

Concerning the "seller"... he's actually just an acquaintance that I've worked with before and found out through a mutual friend that he was considering selling his LC. He currently drives a 100 series and his dad drives a GX450 I think, plus he has a 1st gen 4Runner. I approached him about selling it and his sales approach was "meet me at Costco and you can drive it around for an hour while I shop". He's not pushing it or trying to smooth me over.

Considering that my son recently bought a bare-bones 2006 Ford Focus with bald tires for $2000, I feel like $2500 for a half-way solid semi-collectible rig with new Bizzaks and working 4wd is not a bad deal.

Here are the pics of just the bad stuff. I drove it on the highway and on the ice, and everything felt pretty solid.

 

[Jadesdan]

Last post was limited to 5 pics, here are the rest.

 

[Jadesdan]

I didn't take any pics of the engine bay.... There was a little oil seepage on the front above the top pulley, but the hoses and everything else looked great. The tranny and Tcase were dry.