Daisy the rust bucket (1 Viewer)

[Neils4him]

3 years ago i came across her on CL. She runs great, but like many FJs she has some rust. Primarily the rear wheels as well as the front DS fender. She'd also been in a fender bender and the DS rear quarter panel was crunched. I've been prepping for these repairs for a while, got myself a MIG welder, sourced some donor parts and started cutting a couple weeks ago. Here's my progress.

 

[Neils4him]

More picks, I also cleaned out the gutters.

 

[Neils4him]

Got more done today. Resealed the gutters. Replaced the angle iron that the rear hatch seal attaches to. Found a load of rust under the rear DS window chrome. Then I tore out all the carpet and found a hole in the floor on the passenger side. Rear heater was already disconnected, so took that out and welded the hole shut. Also found that the noise deadening crap on the drivers side had melted to the carpet padding. After a little further inspection I found that the heat shields are all rusted out. Anyone have a DIY fix? Busy day.

 

[SteveH]

Lots of good work. I would fab new heat shields from heavier-gauge metal, and perhaps spray them with cold-galv compound before installing.

When you're all done with that nice bodywork and paint, be sure you rustproof from behind with lots of thick axle grease, slathered on with a gloved hand. But first, shine a light behind your welds to be darn sure there aren't any pinholes in the welds before you put away the welder.

 

[Neils4him]

She's coming along... finished metal work, rocker panel repair, rear door seal metal, new (fj60) left fender bondo and alot of sanding. Next step is paint, then carpet and put it back together.

 

[Seth S]

Making it look easy. Nice job.

 

[Neils4him]

Making it look easy. Nice job.

Not easy, but fun and a good excuse to drink beer.

 

[Neils4him]

I stripped all the trim, mirrors, bumpers grill, lights, bezel, etc off Daisy and sent her for paint at the local paint shop. They didn't paint the jams and didn't factory match the paint, but overall she looks 94% better. Now fix a couple holes in the floor, new trim black on everything and, and and....

 

[mongoose2231]

I am doing the same exact thing to my truck. Yours is not as bad as mine though.
Keep at it, looks good.

 

[EscapeWagon62]

More picks, I also cleaned out the gutters.

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Awesome work!

 

[Neils4him]

Finally have time to post the pics from the final phase. POR15 on every nut, bolt, weld, seat brackets, seat belt brackets, etc. Trim black on wheel center caps, wipers, mirrors, grill, emblems, front bumper and new carpet. Found a tube bumper for the rear (not a perfect match). Added an LED light bar and @trailtailor antenna mount. Replaced the old n' busted center console with a custom wood model. Added the original cup holders She cleans up pretty nice.

 

[Neils4him]

Few more pics...

 

[brownbear]

Very good work! I've done it twice to the same cruiser. I find its an every ten year affair..

So my suggestion to anyone else. Instead of trying to weld in with edges to edges, over lap your repairs. Once you cut out the rust, just overlap it. Throw some weld thru primer on the clean metal and lay it on. Grind, then smooth the edge with some filler. We are not doing restoration here, just repair. There is a difference.

I've done the edge to edge repairs and you burn a few bigger hoes, then you patch etc.. It is so much easier to overlap and get a super strong weld.

 

[Neils4him]

Very good work! I've done it twice to the same cruiser. I find its an every ten year affair..

So my suggestion to anyone else. Instead of trying to weld in with edges to edges, over lap your repairs. Once you cut out the rust, just overlap it. Throw some weld thru primer on the clean metal and lay it on. Grind, then smooth the edge with some filler. We are not doing restoration here, just repair. There is a difference.

I've done the edge to edge repairs and you burn a few bigger hoes, then you patch etc.. It is so much easier to overlap and get a super strong weld.

Now you tell me! Wish I woulda known that earlier, buy totally agree now that I've done it. I have some rocker panel repairs to do on my blue 62 and will heed this advice.

 

[brownbear]

I chased rocker rust for quite some time. Then I cut out my rockers completely and welded in tube steel. It not a perfect solution, but from 5 feet back it looks fairly normal. Here it is. Rocker Panel slider combo

The problem with the rockers is most of the rust comes from the inside out. It starts at the bottom seam where it is bare metal and creeps up inside. Anyone who has okay rockers spray some corrosion proofing in there today!