Down the "just paint it" Rabbit Hole - Hatch Repair First Though (1 Viewer)

[Orange Hat]

Okay LC80 friends, need some advice/recommendations on painting the 80.

What started as a Covid downtime project by removing/rebuilding/painting the axles and putting it all back together with OEM parts led to the typical "might as well do this, that, and the other" which included pulling the flares to have them repainted and reinstalled with new gaskets. My goal with this rig was a minor restoration (or refresh, take your pick) as the exterior is not in that bad of shape (ie, no door dings or bumps and bruises). However, it does have the paint scar here and there and most of that was on the flares which has already been remedied. But here I am putting these freshly painted and flawless flares back on the 80 and I just can't do it (the proverbial lipstick on a pig).

So, the decision has been made to paint it...but what steps do I need to take? I've already removed the flares (of course), bumpers, and lights. Do I also need to remove the door molding, handles, roof rack/rails, etc? I'm sure the paint shop will provide some direction but was looking for some LC wisdom here as I don't like others touching my 80 (or at least want to minimize it).

The most concerning part is the rear hatch (some of you may be saying why didn't you mention this in the first place) but this does seem to direct next steps...

The air deflector shows some rust (minor) as well. This is beyond my skillset to repair so do I take it to a generic paint shop to have them repair and then repaint? Or do I have this repaired by a Land Cruiser specialist first (who?) and then have them repaint?

I live in the DFW area and the paint shop that did the flares did a great job (Magic Touch Paint & Body - Lewisville) so I have no issues with them painting the vehicle...it's this rear hatch that has me wondering what to do.

 

[Roostre]

My rear hatch has worse and I've been wondering the same things. It's hard to find a guy that won't just bondo it up and send it.

I did find a good U-toob video about it:

There are 2 parts. Its a little long, but I skipped tedious sections and ran it on fast fwd. Lots of info there.

 

[b16]

I did mine not too long ago. I did the bondo work myself, first time, it is easy to do. In hindsight I should have painted the whole hatch. Sounds like you're going that route? Here are some progress pics of mine. You'll want to remove the rear window as most of the rust is under there. I found more spots on mine. The seal just peels off from the outside. Disconnect the defroster wires and carefully pull out the glass from the outside.

You can see before it was getting pretty bad. When I saw this picture I tore into the next weekend.

 

[White Stripe]

If you have rust forming under your hatch window seal, it's likely the windshield and quarter glass seals have rust forming too. The quarter glass aluminum slider frame can get very deteriorated. Also look in the bottom of the inside of your quarters, water can get in there and rust.

 

[b16]

If you have rust forming under your hatch window seal, it's likely the windshield and quarter glass seals have rust forming too. The quarter glass aluminum slider frame can get very deteriorated. Also look in the bottom of the inside of your quarters, water can get in there and rust.

Ya, I know mine has a small bubble forming on the drivers side. I have been avoiding it for now. How difficult is it to remove and re-install that rear quarter glass?

 

[Orange Hat]

Thanks for the replies so far, I'm feeling more confident to address this now. I did check the deflector and roof rails tonight and they came off with no drama...there is rust but not as much as I thought but it does bring a lot of satisfaction getting this cleaned up.

That set of videos outlined above (thanks @Roostre) along with the repair pics (thanks @b16) are very helpful!! Next steps are to get the rest of the other items off the vehicle and load it up and take it to the paint shop. Per @White Stripe's suggestion, I'm gonna check the side glass areas as well...fingers crossed.