Hojack
♠️Project Snowball❄️
Nice repair work Greg. Get control of that cancer on the cruiser.
Builds Finally got my own...Meet BeBe
- Thread starter gregnash
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gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1,662
Thanks Hojack. There is a lot more there than I had originally anticipated and been told by the PO.
So far;
- Lower tailgate was first thing replaced, large hole under the 4WD emblem
- both rear arches and lower rocker panels (dont know if they are considered rockers between the rear wheel and bumper) have been completely rusted out.
- Drivers door bottom was completely rusted out (replaced earlier this year with new to me door)
- Rear passenger door has large hole in it (will be replaced this weekend), and
- Front passenger door has a good amount of rust at the bottom but looks to be salvageable. Going to have to remove this weekend to address.
As I have found little spots bubbling through paint or whatnot I have been attempting to treat them appropriately. Luckily I have found NO roof rust at all and no frame rust that has me worried (c-channels could use to be replaced eventually). BeBe lived almost her entire life in Salt Lake City, Utah so that explains the rust. But for living there here entire life she must have been well taken care of by the first owner (I am fourth) as I know it was a company vehicle and the company owned it up until the early 2000s.
While we have snow here during the winters, normally the roads in Carson and around are not salted unless the ice gets real bad, they normally just throw down sand. Up in Tahoe is somewhat the same but they do use salt more. After the body is done, next year will probably be tackling the underside and rust prevention down there.. I had started doing some of that when I was swapping suspension parts so some of the frame has been taken down with a wire brush and then painted with Rust Reformer. But when I tackle it next I will go a bit more aggressive and go with a full blow rust converter like Rust Sergeant or something that is a paint on gel that actually converts the surface metal and then paint over that with something like Chassis Saver.
So far;
- Lower tailgate was first thing replaced, large hole under the 4WD emblem
- both rear arches and lower rocker panels (dont know if they are considered rockers between the rear wheel and bumper) have been completely rusted out.
- Drivers door bottom was completely rusted out (replaced earlier this year with new to me door)
- Rear passenger door has large hole in it (will be replaced this weekend), and
- Front passenger door has a good amount of rust at the bottom but looks to be salvageable. Going to have to remove this weekend to address.
As I have found little spots bubbling through paint or whatnot I have been attempting to treat them appropriately. Luckily I have found NO roof rust at all and no frame rust that has me worried (c-channels could use to be replaced eventually). BeBe lived almost her entire life in Salt Lake City, Utah so that explains the rust. But for living there here entire life she must have been well taken care of by the first owner (I am fourth) as I know it was a company vehicle and the company owned it up until the early 2000s.
While we have snow here during the winters, normally the roads in Carson and around are not salted unless the ice gets real bad, they normally just throw down sand. Up in Tahoe is somewhat the same but they do use salt more. After the body is done, next year will probably be tackling the underside and rust prevention down there.. I had started doing some of that when I was swapping suspension parts so some of the frame has been taken down with a wire brush and then painted with Rust Reformer. But when I tackle it next I will go a bit more aggressive and go with a full blow rust converter like Rust Sergeant or something that is a paint on gel that actually converts the surface metal and then paint over that with something like Chassis Saver.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1,663
Well as many of you saw, this weekend I tackled some more body work and rust. Took care of the rear passenger door and replaced with the spare I had from @KWalkerM. Then took care of some rust at the bottom of the front passenger door. Unfortunately, that turned out to be worse than I had anticipated so I did what I could, treated with Rust Converter (Prep & Etch) and then threw some body filler over it. The corners were rusted pretty badly but not completely through the door skin. Eventually that door will need to be replaced too but for now I believe it will be fine. Just one spot I will be sure to keep an eye on over time.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Bottom of the spare door and the hinge locations had some surface rust so I cleaned it up and primed. Fixed couple small spots of rust that I found around the door sill and dog leg. Same thing, take out rust as much as possible to good metal with an abrasive disc, then Prep & Etch until it turns black (converts).
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Still had a bit of light when I finally finished with that and was thinking about using Plasti-dip to help black out the chrome and what not. Tested my thought process on the small split rail between the main window and the stationary window on the spare door. Doesn't look too bad, now to see how well it holds up.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrUntitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrBottom of the spare door and the hinge locations had some surface rust so I cleaned it up and primed. Fixed couple small spots of rust that I found around the door sill and dog leg. Same thing, take out rust as much as possible to good metal with an abrasive disc, then Prep & Etch until it turns black (converts).
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrUntitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrUntitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrUntitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrStill had a bit of light when I finally finished with that and was thinking about using Plasti-dip to help black out the chrome and what not. Tested my thought process on the small split rail between the main window and the stationary window on the spare door. Doesn't look too bad, now to see how well it holds up.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1,664
This is the true rust/cancer that will be the final part that needs to be taken care of for body work before I paint.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
A while back I had gotten down in that fender well, looking around and found probably 3lbs of mud that was used to create that corner by one of the POs. That is NOT going to be a fun fix but as you can see it HAS TO BE DONE! Got metal set aside to replace, I am seriously hoping it is only limited to just that area and has not spread the entire length of the panel. Plan is to take over the garage starting Thursday night and see whats-what. Wish me luck on this one!
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrA while back I had gotten down in that fender well, looking around and found probably 3lbs of mud that was used to create that corner by one of the POs. That is NOT going to be a fun fix but as you can see it HAS TO BE DONE! Got metal set aside to replace, I am seriously hoping it is only limited to just that area and has not spread the entire length of the panel. Plan is to take over the garage starting Thursday night and see whats-what. Wish me luck on this one!
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1,665
Started the "fun" last night and Oh Boy!!
Literally like 3-4lbs of Mud used to make that corner. Bad part is it was just slapped over the rusty metal and into the hole that looks like it started at the very bottom. Probably was fairly small when it first started out but just grew over the years.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Tried to save as much good metal as possible but in the end most of that corner had to come out.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Luckily I had one last section of wheel well/fender from back when helped @RAYJON disassemble a cruiser at his old house. There was enough of the lip left that I was able to fabricate something. Won't be perfect but nothing on this truck is and that is what gives her character!!!
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Got to fabbing a piece to fill in the top opening before the body seam but then realized it was getting close to 11pm, had work this morning and I am sure that my cranky ass neighbor loves to hear the grinder going at that time of night. Anyways, will hopefully finish up getting the patch panels in tonight and finish up a majority of the welding so that way I can work the body lines over the weekend and prime.
Literally like 3-4lbs of Mud used to make that corner. Bad part is it was just slapped over the rusty metal and into the hole that looks like it started at the very bottom. Probably was fairly small when it first started out but just grew over the years.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrUntitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrUntitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrUntitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrTried to save as much good metal as possible but in the end most of that corner had to come out.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrLuckily I had one last section of wheel well/fender from back when helped @RAYJON disassemble a cruiser at his old house. There was enough of the lip left that I was able to fabricate something. Won't be perfect but nothing on this truck is and that is what gives her character!!!
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrGot to fabbing a piece to fill in the top opening before the body seam but then realized it was getting close to 11pm, had work this morning and I am sure that my cranky ass neighbor loves to hear the grinder going at that time of night. Anyways, will hopefully finish up getting the patch panels in tonight and finish up a majority of the welding so that way I can work the body lines over the weekend and prime.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1,666
Oh and what you are looking at is probably about 5-6hrs worth of work. Started right around 5pm yesterday and ended right around 11pm. With small breaks to let welds cool, dinner and chatting with the wife, probably all together a good 4hrs of fab work. Sometimes stuff like this sucks but it is always FUN!
So stoked to be getting this finally finished so that I can paint in the coming week!!!
And color will be......
either Toyota Pre-Dawn Gray Mica (considered a medium charcoal gray)
or....
Toyota Magnetic Gray Metallic (considered dark charcoal gray or dark gray metallic)
Both colors will be done in DuPont Farm Implement Enamel (non-metallic) single-stage paint for better protection and hardness factor. I honestly like both and the both look great, the Pre-Dawn Mica is just a slight bit (maybe a shade to shade and a half) lighter. To me the Magnetic Gray is more cool (more blues in it) where the Pre-Dawn Mica seems to have a bit of warmth (slight browns or auburns). Right now the Pre-Dawn Mica is winning out, but once I am done I will probably go wander around the Toyota dealership and look at both colors to make a final decision.
So stoked to be getting this finally finished so that I can paint in the coming week!!!
And color will be......
either Toyota Pre-Dawn Gray Mica (considered a medium charcoal gray)
or....
Toyota Magnetic Gray Metallic (considered dark charcoal gray or dark gray metallic)
Both colors will be done in DuPont Farm Implement Enamel (non-metallic) single-stage paint for better protection and hardness factor. I honestly like both and the both look great, the Pre-Dawn Mica is just a slight bit (maybe a shade to shade and a half) lighter. To me the Magnetic Gray is more cool (more blues in it) where the Pre-Dawn Mica seems to have a bit of warmth (slight browns or auburns). Right now the Pre-Dawn Mica is winning out, but once I am done I will probably go wander around the Toyota dealership and look at both colors to make a final decision.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1,667
Well finished that patch up yesterday finally. Was a very long weekend for us with bday parties and other family stuff.
Started on it about 8:30 Sunday morning and closed up shop about 8pm. Pretty much worked on consistently throughout the day with little breaks here and there to let welds and the panel cool since it was a fairly small patch. Got one skim coat of body filler on then sanded it mostly flat, found the low spots and threw another coat on.
Problem was by that point it was after 6pm and sun was setting quick and temp was dropping so I decided to call it a night instead of trying to sand in the waning light.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Remaining sanding will be done after work tonight and if I have enough light left I will throw the primer coat on it to call it good. Went through on that panel and sanded down any little bubbles that I saw, removed bumper end cap to get to corner (and prayed it wasn't rusted out like the other side, and it wasnt!!!) and then treated everything with Prep N Etch. Will treat everything again tonight since it sat in the cold last night without primer on it.
Started on it about 8:30 Sunday morning and closed up shop about 8pm. Pretty much worked on consistently throughout the day with little breaks here and there to let welds and the panel cool since it was a fairly small patch. Got one skim coat of body filler on then sanded it mostly flat, found the low spots and threw another coat on.
Problem was by that point it was after 6pm and sun was setting quick and temp was dropping so I decided to call it a night instead of trying to sand in the waning light.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrUntitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrRemaining sanding will be done after work tonight and if I have enough light left I will throw the primer coat on it to call it good. Went through on that panel and sanded down any little bubbles that I saw, removed bumper end cap to get to corner (and prayed it wasn't rusted out like the other side, and it wasnt!!!) and then treated everything with Prep N Etch. Will treat everything again tonight since it sat in the cold last night without primer on it.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1,668
Seems like all my bumper bolts are rusted together as I was attempting to remove it (parts of the reason I was at it all day) and ended up snapping off two of the chrome top bolts. Since CCOT sells replacement bolts I figure I might as well just cut them off instead of messing with them. So bumper removal is happening next!
CenTXFJ60
SILVER Star
Nice
nice work Greg. Enjoy seeing the patch panel work. will be doing some of that myself in the futureWell as many of you saw, this weekend I tackled some more body work and rust. Took care of the rear passenger door and replaced with the spare I had from @KWalkerM. Then took care of some rust at the bottom of the front passenger door. Unfortunately, that turned out to be worse than I had anticipated so I did what I could, treated with Rust Converter (Prep & Etch) and then threw some body filler over it. The corners were rusted pretty badly but not completely through the door skin. Eventually that door will need to be replaced too but for now I believe it will be fine. Just one spot I will be sure to keep an eye on over time.
Bottom of the spare door and the hinge locations had some surface rust so I cleaned it up and primed. Fixed couple small spots of rust that I found around the door sill and dog leg. Same thing, take out rust as much as possible to good metal with an abrasive disc, then Prep & Etch until it turns black (converts).
Still had a bit of light when I finally finished with that and was thinking about using Plasti-dip to help black out the chrome and what not. Tested my thought process on the small split rail between the main window and the stationary window on the spare door. Doesn't look too bad, now to see how well it holds up.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1,670
Take your time while doing it, seriously some of these areas absolutely suck to try and recreate and do your due-diligence and make sure you PREP and cover everything once done. There are times where I really wish I was a much better welder, had a larger garage and larger assortment of tools.Nice
nice work Greg. Enjoy seeing the patch panel work. will be doing some of that myself in the future
CenTXFJ60
SILVER Star
Understood. Your doing great. I consider it the same as my craftsmanship with wood. It’s as good as my caulk and paint. My welding is as good as my grinder
. Are you creating your panels or cutting them from a donor? If creating I’m curious how your shaping the metal. Thanks. Jim
NeverGiveUpYota
Dare me.
Jim did you ever see how I did my floor panel patches? Same idea for the side tho probably too crude. Soft mallet stikes to the metal over sections of wood.Understood. Your doing great. I consider it the same as my craftsmanship with wood. It’s as good as my caulk and paint. My welding is as good as my grinder
CenTXFJ60
SILVER Star
F
F, can't say I've seen that. would be interesting to see. Is it in your thread? If so I'll check it out.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1,674
Understood. Your doing great. I consider it the same as my craftsmanship with wood. It’s as good as my caulk and paint. My welding is as good as my grinder
Actually little bit of both. Some panels were stuff that was salvaged from old cruiser (see blue seam on the wheel well) and repurposed. Other stuff was purely fabricated by hand, but stuff that was much simpler to fabricate (like the rear bumper end cap indent) and utilized a couple pieces of metal to make the bends.
Best thing you can do is but pieces as straight and square as possible, fabricating and replicating small directional changes gets complicated. If nothing else, body panel metal is only like 18-20ga steel so really easy to manipulate in larger sections, even small stuff ain't bad. Just takes time and patience to match up.
That middle piece that I fabricated started life much larger, got the top and left side to match up then slowly started taking metal away (used the rusted out piece I cut out as a semi-template) to match. No special tools for me other than a small bench vise, rubber mallet or dead blow and my hands and thigh as a bending platform... maybe a couple pair of larger needle nose pliers.
NeverGiveUpYota
Dare me.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1,676
Got in some practice on the drivers side panel last night with the HVLP spray gun. Threw down 4 coats of primer (whatever I had mixed in the cup) to get a feel for the gun and for my compressor. Seems to have gone pretty good, not perfect but didn't expect it to be. This was covering up small bits of primer that were rattle canned on from when I had done the rust repair on that side.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Still got to finish sanding the body filler on the other side then I will paint that panel. But that day will potentially be a bit more involved since there are spots on the hood that need to be knocked down (rock chips that went to metal and now have slight surface rust) and then I will probably hit the entire passenger side since I have done so much work there.
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrStill got to finish sanding the body filler on the other side then I will paint that panel. But that day will potentially be a bit more involved since there are spots on the hood that need to be knocked down (rock chips that went to metal and now have slight surface rust) and then I will probably hit the entire passenger side since I have done so much work there.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1,677
And like I said, pushing to get this done ASAP. Started at about 5pm last night and went until about 7:30ish (when I ran out of light) and by that time temps had already started to dip into the low 70s. This time of year we normally sleep with the backdoor open to the sunroom and dog run and when I got up for work this morning it was 62 in the house. So yea, getting cold quick!
That predawn mica is a awesome color. The 4runner gray has never really stood out to me. I think jeep has a pretty nice grey too if you look at the newer JK's.
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1,679
Yeah I agree, the PreDawn Mica is pretty much what I am going to attempt to match in the farm implement enamel. Like that it is slightly lighter than the Magnetic gray but still changes color just a bit in bright light. There really doesnt seem to be any heavy flake in it, which also attracts me to it.
On another note, I have been looking at replacing my head unit in the truck as I have a couple major gripes with it...
Current unit is a JVC KDX80BT unit from like 2012 that I picked up for like $60 right after purchasing BeBe. The unit has not received any firmware updates since then and does not really play nice with newer iPhones (pretty much since iOS 10). Small gripe but just kinda meh.
Other issue is that it literally takes a good 30seconds to 1 minute for the bluetooth to actually connect, whereas the stock unit in my wife's 4Runner is almost instantaneous.
Last issue is that ever since iOS10.5 came out I have had an issue where the bluetooth connection will randomly drop for no reason which then takes up to a couple minutes to reconnect and start playing.
The stereo is nice otherwise and really these aren't huge issues, just annoyances.
But I recently found this and am thinking of installing. Main likes are that it integrates with iPhones from iOS 11.3 and greater, has Apple CarPlay installed, touch screen but all within a fairly small package so it does not look OVERLY obtuse in an older vehicle. On top of all that, the face is detachable so you can remove and hide if you happen to leave your truck alone for an extended period of time. I have heard of Joying in the past as a good company but thought it was only distributed in the EU/Asia. Apparently they are shipping to the US now!
Joying 6.2 Inch Single Din Android 8.0 Oreo Car Stereo Head Unit with 4GB/32GB
On another note, I have been looking at replacing my head unit in the truck as I have a couple major gripes with it...
Current unit is a JVC KDX80BT unit from like 2012 that I picked up for like $60 right after purchasing BeBe. The unit has not received any firmware updates since then and does not really play nice with newer iPhones (pretty much since iOS 10). Small gripe but just kinda meh.
Other issue is that it literally takes a good 30seconds to 1 minute for the bluetooth to actually connect, whereas the stock unit in my wife's 4Runner is almost instantaneous.
Last issue is that ever since iOS10.5 came out I have had an issue where the bluetooth connection will randomly drop for no reason which then takes up to a couple minutes to reconnect and start playing.
The stereo is nice otherwise and really these aren't huge issues, just annoyances.
But I recently found this and am thinking of installing. Main likes are that it integrates with iPhones from iOS 11.3 and greater, has Apple CarPlay installed, touch screen but all within a fairly small package so it does not look OVERLY obtuse in an older vehicle. On top of all that, the face is detachable so you can remove and hide if you happen to leave your truck alone for an extended period of time. I have heard of Joying in the past as a good company but thought it was only distributed in the EU/Asia. Apparently they are shipping to the US now!
Joying 6.2 Inch Single Din Android 8.0 Oreo Car Stereo Head Unit with 4GB/32GB
gregnash
Anal Retentive Analyst
- Thread starter
- #1,680
So few updates from yesterday.... ended up taking half the day as a "mental health day" and started working on the truck around 1:30pm. Sucky part was wind started kicking up around 2 which made taping off everything difficult with the butcher paper that I was using. Think I am going to splurge and grab some drop sheets as that will make life much easier (at least in my mind).
First thing though... BeBe had a bit of a birthday yesterday as she turned over 170k on the odo (not right, closer to 200k) and I have officially owned her for 6yrs now!
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Now paint prep and priming... Think I am going to end up sanding down and priming a majority of the truck. Pretty much every surface has or needs work (small rust pits and surface rust from rock chips, scratches, etc.) so that is my thought process behind priming the entire truck. This weekend we have family stuff so probably tomorrow I will attempt to get the front/rear passenger doors off, primed as well as the body in those locations.
Before
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
After
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
First thing though... BeBe had a bit of a birthday yesterday as she turned over 170k on the odo (not right, closer to 200k) and I have officially owned her for 6yrs now!
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrNow paint prep and priming... Think I am going to end up sanding down and priming a majority of the truck. Pretty much every surface has or needs work (small rust pits and surface rust from rock chips, scratches, etc.) so that is my thought process behind priming the entire truck. This weekend we have family stuff so probably tomorrow I will attempt to get the front/rear passenger doors off, primed as well as the body in those locations.
Before
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrUntitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrAfter
Untitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrUntitled by Greg Fisicaro, on FlickrUntitled by Greg Fisicaro, on Flickr
