Frame hole!

[JDMDieselPower]

Recently I was putting some finishing touches on my imported Landcruiser 80 series. The truck is in amazing condition inside and out. (Mostly anyways, as it turns out).

I noticed there were some rubber / plastic plugs in the frame drain holes around the wheel wells. One was missing so I took the others out to make some 3-D printed copies.
They all looked fine except for one, which had some rust under the plug. I hit the rust with a grinder and soon found a small section of thin, rusty metal that I ground out.

I’ve never dealt with frame rust before. The rest of the frame looks great inside and out.. it seems like for whatever reason moisture got trapped underneath the cap.
In any case, I’m kind of at a loss here about what to do.. I don’t mind what it costs I love the truck and want to keep it forever, but I don’t want a silly looking repair either.
What’s the best approach to fix this? Could a small piece of metal be welded in & the welds ground down?

 

[CharlieS]

Could a small piece of metal be welded in & the welds ground down?

Yes.

It is probably plenty strong without repair (other than primer and paint), but a body shop should be able to easily repair it by welding in a steel patch (with a matching hole, if you like) and finishing it. If they are halfway decent, the repair will be invisible.

Hard to say without seeing more, but it looks like someone has top coated that frame with black paint. I'd have the body shop give it a once over to be sure the PO wasn't trying to mask corrosion or other damage.

 

[JDMDieselPower]

Yes.

It is probably plenty strong without repair (other than primer and paint), but a body shop should be able to easily repair it by welding in a steel patch (with a matching hole, if you like) and finishing it. If they are halfway decent, the repair will be invisible.

Hard to say without seeing more, but it looks like someone has top coated that frame with black paint. I'd have the body shop give it a once over to be sure the PO wasn't trying to mask corrosion or other damage.

As with most JDM’s It came covered in a topcoat, over the years the top coat flaked off revealing a perfect frame underneath.

I removed all the topcoat from the previous Japanese owner while I was doing some suspension work and the frame is actually in remarkable condition besides this one spot.

Looking inside the frame with a camera, there’s no flaking, or rust debri anywhere. That’s why it’s so weird that this spot in particular rotted like that.

It’s a relief to hear that it could easily be dealt with. I don’t do any welding and all the frame repairs I’ve seen (albeit with WAY for extensive damage) have looked awful, so I was preparing for the worst.

Who do you think would be the best kind of a shop to ask for this kind of repair? An auto body shop? Weld fab shop?

 

[ajax1]

I would prob just get a dermal and smooth that all out back to circle shape up top on it, then paint and prime

 

[CharlieS]

As with most JDM’s It came covered in a topcoat, over the years the top coat flaked off revealing a perfect frame underneath.

I removed all the topcoat from the previous Japanese owner while I was doing some suspension work and the frame is actually in remarkable condition besides this one spot.

Looking inside the frame with a camera, there’s no flaking, or rust debri anywhere. That’s why it’s so weird that this spot in particular rotted like that.

It’s a relief to hear that it could easily be dealt with. I don’t do any welding and all the frame repairs I’ve seen (albeit with WAY for extensive damage) have looked awful, so I was preparing for the worst.

Who do you think would be the best kind of a shop to ask for this kind of repair? An auto body shop? Weld fab shop?

In your case I'd take it to body shop. If it was mine I'd just weld it up at home.

 

[Kernal]

Wondering if a welder could put a piece of steel inside the frame rail and weld it up that way, leaving the rectangular hole open??