Frame/undercarriage rust advice (1 Viewer)

[dfreud]

So I'm looking at purchasing my first TLC. An FJ60 which seems to be a decent deal. No experience working on vehicles this age, rust/frame/corrosion/bodywork issues, just my '12 Tacoma and '05 BMW, so any advice would be really appreciated! Should be able to do or learn to do most of the big ticket items this car needs except for, bodywork, transmission & engine rebuild (I know those are the main big ticket items haha) but the frame and undercarriage on this one look good enough that it won't be needed. Do you guys agree? I'm not against spending the money to have the frame removed, sandblasted, and painted. Any idea on costs? I know there aren't many photos and angles aren't the best, sorry for that.

No rust present on the truck itself except for minor bubbles on the rear quarter panel, so bodywork shouldn't be needed yet.

 

[kevin in okinawa]

go to town with some wire brushes and wire wheel action, coat it really good with some boiled linseed oil or fluid film, and it'll be GTG forever in socal.

 

[JayDoc]

You have a fair bit of grime under there but that's probably protective. What we can see doesn't look too terrible.
You mention bubbles in the paint on the rear quarter panels. If you buy this, address that straight away. It looks quite good though.

 

[CruiserTrash]

@dfreud

Check the inside of the frame rails in two spots:
1. At the very back on either side of the spare tire. The frame is not fully boxed here, it’s two C-channels nested together. The inner one gets warped from rust.
2. The front mount for the rear leaf springs, right in that are, usually on the part of the frame that curves slightly updward.

Honorable mention:
3. The rear shocks mount to a tube that’s attached to the frame on either end. That can rust where they meet, check both sides.

Usually the entire front of the frame gets protected by Toyota’s built in rust prevention feature: oil leaks. The oil leaks and and gets sprayed all around, conveniently protecting the precious frame.

Honestly the undercarriage on that one looks pretty darn good, despite not being able to see the three spots I mentioned. It also looks like somebody cleaned it, which means look closer - maybe they cleaned it just to dress it up for the sale, or maybe to hide something.

 

[kirvesmies]

@dfreud , welcome . re: body work, engine n trans rebuilds, there's girls in here doing that $h!t so you've no excuses. listen to what @CruiserTrash said.
oh, thisis the offical welcome!

 

[dfreud]

@CruiserTrash thanks for the details! I checked the c-section. Didn't know that was a common rust spot, as it was pretty clean on this rig. Regarding number 2, the mounts itself were actually pretty rusty, looked like it might have been a bit more than surface rust, but the curve itself was only surface rust and not bad. Had some photos, but was maxed at 5. Ya this thing definitely has some oil leaks. Probably a minor rear main seal leak I'm not too worried about after looking on other threads in here, and others leaks I couldn't track down. Good to know it's just the leaks are a feature and not a flaw!

@kirvesmies thanks for the welcome! But haven't bought it yet. Got the cash yesterday, trying to get some time this weekend. Hopefully I can woo some of those girls over to teach me a thing or two.

 

[CruiserTrash]

Hopefully I can woo some of those girls over to teach me a thing or two.

That would be @NeverGiveUpYota. She knows more than all of us put together and has learned it all the hard way. Her build thread is astounding. Also, you should buy her homemade honey, I hear it’s good.

 

[OSS]

As far as these vehicles go at this age - I don’t see any rust

 

[dfreud]

@CruiserTrash I saw parts of her thread! Super impressive what she did on that build, especially with her resources at the time, and the help she's giving back now! All the knowledge and helpfulness from everyone is awesome in general.

 

[beatle_bayly]

That underside looks quite good to me, and not suspiciously 'too-good'.

Check all the lower body extremities carefully and ensure all the drain slots are open and not clogged.

Biggest concern on a 60 for me is around the roof. Most other rust can be economically repaired (relatively speaking). Another odd area for rust is the arch over the rear wheels (the inner and outer panels come together, rub, and rust from the inside.

The roof channel area is quite complex in cross-section and generally rusts from the inside-out through condensation pooling in the metal sandwich formed between the roof panel (yellow), channel (green), and gutter piece (orange). which received little in the way of factory corrosion protection.

The blue piece is the roof liner wire holder and people often mistakenly squirt rustproofer in here. It needs go in higher up to get into red area.