HZJ73 rust repair and maintenance (1 Viewer)

[Blue1]

So several months ago I picked up a 1990 HZJ73 that was a project started by the last owner. I already have more land cruiser projects on the go than I should so it made perfect sense to start another one instead of completing anything I already had on the go. From what he told me it had been well used by the owner previous owner and possibly it had been set aside and forgotten about for a while. The guy I bought it from had discovered dirt and silt packed in every body panel up to the middle body line and it had started to rust quite badly. He had removed all the interior and decided it wasn't salvageable so when I picked it up the only interior remaining was the dash, console, front buckets and rear bench seat. All the interior panels and carpets were gone along with the majority of the interior plastic trim pieces. On the plus side it is a strong runner and already had a lift of some kind and a rear arb locker.

 

[Blue1]

Posted a couple pictures because I know the drill, no photos and it doesn't really exist. I originally planned to just fabricate some patch panels myself to do the rust repair. I have all the necessary tools to do that and some rudimentary skill which means I'm very proficient at making making flat sheet metal into different shaped sheet metal but not always into the shape that I want. I did most of the baselining to make sure it was safe to drive and then put on the wheels and tires in the pictures above. They are Mickey Thompson Baja Boss A/T 255/85/17 which fit and clear well at moderate flex ( for as much as a leaf sprung 70 can flex ). I ordered some ABS door cards in grey out of Australia and installed those so I at least had some minimal creature comforts.

This is about as far as I got because I ended up in Dallas for work for the last 3 months. While I was down and Dallas I got in contact with @joekatana and he has been an absolute wealth of info and also parts. I left after my first visit with all the carpet I needed and vinyl for the rear as well as all the trim and some used interior side panels to template off of, both Left & Right rear quarters, inner fenders and rockers. I've been back to visit a second time to pick up some parts for a cruiser friend here in Calgary.

Anyways, this brings me up to the present with a lot of spot welds to drill out and new panels to install as well as a list of improvements I want to make while I'm home for the next 6 weeks. My ultimate goal is to drive it back to dallas in February looking a whole lot more presentable than it currently does.

 

[joekatana]

Looking forward to see it when you drive it to Dallas .

 

[Blue1]

Yesterday was a fairly successful day and I made some good progress. Of course I broke a few bolts and discovered some old collision repairs to the left rear. Fortunately the damage was all on the outer skin which is being replaced. Fenders are coming off today so I can access the entire rockers panel. I am sure I will find other surprises lurking there too. a few photos of the progress throughout the day ( and also some of the rust I need to repair and the previous owners attempts at rust repair which I will be cutting out )

 

[Blue1]

Does anyone have any photos they can share or links to photos that show what the inner sheet metal looks like behind the doors once the quarter panel skin is removed. I will be making these pieces and patching them in but it would be good to know if they are attached to the inner rocker at the bottom.

 

[Blue1]

And finally, this is where I ended off last night. Good progress considering I drove it in here yesterday morning.

 

[LDRF]

Watching!

I’ve just started on my rust repair. My rust is in the same spots as yours, although your quarters and rockers are looking worse than mine. I removed the fenders on mine earlier this year:

Good Times - 1992 HZJ73 - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/good-times-1992-hzj73.1324843/post-15577130​

Good luck.

 

[Blue1]

Today I'm headed in to pull the left front fender because I'm replacing the full length of the rocker. I did some really basic bracing and will complete the full left side before moving on to the right side. I will need to cut some of the internal bracing and weld it back in after to fit the new metal in place. I will be using a combo of welding and body adhesive. Any external seams will be glued in place because the adhesive does double duty and acts as a seam sealer as well. @LDRF I read through your whole thread a couple months ago and just re-read the whole thing. Maybe we can compare notes and progress. Let me know if you want any photos now that I have the rear quarter panel off and everything is exposed.

 

[LDRF]

Let me know if you want any photos now that I have the rear quarter panel off and everything is exposed.

Photos would be awesome while you are in there!!!

I’ll have to rebuild parts of the inner rockers. I have replacement outer rockers, but I’ll need to fabricate the section from the end of the rockers to the wheel well. I haven’t cut it open yet to inspect the inner bracing, but am planning to tomorrow.

 

[Blue1]

Another day with some solid progress. Front left fender off and the inner fender is in really good shape and is cleaning up nicely. I will need to make a few small patch pieces for the fender itself but i think the repair can be hidden behind the flares so I won't need to respray the front fenders. Eventually I will likely need to replace them but if I can get away with a patch for now it will save a bit of money. There is significant rust at the front of the rocker panel so I will need to cut and remove the lower section of the outer door pillar to replace the whole rocker panel. It's looking like I'll need to make the inner rocker panel as well, there are a few places where there isn't much metal left so I might as well just replace the entire thing. My brake is only 36" so I'll have to build it in 2 pieces.

 

[Blue1]

I also removed the outer section of the left inner wheel well on the rear and a few of the smaller pieces that are layered in there at the rear. I think I'll be making a replacement inner piece that goes behind the rear wheel as well.

 

[Blue1]

I ended the day by doing a test fit up of the inner fender wall and the rear quarter panel. I will need to do some massaging to get all the body lines and door gap to look good. I'm also going to have to cut out and build a couple patches for the floor at the rear doors.

 

[joekatana]

You are moving fast congrats , don't forget to factor the fact that your frame is bending the opposite way now on the lift from how it sits on its wheels for lining up the gaps . These flex pretty good with the top removed and just the bottom part of the body still on it .

 

[Blue1]

You are moving fast congrats , don't forget to factor the fact that your frame is bending the opposite way now on the lift from how it sits on its wheels for lining up the gaps . These flex pretty good with the top removed and just the bottom part of the body still on it .

My plan was to make sure my frame rails are sitting level side to side to make sure there is no twist in the frame. I'll let it sit like that for at least a few days to make sure it has all settled out. It currently has a noticeable lean to the right side when its sitting on the ground so I wanted to get the frame level to avoid that creating bigger issues. What do you normally do to make sure there is no twist ?

 

[joekatana]

I put the wheels back on and lower it to the ground , that way it sits just like it always has . In a perfect world that would be perfectly straight but unfortunately this isn't a perfect world . I believe that doing it this way reduces stress but I could be wrong .

 

[Broski]

I put the wheels back on and lower it to the ground , that way it sits just like it always has . In a perfect world that would be perfectly straight but unfortunately this isn't a perfect world . I believe that doing it this way reduces stress but I could be wrong .

This was my thoughts as well, I also think as long as it's sported at all for corners at the axles would accomplish the same thing.

 

[Blue1]

So today was a lot of back and forth putting wheels on and lowering it to the ground and taking measurements and hanging the rear quarter panel on and checking body lines then lifting it back up and checking if anything shifted then lowering it back down and checking again. It was a day of learning lessons and then verifying my suspicions. In the end I confirmed that there is a difference of almost an 1 3/4" lean to the right side and I thought that was actually accentuating the issue but in the end it was inexperience I was fighting against. I ended up taking the wheels back of and lifting the '73 back up again. I then leveled the frame using the rear cross member then checking the frame in the middle and then right at the front. By using different thicknesses of plywood on the pads of the scissor lift and using ratchet straps to keep all four corners with full weight on the pads I now have a frame that is sitting perfectly levet to the world. After that I took a measurement at each body mount and made sure they were also reasonable close distances between the mount on the frame and the pad on the body. Again I worked front to back and checked to see that they were within a tolerance I could be happy with. I'm sure if I did enough digging I may be able to find a spec but I just decided if everything was within an 1/8th of an inch I would be happy. Anyways, after all of that the body line was still sitting about a 1/4 inch low on the new panel compared to the door. I went back to the original photo of the left side and confirmed that before I started removing panels the body line was fairly consistent.

At this point I almost grabbed the laser level and a tripod to start measuring side to side where each mounting bolt for the FRP top went through the body ( it's what I used to use when I was building motorcycles and making sure everything was in alignment. This is when I had a moment of clarity and started inspecting the new rear quarter panel. It turns out that in the stamping process making the panel the top flange wasn't quite stamped enough so it had a bit of an angle to it. I compared it with the right side which was still the original quarter panel all still nicely spotted welded in place and confirmed it had more of a bend to it. A bit of quick work with my crimping pliers and the top flange now sits flat like it's supposed to and my body line is now much cleaner.

Anyways, that was a whole lot of words to describe how I managed to spend the entire day with very little accomplished in the end. Cue the circus music and the bears on tricycles.

Tomorrow I cut out the rusty parts of my floor at the back doors.

 

[LDRF]

Cue the circus music and the bears on tricycles.

Success in the end .... Cue the beer!

 

[Blue1]

Well, some slow progress the last couple days, but still some progress. I managed to get the bodyline on the left side to where I was happy with it. A little bit of Door adjustment and it will be good. I was a bit concerned about the gap, but it’s the same distance on the other side. I’ve also started making some of my patch panels. Still haven’t figured out a clean way for the stiffening ribs at the rear doors. How has everyone else dealt with this section? You can see in the second photo. I’m going to need to cut into it a bit, but I haven’t been able to successfully match that shape. I have a couple ideas, but it would be great to get some input.

 

[Blue1]

Well holidays are over and I'm back at work which has slowed things down a but but I am still picking away at the rust. By that I mean I am still cutting rusty metal out ! I'm still focused on the left side and discovered the rust on the floor / door pillar is worse than I thought. what I had hoped was contained to the front of the rocker turned out to be much deeper. ended up removing the inner rocker, sectioning out the lower piece of the pillar and a small piece of the floor.