HZJ73 rust repair and maintenance

[Broski]

Impressive work !!

 

[Blue1]

Thank you, I'm looking forward to having a relatively rust free 70 so I am trying to make sure I get in and clean up / cut out all the rust I can find. I am sure there will still be some spots that will show up down the road but the more I deal with now hopefully the longer off that will be. There is a lot of trial and error as I make some of the pieces I didn't order and I am turning my share of sheet metal into scrap metal as you can see below by some failed attempts!

 

[Blue1]

More scrap metal ! This is my first attempt at duplicating the rear floor panel. It was going ok but I didn't put enough stretch into the metal ahead of time and you can see where it split

 

[Blue1]

Second attempt and way happier with this. Just doing some fine tuning then get it all welded / glued in place.

 

[Blue1]

Things have been moving along but not as quickly as I want. I have set a goal of May 1 to have it back on the road. It's feeling a bit unrealistic but I am going to push forward. At least the rust repair portion of this project.
After that I will still have the following to do ( this is the short list of items that need immediate attention) :

• pull rear diff and check backlash ( it feels excessive)
• re install compressor ( it was in the rear behind the interior panel and I want to move it under the hood ) and clean up all the wiring. I have a factory locker dial that I want to make work with the existing ARB air locker
• run new air line to rear locker
• replace all leaf spring bushings and swap leafs side to side to try and sort out the pronounced lean
• Install new ( used but new to me )interior carpet up front and new rear vinyl floor that I bought from @joekatana - almost the entire interior had been pulled and thrown away when I bought it

I am trying very hard to dig into only one task at a time to avoid this becoming a project that never gets completed !

Long term ( but hopefully not that far in the future ) :

• replace rod bearings
• install front locker
• build roll cage
• install home grown turbo kit
• bumpers front and rear. I am really leaning towards the @cruiseroutfit bumpers but am unsure if the front will work with the factory PTO winch. I have been watching the thread about them but haven't actually reached out to them to find out if it can be done. I don't want to waste their time until I am closer to install time
  

Anyways, I am getting a bit ahead of myself. Rear floor patch is welded in and tomorrow the left rear panel will get installed. In my likely somewhat futile attempt to keep rust at bay fos as long as possible I have been doing a 3 part plan of attack . FIrst step has been to treat any surface rust in the area I am working on with rust converter and then prep for painting. Next I have been spraying all new metal and rust converted metal with chassis saver rust paint. After that everything gets a coat of grey epoxy primer to somewhat keep it looking like it did from the factory. All " spot welded " seams have been sealed with body seam sealer. I have also used seam sealer where I have but welded joints together.

 

[Blue1]

Well another quick progress update. Left quarter panel is installed. I did a combo of using body panel adhesive on all the lower seams that are exposed to moisture so that there is a complete moisture seal. I also applied seam sealer above the adhesive in locations I knew I wouldn't be able to get at after assembly. any of the other " higher locations I have rosette welded. I still have about 30 welds to go but by this evening I should be cutting into the right side and exposing the rust that lurks beneath.

 

[Broski]

That truck is getting a lot of love !
Nice work

 

[Blue1]

I am trying to show it the attention it deserves, it has definitely been in a few abusive relationships in the past 35 years !

 

[Blue1]

With the left side complete ( other than prep and paint which I will do all at the same time ) it's time to move on to the right side start and cutting it open. The full quarter will be removed but I wanted to do a bit of exploratory surgery first. The last owner started trying to weld patch panels in but I will be cutting it all out. looks like the welds were pretty cold and the metal would just break apart at the seam. I really appreciate that he was trying to save it but I will be cuttting it all out back to factory metal.

 

[Blue1]

Well I pulled the right rear quarter panel off over the weekend. In a shocking plot twist I found lots of rust underneath. Sigh ! I was expecting it to be this bad but was also hopeful it wasn't. To make myself feel better ( and to avoid dealing with it any more this weekend ) I pulled my 914 out of storage to do a bit of work on it. I also found a BMW 2002 on Marketplace at a price I couldn't say no to. I guess I needed another rusty project !

 

[Blue1]

Well Its October now and I have fallen very far behind on posting so I will try to get caught up. I am going through photos from April until now so they may be a bit out of order as I bounced around and worked on different areas. These four are the right rocker area

 

[Blue1]

I definitely missed taking some step by step shots. I was in a rush after patching the right foot well and sprayed chassis saver with very poor prep so I went back and cleaned it up and resprayed but didn't get any more photos

 

[Blue1]

Right rear cargo door area, again I am missing some progress photos. I dropped the tank to make sure I could access everything. I used ear plugs to block off the supply and return fuel lines which created a fun problem later on.

 

[Blue1]

Now I dig in to the right rear inner corner

 

[Blue1]

Right rear corner still

 

[Blue1]

Slowly making pieces and patching it back together. Rebuilding the bottom corner of the tail light " bucket " was a bit of a challenge.

 

[Blue1]

Again I missed taking photos of several steps. Rear quarters both on, primed and color matched bedliner going on.

 

[Blue1]

Spared one coat of base then installed fender flair brackets. I used seam sealer as well when I riveted on the brackets. Another good coat of base then a couple coats of clear. The base coat color match was very good but for some reason the original clear is a bit darker ( where the existing clear coat has peeled away the color is very close ) so i am describing the areas I have resprayed as color adjacent to the rest of the body. When I replace the front fenders I may respray the rest of the 73 but for now I will live with it.

 

[Blue1]

Fender flairs, FRP top and rear doors going on

 

[Blue1]

In August I did another run down to Dallas by way of Salt Lake City. the guys at @cruiseroutfit did a very last minute scramble and put together everything need for their front and rear 70 series bumpers. I am finally in the process of putting them on. About to tackle the front bumper and I am hoping to make the PTO winch fit their bumper. Incredibly happy with the quality of the bumpers. I will try to do a better job of documenting fitting the PTO winch to the front bumper.