Lee777 1991 LJ 78 Prado Build

[Lee777]

Removed tail lights and did a thorough wire wheel over the skirt to show whats going on. The front fenders look rust free. The rear fenders are the worst especially the left rear quarter panel and the fender right under the passenger doors. Thankfully the curves under the tail lights are intact. Most of the rust repair will be to treat the rust, apply weldable primer then lap metal over. There is one spot where ill try some butt welding.

Overall:

Tail light. You can see where water was pooling in here (i wonder if its worth sealing the tail light with a bead of something)

Under the passenger door

Left rear quarter ( the worst)

Ideally one would cut grind out all rust. Is it ok to treat rusty metal thats underneath and lap over it with new metal?

Lee

 

[OGBeno]

My god.... Look at that rust.



Good luck

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Ideally one would cut grind out all rust. Is it ok to treat rusty metal thats underneath and lap over it with new metal?

Lee

Don't despair. There is a guy in our club who has attacked far worse with good results. Check out his repair pictures and shoot him a PM with questions. He's got a pretty good system. He's done restoration work for other guys in our club too.

Against my better judgment.... A bj70 project

Little red has a new owner

Road salt and cruisers don't mix well. Every time I go to my folks place in the interior of BC in winter, my rust doubles over the space of a week. Maybe once you've fixed your rust you can get the truck undercoated or sprayed with wax/oil every winter?

 

[Lee777]

Nasty patch number 1, lol

Note to self, welding is very difficult when your backing metal is thin and even the slightest bit rusty. She aint pretty but I figure if I seal it up it wont be too bad.

Awesome reference Nick , ill give it a go for sure.

 

[Dprio34]

@Lee777, I am no master stitch welder, but mine turned out about like yours on another project, and someone suggested using the .025 wire and 110 volts vice using the .030 wire and 220 volts.

I haven't tried it yet, but it may help or worth a try. I'm gonna give it a shot on the next phase of the project.

 

[Lee777]

Patch number 2.
(The largest one)

See that corner there right under the light pocket, its pretty thin. I ground it down to the point of no rust, treated it with converter and have it coated with por 15 on the inside, and the outside will get epoxy primer.

Slowly getting faster at it

 

[Lee777]

After much reading ive decided to use por15 in wheel wells, inside panels and pretty much anywhere that is a) not visible from outside, and b) has areas of rust. This is because the por 15 is broken down by UV, works its magic on rust surfaces, and doesnt like to be covered (unless you buy the expensive tie coat primer). I decided to use epoxy primer and paint for any visible areas with rust since Ive read it works well sealing up rust and can be covered over for usual body work reasons (fiberglass fill, bondo, etc). I made sure to pre treat all rust areas with degreaser, rinse with water, treat with metal ready rust converter, rinse with water, iso propyl rub down, then epoxy primer or por 15 depending on the area, phew

Some would argue that leaving any rust at all will lead to it spreading like cancer, while i belive this to be true Im on a timeline and am plenty happy with this resto work if it makes 5 years!

Pics of epoxy primer:

 

[Lee777]

Patch number 3!

 

[Lee777]

Sanded out rust spots, primer then valspar black enamel. Will be going over with clear coat once the forest fires die down!

Also of note, the inside edge of the front doors, next to the bottom hinge I noticed rust creeping under the factory “caulking” that they use to cover up the pinch weld. The metal was folding open and rusting and catching water. I was able to remove the seal bead, treat the rust and coat it with primer/rust paint.

 

[Lee777]

Paint done!

 

[GTSSportCoupe]

Right on, good work!

 

[Lee777]

The knucle arms are coded:
3R
R7
3R

My i have some help with the orientation of these knuckle arms, i think i may have messed it up. For the left side i cant get the tire on because the arm is is in the way. I must have messed up the arms. This is what i have

Left side

Much thanks!

 

[Lee777]

Right side

 

[Nas90tdi]

Longer arm goes to the back. Front arm should look like this.

 

[Lee777]

Thanks.

So it looks from your pic the short arm is 3R. It seems i have 3R on facing the rear on my right side, DOH! Those nee to be swapped,


One last question. On your right is the sole knuckle arm fastened to the bottom of the knuckle or top?

Thanks!

 

[Nas90tdi]

Yes. The long arms are on the bottom towards the rear. Your draglink should be going through largest part of the cutout on the radius arms.
If you have the short arm on the rear on one side, it's making the draglink closer to the panhard and out of parallel from the axle.

 

[Lee777]

I was able to switch the arms. It looks all good now.

Thanks again Nas

Lee

 

[Lee777]

For the rear barn door hinges...The machine shop was able to pull them apart. Unfortunately they werent able to put new pins in. Does anyone know if a kit or pin option?


Thanks!
Lee

 

[Lee777]

For the rear barn door hinges...The machine shop was able to pull them apart. Unfortunately they werent able to put new pins in. Does anyone know if a kit or pin option?


Thanks!
Lee

170$ for pin extraction on 2 hinges then 48$ per pair for the kit. I wonder if buying new hinges is just as cost efficient.

Lee

 

[Lee777]

Some finished body work pics