My Rusty FJ62 (14 Viewers)

[snowyhermit]

Bought my first truck a few months back, this glorious 1988 FJ62.

So far I've done the belts, most of the fluids, valve cover gasket, side cover gasket, oil pan gasket, valve adjustment, PCV valve, speedo cable, new muffler, and "fixed" the worst of the dents and body rust. A bit of Tranny service, and knuckle, bearings, and brake work still pending.

I was getting the frame ready for a coat of Fluid Film when I discovered an aftermarket drain hole... (well, two, one on each side)
I understand the general procedure, cut out the rust, cut a new piece to fit, weld it up. But I've never welded, I'm afraid. I've always been more of a nuts and bolts guy. But with box frame, unless I'm willing leave a couple wrenches in the frame for the rest of time, that doesn't seem to be an option I don't suppose some giant self-tappers would be appropriate?

 

[ceylonfj40nut]

Clean that area up and see if there is good metal around it first by tapping and poking to see if it is swiss cheese. Get to good metal. Get some 1/4” plate and get out your cutoff wheel and trim out a patch that clears about 2-3 inches past poor metal area. Take it to a guy with a welder and have them burn it in. Clean inside the frame as best as possible before welding.

 

[snowyhermit]

Clean that area up and see if there is good metal around it first by tapping and poking to see if it is swiss cheese. Get to good metal. Get some 1/4” plate and get out your cutoff wheel and trim out a patch that clears about 2-3 inches past poor metal area. Take it to a guy with a welder and have them burn it in. Clean inside the frame as best as possible before welding.

I've been cleaning it up with an angle grinder, hammer and punch, and a pressure washer.

It's not insured at the moment, so I can't take it anywhere. I guess I'll just have to borrow my dad's welder, and see how fast I can learn!

 

[Devils Paw 80]

How did you "fix" the body rust? Hard to say from that one photo how bad your frame is.

 

[snowyhermit]

How did you "fix" the body rust? Hard to say from that one photo how bad your frame is.

Clean it up with a heavy duty wire wheel and some sand paper, base coat of rustoleum, cut some flashing and rivet it in place, sand, bondo, sand, and paint again with rustoleum.

I'll upload some more pictures of the frame when I'm done cleaning it up. But on the worse side, the rust crack seems to span about a 16" length on the inside, between the front mount of the rear spring, and a bracket for a crossmember.

 

[snowyhermit]

Rained today, so I couldn't get the angle grinder out to finish cleaning it up, but this is what the worse side looks like after beating it with a punch.

Handy that all these brackets and stuff are right there. I'm thinking I'm gonna have to pull the rest of the fuel line hangers so I can pull the fuel lines out of the way, then drill out the rivets holding the bracket to the crossbar, and cut the welds to the frame. I suspect there's a bit more rust hiding behind it, anyway. And no matter how I do it, there's no way I'm fixing the frame properly with it in the way.