My Rusty FJ62 (3 Viewers)

[GLTHFJ60]

My first frame rotted in the same spot in the same way. It's a difficult fix, and really needs to be cut open to see how bad the rot is. I mean, remove the fuel lines, and go at it with an angle grinder until you find good metal, then weld in custom cut pieces to make it whole.

As you do the cutting, be careful how you support the frame. It should be on jackstands, both fore and aft of the repair area. The body will keep it roughly aligned, but you don't want it to distort too much while you cut it open.

For reference, i conducted that repair, then a few years later, replaced the whole frame, because I felt it was easier.

Hth

 

[snowyhermit]

My first frame rotted in the same spot in the same way. It's a difficult fix, and really needs to be cut open to see how bad the rot is. I mean, remove the fuel lines, and go at it with an angle grinder until you find good metal, then weld in custom cut pieces to make it whole.

As you do the cutting, be careful how you support the frame. It should be on jackstands, both fore and aft of the repair area. The body will keep it roughly aligned, but you don't want it to distort too much while you cut it open.

For reference, i conducted that repair, then a few years later, replaced the whole frame, because I felt it was easier.

Hth

It does seem like quite a problem spot. It's the bottom of a curve, everything attaches there, has the fewest drainholes of any spot on the frame yet has tons of holes in the sides, and is right next to the rear wheels. Perfect for rot, worst to repair

I've got it all cut out and cleaned up now, got the fuel lines zip tied up to the cross member and the crossmember brace removed and a new one made. Now I just have to wait until I've got my dad's old welder up and running, and I've figured out how to use the damn thing (hopefully) without blowing anything up XP

I've thought about replacing the frame. The C channel section in the back is also pretty rusty, but I've got it servicably patched already since it was easy enough to fix with scrap I had lying around, bolted into place. There's no way I could afford a new one, anyway. I'm about $4,500 in debt on the darn thing already, and a brief search suggested a replacement would cost that much again. And I can buy a lot of scrap angle iron for that much

 

[snowyhermit]

Took a break from working on the frame to work on my transmission (Changing the fluid, gasket, and filter).

After hours of fluid dripping down my arms as I took out _thirty_ crusty bolts (Can't wait to torque 'em all...) the frame doesn't seem so bad any more

Still, there wasn't quite as much clutch material on the bottom of the pan as I feared. Although, I have to say, these transmission "filters", not very flitery, are they?

Also, I just want to reassure everyone that I definitely did _not_ forget to take out the dipstick first. Just as I also did _not_ forget when I did the engine pan, either. Can you imagine how embarrassing it would have been if I forgot both times?