New 60 owner looking for help diagnosing/repairing a few rust spots (2 Viewers)

[ShineTX]

New to the forum and a new Land Cruiser owner. I recently purchased an '85 FJ60 that is strong mechanically and very original. Other than a few small repairs, it needs a new paint job. But first I need to address rust that is appearing on both A pillars and on the inside of the driver door (below where the A pillar meets the body). After reading through the wealth of information in this forum, I investigated the gutter seams and while the roof gutter seams appear to be in decent shape, the seams are breaking down in the area of the A pillar. The rust in the door is an even bigger head scratcher for me. Any advice on how to treat these areas is greatly appreciated. I'm located in Central Texas and can get to Austin, Dallas or Houston easily if there is someone recommended for this type of body work. Thanks!

 

[ShineTX]

Got a recommendation for a local body shop and got a chance to take it over there today. The good news is that the rust is not coming from inside the A pillar, it's surface rust. The current working theory is that the original weatherstripping has lost it's sealing properties, so water is getting trapped between the weatherstripping and the A pillar eventually causing the rust. Should be a relatively straight forward repair.

 

[ShineTX]

What's the opinion on aftermarket v. OEM door weather strip?

 

[g-man]

60 Series Replacement Door Seals

Toyota Land Cruiser 60 Series Replacement Door Seals Upgrade the factory edge trim with this seal to tighten up the doors Reduce/eliminate wind noise and leaks Seal is flexible with a sponge rubber bulb

www.trail-tailor.com

 

[ShineTX]

Thanks, g-man. I'll check it out.

 

[HemiAlex]

Paging @samc2447 and Jimmy.

 

[MiyamotoMusashi]

You might want to consider taking that to @kelly saad in Arizona.

 

[kelly saad]

The A Pillar gutters are rusty on most, even if it’s not visible yet. The seam sealer fails on top at the bend, then the water gets right in there and settles on the spot welds. If you add salt, it gets really nasty! I remove every A pillar gutter, sand blast the gutter, and pillar, spray with zinc primer and reinstall. If it’s wasted then I build new gutter sections.

That drivers door rust is fairly common also. It’s a sandwich of sheet metal (2 layers) and needs to be cut out, and replaced with new steel. I have some step-by-step pictures of this process.

I can also tell you where all the other rust is that you haven’t found yet.

Hope that helps.

Kelly

 

[ShineTX]

The A Pillar gutters are rusty on most, even if it’s not visible yet. The seam sealer fails on top at the bend, then the water gets right in there and settles on the spot welds. If you add salt, it gets really nasty! I remove every A pillar gutter, sand blast the gutter, and pillar, spray with zinc primer and reinstall. If it’s wasted then I build new gutter sections.

That drivers door rust is fairly common also. It’s a sandwich of sheet metal (2 layers) and needs to be cut out, and replaced with new steel. I have some step-by-step pictures of this process.

I can also tell you where all the other rust is that you haven’t found yet.

Hope that helps.

Kelly

Thanks, Kelly. I’ll be in touch.