Newbie Ques: Dealing with rust/worth repainting?

[jalong]

1983 BJ60 newbie ques: need info on dealing with rust/repainting

Hello everyone! I discovered the site yesterday and spent most of the day reading the vast wealth of info here. I just got a July 1983 BJ60 3B 5 speed with 385000 km (235000 mi).

The truck was bought brand new by my dad in 1983. Mechanically, the vehicle has been well maintained -- I have all the repair documentation since 1983. After reading about all the Canadian LC falling apart from rust, I thought I'd try to focus on stopping/fixing that. Dad had already been doing some work on it in the months prior to his death. Apparently, he had been given a quote of $7000 CAN to repaint the truck, and he never went ahead with it.

My question is this. I love the truck and want to use it for DD and light off-roading for camping/hunting, etc. I can in no way afford $7000 to repaint it right now. Is it even worth repainting given the amount of rust? What can I do about the rust that is there on my own (sorry, I know this must seem a stupid question but I've never done body work)? If it is worth repainting, what work can I do to minimize the cost of repainting? I took some pictures and will attach them. If you need any other info, please let me know!

I also posted the pictures at http://members.shaw.ca/jalong/index.htm

Thanks in advance!

 

[PAFJ]

Welcome to mud!! Unfortunatly there isn't much you can do with the badly rotted spots besides cut the metal out and replace with new. Any spots which are just surface rust, which I didn't really see to much of, just grind it off, prime, paint (rattle can). I'm not much of a body guy either, so others might be able to give more advice.

Good luck-

 

[jalong]

Thanks for the reply! I've got another... ummm, dumb question: If you cut the metal out, what kind of metal do you replace it with? And how would you attach it? Welding?

Thanks!

 

[cruiserkook]

I have an '84 anadian bj 60 in similar shape. I would look for the affected panels and you'll need to get a body guy to cut the old ones and weld the new ones. If you look closely at the vehicle like opening the back doors you can see the factory welds. Like the wheel well and the rear quarter panel etc.. determine the worst panels and start searching for them. I have two fj 60's with some good body parts so let me know what you determine, maybe I can help.
For what it's worth I think it's worth it.

 

[Technikev]

If those pictures are the worst of the rust, you are in better shape than most. I say that if you can't afford to fix and paint it, try to find a bodyman that will do some work on the side or something. Get him to fix up the rust until you can fix the whole thing.

If you don't know what you are doing, listening to your buddies over a sixer of brew will prolly get you something worse off than doing next to nothing. There are some folks around the city who do a decent job out of their garage without giving up your first born (no matter how tempting that may seem at times, it may not be a good idea).

If you need some specific information, drop me a PM.

-kevin

 

[Heartworm]

bed liner?

I have been wondering how much it would cost to have a body man cut out the rust and patch. Then, you could bring it home, buy a grinder to smooth it off some, and put on a bed liner (Herculiner, Durabak. linex etc). Check this board for photos of people who have done the lower part of their exteriors with bed liner.

 

[nmbuckaroo]

rust repair

here are some pics of rust on my sons fj60. the only place it had rust was behind rear wheels on quarter panels both sides. found a local body shop to cut out rusted area and weld in fresh metal. i think they cut the replacement metal from center of a hood of a wrecked car. they used a grinder to smooth repaird area then finished with fiberglass resin. that is all they did as i wanted to treat the area with rust bullet. thats where were at right now. i think we will use line x or rhino liner on the bottom body line. the body shop only charged $250 and rust bullet cost $40 quart but only used 1/4 of quart. i am very pleased with results.

 

[nmbuckaroo]

after repair

ready for line x

 

[Southbound]

None of that rust looks too bad. If you are up for a project just get a palm sander, sand the crap out of the rust spots with 80 grit sand paper until you hit bare metal, put on a little fiberglass reinforced putty, sand with more 80 grit paper, primer, sand with 320 or 400 grit paper, and paint. That looks like a factory paint color so you should be able to find a pretty close match at a local auto paint shop. You'll need an air compressor and paint gun; the compressor you can rent, and you can get a decent paint gun at Harbor Freight for $50. Paint away - don't even worry much about how good a job you do because as I've recently learned, as long as you apply enough paint there is virtually no slop that some sanding and buffing won't fix. It's really not that hard, just a lot of sanding more than anything. How's the frame??

 

[jalong]

Thanks everyone! Your replies were very helpful with understanding the rust situation -- which really doesn't appear that bad!

Southbound: From what I can see (and I might not be looking at the right thing , the frame only has surface rust. Is there anywhere/anything I should specifically look for?

Thanks!
John

 

[nmbuckaroo]

rust

if you have rust bubbles push on them with a screwdriver. they may go all through. mine did and ended up with about a 1"x4" hole. thats why i had to cut out and replace metal.