Opinions on rust

[teamreno]

Hey everyone,

I’m looking to get some opinions on rust on my FJ60 and the best approach for addressing them in the short term. I have attached pictures of the spots in question. Right now I’ve got them sprayed with fluid film to hopefully slow the oxidation process. I plan on taking a wire wheel to them this week and sealing with an epoxy primer and using a custom match paint spray can to keep it at bay until I can cut and remove it.

With my research it seems that the big issue is the body seams involved at the roof and a post, although I’m hoping the roof rust started on the exterior from the weight of the roof rack damaging the seam sealer...as opposed to it starting on the inside.

Let me know what you guys think, and if it’s even worth attempting to repair. I’m also considering selling and finding one with less rust.

 

[teamreno]

Additional pictures

 

[MarkBC]

Yeah that's kind of ugly. If it were me I'd clean up with a wire wheel and grinding stone to expose all rust. The pitting doesnt necessarily have to be ground out though, just exposed. Then paint with Eastwood rust encapsulator. Caulk the seams then spray with coloured matched paint. I wouldnt use epoxy if its tougher than regular paint because this will just hide any future rust. You want the paint to flake if there's rust.
Then drop the headliner and interior trim and hit it with fluid film from the inside to halt the rust from that side, and it should be good to go.

 

[OSS]

Once Fluid Film is allowed to penetrate rust, paint won't stick to it very well without using a high pressure washer with detergent and hot water to try to blast it off. (Fluid Film's recommendation). Wire brushing won't help.
Be careful spraying the crap inside your car if you're sensitive to odors. It can permanently contaminate the air in the vehicle for years afterwards- always stink forever. Whatever you do, never spray that unholy stuff inside the doors. You'll regret it forever.

 

[MarkBC]

Yeah good point, maybe use something else that doesn't stink.

You can get rid of fluid film with POR degreaser. It is amazing stuff.

 

[teamreno]

Ok thanks for the suggestions. I’ve actually not really been bothered by the smell of fluid film. I don’t like it, but i don’t find it terrible.

Think brake cleaner will clean the fluid film off? I’ve got a can laying around in the garage. I figured it’ll probably do the trick.

 

[teamreno]

Would it be worth doing a naval jelly treatment too before priming/painting?

 

[PescaBaja]

A car restorer I know told me they sand blast every rust area before prep and paint regardless of the size of the rust spot. I believe they use a small hand held sand blaster for the small stuff. He says it removes all the rust in the tiny pits of the body metal affected. Perhaps this might be a beneficial treatment for your situation?

 

[teamreno]

I looked into sandblasting for sure, that does make sense. I’ll look into getting a small setup for this project.

 

[MarkBC]

It wouldnt hurt to sandblast it, the problem is the rust is in the seam immediately behind as well, so that will continue rusting if not treated. It isnt possible to get rid of that rust unless you pull everything apart by drilling out the spot welds. Instead you have to coat with a rust converter then rust inhibitor.

 

[teamreno]

Ok, that makes sense. So how does this sound for an approach:

1) Wire wheel, grind, and/or sandblast to strip paint and big rust flakes off.
2) Clean any remaining fluid film from surface.
3) Phosphoric acid treatment (naval jelly).
4) Clean and apply rust converter and rust inhibitor.
5) Prime and apply new seam sealer.
6) Paint to match.
7) Apply Fluid Film on the inside of the roof seams and A-post seams to slow advancement of rust from the inside.

Does this sound about right?

 

[MarkBC]

I used phosphoric acid (ospho) and the problem is it leaves a white residue that paint wont stick to. You can only remove it by stiff brush. And you cant get a brush in the seams so I don't bother. Ive never used naval jelly, maybe it's different. I'd just paint directly with rust converter (I swear by Eastwood rust encapsulator but I'm not making a kickback from them) after its been derusted from steps 1 and 2.
Rust inhibitor is an oil, eg fluid film) so that has to go on last. You can't paint over it.

 

[cruiserpilot]

So you wanted an opinion. Take the chrome trim off, it just kinda clips on and isn’t that hard to
remove. Then be ready for a lot more repair than you think. There are three or four layers around
the rear windows. There is a thread a guy did on here who patched his 60 roof. If it gets really
ugly, sectioning on a new roof is a possibility.

 

[NCFJ]

Rust is the scariest part of my job, because unless you media blast or other means it all out and repair with fresh metal where needed, you'll be making these same repairs again in several years.

This is fun part, more often than not that rust is coming from the inside out.

 

[ozarkmud]

If you're in a pinch and want to stop the rust from getting worse, just put some grease over it. Of course a proper fix is the way to go when you have the chance.

 

[FJACS]

Opinion on rust - I don’t mind it as much as others seem to.

You could do any number of surface prep and paint jobs, add some fluid film inside the A pillars and get a decade out of the truck before you had more issues.

That roof isn’t bad, but @NCFJ is correct - it’s coming from the inside out. I cut and sectioned a bunch of pieces in a1983 I bought last year. Pull the headliner and padding back, weld away, it’s not that bad.

 

[teamreno]

Yeah I haven’t examined the inside of the roof yet but I was somewhat hopeful that it started on the outside due to the roof rack causing damage to the gutters and seam sealer. I’ll have to pull back the interior trim and have a look. The car spent the first few years in Long Beach which i think is where it started. I live in a really dry climate here in Reno so I’m hopeful if I do some quick mitigation it’ll keep it at bay for a few years. I’d hate to give up on this rig, but I’m not sure if I’m up for investing a ton of money into it if I can find a cleaner example.

 

[FJ Noob]

Ok, that makes sense. So how does this sound for an approach:

1) Wire wheel, grind, and/or sandblast to strip paint and big rust flakes off.
2) Clean any remaining fluid film from surface.
3) Phosphoric acid treatment (naval jelly).
4) Clean and apply rust converter and rust inhibitor.
5) Prime and apply new seam sealer.
6) Paint to match.
7) Apply Fluid Film on the inside of the roof seams and A-post seams to slow advancement of rust from the inside.

Does this sound about right?

I've been taking a restoration class and working on my doors. They have about the same amount of rust as your showing up top. The steps you outlined are correct, but I'd tweak them a bit.

1) wire wheel to get bigger loose stuff off and THEN sandblast to get into the pits; top fed hopper style blast gun from Harbor Freight <$20 and a bag of "play sand" from the Lowes is about $5
2) I haven't had much luck with naval jelly...seems too weak. You can try muriatic acid (BE CAREFUL), especially to seep into areas you can't really brush or blast. You'll have to flush it really well with water and then immediately blow it dry with compressed air.
3) rust inhibitor may not let the primer adhere properly. Just double check the compatibility.

Good Luck!

 

[teamreno]

Yeah I think I misunderstood, I was thinking that phosphoric acid was the rust converter and had it in my mind that a rust inhibitor was more along the lines of a POR15 style product. My mistake haha.

Should I be worried about play sand being too aggressive and warping the metal? I was looking at alternative blast media and got overwhelmed...aluminum oxide was what I was looking at but it seemed like it may not be aggressive enough.

Thanks for the advice though, Ill be ready to start this project pretty soon hopefully! Although if it cools off too much I may have to delay til the spring.

 

[SteveH]

All your seam rust is relatively trivial compared to the 'above the gutter roof rust'. The advice given on the seams here is valid, but on the roof metal, you will surely have to cut out the rusted areas and weld in new metal. Remove the rear side windows, pull down the headliner (as little as needed) and see what's going on in there.

I found a guy (kind of a 2nd tier body guy) who did this on my FJ55 for $300 cash years ago. I had him JUST weld in the new metal, and that kept the job scope well-defined. If you don't want to tackle the welding, you may find a hot rod shop that will do this sort of thing for cash. If you make it easy for them (do as much prep as you can to reveal the scope of the job), they will be a lot happier about signing up to do it.