Rear Sill Repair Cost (1 Viewer)

[HBowden]

I'm looking at a beautiful 1976 FJ40 that has been at least partially restored. The entire truck is exceptionally clean and original. It is meachanically excellent. The only obvious issue is the usual rear sill. It looks like the top of the sill under the rear doors is just starting to show some bubbling. The lower rear quarters are showing rust.

My question is, knowing this is normal and the common problem, what is the very rough cost estimate to have someone good repair this? Like how many zeros in the number? I know that deeper stuff can be found that starts to add up quickly, but assuming it's the sill and quarters, what would that be roughly? I don't have the time, tools, or skills to tackle this kind of project.

Thanks!

 

[macdaddy59]

My body guy gets $50 which i think is cheap to work on those types of problems. You never know how much rust and repair until you remove paint and then the fun begins. There is no way of knowing the cost until the paint has been stripped and the bad spots are exposed.

 

[middlecalf]

per hour...

 

[bikersmurf]

I’d check out 40 series misc metal fabrication

For the cost of a new rear sill. Add $1000 for installation possibly more once painted. If the sill is just patched it’ll rust again.

 

[reddingcruiser]

per hour...

Phew! Your body guy was about to get real busy!

Pictures please.

If you understand how the rear sill is constructed, rust popping to the surface is just the tip of the iceberg. The rear sill is an unsealed laminated channel and the problem typically starts between the inner and outer layers. If you are going to do spot repair you need to cut enough of the exterior layer away to ensure the surrounding steel is solid. Otherwise you will be fixing it again in short order.

FWIW, I've done the full rear sill replacement about 7 or 8 times. Replacement sills run $300 to $475+/_, and about 3/4 of the time you need new body mounts. Assuming the hard top is on, removing the rear doors always opens a can of worms because it's typical for the screws on the tub to snap off, and that fix adds time and money. You can leave them on but it's a PITA to work around them. It takes roughly a minimum about 2 days to do it right, including paint. This does not include the work on the rear quarters, and depends on how extensive the rust is.

If you aren't doing any of the work a budget of around $2500 seems reasonable.

 

[brian]

Cost me about 500 bucks to replace mine.

 

[HBowden]

Phew! Your body guy was about to get real busy!

Pictures please.

If you understand how the rear sill is constructed, rust popping to the surface is just the tip of the iceberg. The rear sill is an unsealed laminated channel and the problem typically starts between the inner and outer layers. If you are going to do spot repair you need to cut enough of the exterior layer away to ensure the surrounding steel is solid. Otherwise you will be fixing it again in short order.

FWIW, I've done the full rear sill replacement about 7 or 8 times. Replacement sills run $300 to $475+/_, and about 3/4 of the time you need new body mounts. Assuming the hard top is on, removing the rear doors always opens a can of worms because it's typical for the screws on the tub to snap off, and that fix adds time and money. You can leave them on but it's a PITA to work around them. It takes roughly a minimum about 2 days to do it right, including paint. This does not include the work on the rear quarters, and depends on how extensive the rust is.

If you aren't doing any of the work a budget of around $2500 seems reasonable.

Thanks. That is exactly what I was looking for. I've looked at threads where people with skills I don't have document replacing the sill and lower parts of the quarter panels. I understand this is a can labeled "worms" that I would be opening. But the rest of the truck as far as you can see crawling around under it is exceptionally clean (e.g. body mounts, rubber bits, etc.), so all I was looking for was a yardstick to get an idea of how much at least the lid of this can of worms might cost.

I wish I had the skills, time, and tools to do some of the amazing work I see documented here!

Thanks!

 

[macdaddy59]

Yep $50 hr sorry about that.