Rust repairs...

[PeeZed]

Hey guys,

After our little incident the other day I've been thinking about taking the time to do a few fixes over this winter...any advice or parts sourcing (cheap/free) would be greatly appreciated. I just finished reading Cam's thread on his major patch, build and upgrades...not happening on my 60 (in my dreams!).

Anyways...I'm not looking to make things pretty, just strong(er) and functional.

1. Rear passenger seat fender well attachment points. Apparently mine are rusty as one of them came out in the accident. I'm assuming a cut and weld new material into place. Wondering about the pivot point and how to build that into the patch.

2. Rear body mounts. Pretty much none existent.

3. Rear upper/lower gate.
Upper just needs a cut and paste on lower 4" for now.
Lower needs the same and I was thinking about the storage upgrade at the same time.


I have a mig welder. I am by no means much better than a novice with it. Hopefully I can seal things up and make them safer, that's all.

Thanks in advance for any words of wisdom...

PS: Yes, it would be swell to just find a nice Southern body/frame and do a swap...let me know when you find one for a song

 

[Toshi38]

For the metal working part:

Tools:
Beer boxes make great patterns therefor you should drink lots of beer so you have enough.
Body hammers and dollies: get a half decent set... or if you're cheap visit princess auto. (I like these ones: http://www.eastwood.com/fairmount-8-pc-hammer-dolly-set-wood.html )
Tin Snips
Zip Disks
Ideally you'll want to use air tools (much smaller/easier to control then electric IMO) :
90 Deg grinder
Die grinder
If you don't have air tools:
Electric grinder 4.5 inch or similar



I found it handy to trace the "old/rusty" part onto them as best I can, then draw on the missing/rusted out part I need. In the words of my autobody teacher "be greedy" make the patches much bigger then you need... its very easy to cut off excess metal after.

Then I cut the boxes out and use it as a template for cutting the sheet metal. From here I usually draw dotted lines for w/e I want a bend and then use my brake to put a bend. You can buy a cheap break or just use a couple of pieces of angle iron in a vice and a hammer

When welding in the parts:
1. Prep your surfaces, make sure they are completely rust free and clean. Use a wirewheel/flap disk for this, both have their place and are useful.
2. Cut out the old piece completely removing the rust (if possible).
3. Weld in the new piece:

Patience is key. Tack tack tack and a thousand times more alternating sides/position to prevent heat warping.

This will no doubt draw some ire from folks but the way I learned from autobody classes is to do overlap welds not butt welds. The reason for this is it is:
A) much faster/easier.
B) you need to use bondo anyway even for but welds
C) you won't be able to see the difference in the finished product.

Important note: Buy yourself some weldthrough primer, its a special type of primer that you can weld through (duh). Whenever you're doing anything that overlaps that you won't be able to paint after the fact, spray it with this to prevent rusting.

After welding:
Grind welds down, and fill any spots that come up obviously. Take your time here and don't overheat or you'll have lots of warping.

The rest I'll leave for someone who's good with paint/bondo

 

[seapotato]

For the metal working part:

Tools:
Beer boxes make great patterns therefor you should drink lots of beer so you have enough.
Body hammers and dollies: get a half decent set... or if you're cheap visit princess auto. (I like these ones: http://www.eastwood.com/fairmount-8-pc-hammer-dolly-set-wood.html )
Tin Snips
Zip Disks
Ideally you'll want to use air tools (much smaller/easier to control then electric IMO) :
90 Deg grinder
Die grinder
If you don't have air tools:
Electric grinder 4.5 inch or similar



I found it handy to trace the "old/rusty" part onto them as best I can, then draw on the missing/rusted out part I need. In the words of my autobody teacher "be greedy" make the patches much bigger then you need... its very easy to cut off excess metal after.

Then I cut the boxes out and use it as a template for cutting the sheet metal. From here I usually draw dotted lines for w/e I want a bend and then use my brake to put a bend. You can buy a cheap break or just use a couple of pieces of angle iron in a vice and a hammer

When welding in the parts:
1. Prep your surfaces, make sure they are completely rust free and clean. Use a wirewheel/flap disk for this, both have their place and are useful.
2. Cut out the old piece completely removing the rust (if possible).
3. Weld in the new piece:

Patience is key. Tack tack tack and a thousand times more alternating sides/position to prevent heat warping.

This will no doubt draw some ire from folks but the way I learned from autobody classes is to do overlap welds not butt welds. The reason for this is it is:
A) much faster/easier.
B) you need to use bondo anyway even for but welds
C) you won't be able to see the difference in the finished product.

Important note: Buy yourself some weldthrough primer, its a special type of primer that you can weld through (duh). Whenever you're doing anything that overlaps that you won't be able to paint after the fact, spray it with this to prevent rusting.

After welding:
Grind welds down, and fill any spots that come up obviously. Take your time here and don't overheat or you'll have lots of warping.

The rest I'll leave for someone who's good with paint/bondo

Didn't you just swap your rusty tub with an aqualu?

 

[Diesel Cruiserman]

Todays adventures, been along time since I played with sheet metal......

FJ60 rear seat mounts, two pieces of 18 gauge, outer layer will be overlapped and interior peice will fit edge to edge and have several plug welds.

Original brackets very rusty, from first appearance they did not look that bad until removed, kind of a tricky spot with all the angles on the wheel well.

 

[Diesel Cruiserman]

Couple more.

On side two I knew where to cut and how, went much quicker.. you want to drill out the spots and slice the bittom off first leaving the floor reveal in place (if the rust is not that bad)

Using the zip disc and making a cut through, it was easier to finish it with the air recipe saw.

Just picked up a old machine that had almost no use, really liking it.

 

[Toshi38]

Didn't you just swap your rusty tub with an aqualu?

Oh right... that's the way to do it

 

[hellbent40]

Body mounts... are we talking body or the frame mount... I think I have some mounts off the frame.. plasma cut them off a frame many moons ago.. let me know if ur in need of them

 

[PeeZed]

Hellbent40, I'm pretty sure it's at least the frame mounts, but I'll confirm when I get it back from icbc. All I remember is there's rot and things not touching that should be touching!

 

[PeeZed]

Diesel Cruiserman, I'd love to see the progress on those fenderwell's as you move along! It's inspiring to know that although these rigs have rust issues, at least the possibility of a patch here and there is possible for the average Joe.

 

[Diesel Cruiserman]

I meant to take photos today but Dave was on his way to get it, pressure was on to finish it..

It all worked very well with the sandwiching of the wheel wells with outer overlaying buy about half an inch..

All I can say is, this was the toughest sheet metal on a cruiser to weld as the factory forms them and stretchs them thin, I mean real thin. Glad I did the over lap then inside but welded, tied it all together nicely couple rosette welds on the inner 16 gauge.. Seat holders themselves were badly rust and proved to be a challenge reinstalling.

 

[PeeZed]

That's a nice looking rig there!

 

[PeeZed]

ICBC didn't write it off, and offered me a small buy out instead of getting it fixed through the autobody shop.

I took the deal because it meant I could choose who and how much to fix and it meant I wouldn't be out of pocket to get some of the extra repairs done that were not covered in the claim. It just seemed like the best decision for our family.

After closer inspection, however, it looks like a few things on the body moved more than I first expected. Not the end of the world, but more effort than I was planning on.

It's with John @ RADD to get the mechanical stuff done first to make sure that end of things is in good working order still. Then...well, we'll see what's next...