Sandy: 2003 Land Cruiser 100 Series Rebuild & Upgrade Thread (1 Viewer)

[WreckDiver1321]

I love this thread. Keep it coming! I have the same rust spots on the body as you, so I'm definitely keeping an eye on your solutions. For the rear quarter panel, I'm planning on just grinding that down and capping it as is. Is that what you guys are doing?

I've had to drill out my sway bar brackets as well, the same ones as you. Front and one rear. I quickly diverted on the rear one once I broke the first bolt on the frame. I figured all of them would have to be drilled out, so I left the old brackets on there for another day when I have more time to drill out bolts hah.

Thanks brother! It's been an adventure getting this truck up to my standards. Now that the mechanicals are done, I know this will be the part that takes the longest. I've never done body work before, so this is a bit of a learning experience for me, and the curve is a bit steep. It's been fun though.

Yep, we're planning on doing something like that on the rear quarter sections. We're cutting out all the rusty parts and welding in new metal. That being said, we're maintaining the original pinch weld where possible, so it makes it easier to tie the outer skin to the rest of the body. It'll be similar to factory, but not quite as clean. I'd be willing to just cut everything lower than three inches below the belt line off and cap it, but I'm deferring to my brother in law's expertise on this one. I'm going to slather this area with POR15 so I don't have to think about it again afterwards, then the bumper will go over it and it should be good to go. I definitely want this area closed off, it's noticeably louder in the cab when you're on the road now.

Following that, we're going to use the patch panel sections I got from @3_puppies to repair the area behind the doors and get that primed and ready to go. I'll also use Eastwood's internal frame coating to protect the inside of the rockers from corrosion. I don't think it will be an issue in the future, my poking and prodding last weekend showed them to be solid, but I want to be absolutely sure. While this is going on, I'll be working on fill-welding any rust holes that are in the pinch weld. There's only four in total, so this shouldn't be too bad. Then I plan on reinforcing the back side of the pinch weld with additional metal. I'm doing pinch weld sliders, so I want this area to be stout. Once that is done, I'll put a layer of POR15 along the entirety of the pinch weld, then scuff it and cover it with primer so it can be shot body color on the outside. It should be pretty rustproof that way.

Meanwhile, I'll probably pull the fenders off after they've been sanded, clean and paint the back sides, and then prime the outer sides before I drop them off to get painted. I'll do the same with the hood, as it has a few rust bubbles I want to get addressed. Then I'll probably pull the driver's side rear door and the lift gate to fix the rust spots on those. Similar treatment, including filler, POR15, and the internal coating. I'm trying very hard to stop any corrosion dead in it's tracks.

Haha, yeah I had a few of those moments on this project. Didn't want to fight it, so I just cut it off or drilled it out. That's why I've got new control arms everywhere and new suspension.

 

[3_puppies]

lots of work but looks to be coming along.
hope the patches are what you were expecting.

 

[WreckDiver1321]

lots of work but looks to be coming along.
hope the patches are what you were expecting.

Yeah, it's more of a handful than I was expecting for sure, but it's such a solid rig in most respects I think it deserves to be saved. Going to be a hell of a truck by the time I get it back on the road!

They're exactly what I needed, thanks again for helping me out. Gonna make my life an awful lot easier.

 

[WreckDiver1321]

My ARB has arrived!

Need to go pick it up after this weekend's backpacking trip. Hopefully I'm able to get that installed soon-ish and not have to have it laying around the shop taking up space. Trying to figure out what to do there.

 

[D21FJ60]

Keep it coming- you are making short work of that rust! Breathe the life back into it don’t stop now

 

[WreckDiver1321]

Keep it coming- you are making short work of that rust! Breathe the life back into it don’t stop now

The rust angered me, and so it must die.

Actually, I'm feeling better about it all the time. The further we get into the remediation work, the better I feel about it. The pressure is off now since I know it will be at least December until I can actually use it again, so the new goal is for next spring. May is a good time to aim for. She's gonna be sweet when we're done.

 

[WreckDiver1321]

I had a chance to get over to the shop last week and put my rust buster to the test.

Good news: it worked.

Bad news: it worked briefly.

The drill attachment was hokey at best, so I ended up figuring out a way to slap an electric impact on it and used that for a bit. Unfortunately, I melted the plastic drum, so I had to come up with a better solution.

The metal snake part is essentially a long, tightly coiled spring, so I clipped off an 18" section and figured out a way to attached three links of chain to the end, then I cinched the other end in a drill chuck. Et voila, a new frame cleaning tool! This worked better, but occasionally I would snag something in the frame which would turn the spring into a pretzel, so I remade this tool a few times.

After about two hours, working front to back, I was satisfied with the result. I hit the entire length of each frame rail, as well as each crossmember. I spent extra time working on the rear section of frame, as this is the most corroded. Then, starting from the front, I blew compressed air through the frame until debris stopped flying out the rear of the frame rails. There was a copious amount of junk that flew out, so I'm glad I took the time to do this.

I received the internal frame coating this weekend, so my plan is to get over to the shop at some point soon, tape off a bunch of frame holes, and get the frame coating laid down front to back. There's some areas of the rockers I'll probably be able to hit too.

After rust busting, I took a grinder to the pinch weld and opened up the places were corrosion had eaten through the outer layer. Once I cleaned those up and got to substantial metal, I began fill-welding the holes, then grinding off the excess. I have one of the holes mostly filled in and ground back, I just need to finish it up and move on to the next ones. Shouldn't be too long. I'm hoping I can get this finished up soon and get primer on the pinch welds so that can be crossed off the list.

 

[WreckDiver1321]

In other news:

We close on a house 9/3. Took us a couple months of searching in the hottest real estate market in America, but we found what we needed. 2400 sqft in a nice neighborhood, nicely updated, original wood floors, big yard, and plenty of trees. Importantly, it has two garages. An oversized single-car is attached to the house, which is spacious enough as it is. In the back yard, though, is an oversized 2-car garage, fully insulated, heated, and with 240v power already set up. Just needs some additional lighting and workspace figured out.

Which brings me to a new project: setting up my own personal shop. Because there is an attached garage and a shed, nothing but shop stuff needs to happen in there. It's my own space. So now the question is how to arrange it and get the most out of the space. I have a few ideas brewing, but my ultimate goal is to turn it into an ultimate modern workshop/garage/hang out area. I'd like to build some chairs out of car seats from a junk yard, with seating and a TV mounted to the wall. I have three Whalen industrial shelving racks from Costco that could easily be made into a workbench and storage/shelving. I'm trying to work out how to arrange everything and keep it tidy. It's going to be quite the project!

Meanwhile, the house itself will be updated as well. The whole house will be painted since there are some dark colors that need to be exorcized. The kitchen will receive painted cabinets and a new countertop. We'll probably throw in some light fixtures too, and I'll build a pallet wood surround for the fireplace upstairs.

We're pretty excited about it.

 

[WreckDiver1321]

Please forgive the low-quality pictures, I haven't gotten my camera over to the shop in far too long.

I wanted a quick fun project to take my mind off of the rust prevention before I got back into it, so I got my Rhino Rack Batwing Compact awning mounted. It's a little far forward, so it appears I will need to mount that third crossbar after all, but the coverage is great and it's very easy to use.

Next up, I pulled Sandy back into the shop to continue working on some of the necessary rust repairs. I'm starting by giving attention to the pinch welds.

The passenger side pinch weld showed three bubbling spots, otherwise everything was nice and straight. So I got out the wire wheel and began peeling back the layers until I hit clean, albeit pitted, metal.

Once I got to this point, I cleaned it up a little bit more, than started filling the damaged area with weld. Now, this probably isn't the best way to solve this, but I think with the work I put in plus some rust encapsulator and primer, it won't give me any trouble going forward. The perfect cure for this would be to peel the outer layer of pinch weld away, add material, and get it welded back together. Being that this area is no longer going to be enclosed by the side steps and that Montana is so dry, I think this approach will work out fine. I do plan to grind away the undercoat and reinforce the backside of this seam, so I'm sure this will be enough for a long-term solution.

 

[WreckDiver1321]

My original welds didn't take very well, so I had to go through a bit more cleaning before everything started to go my way. Once I had this sorted out, I was able to get decent fill. Then I ground back and did more fill-welding until I got a pretty smooth result. This is a "half-way" stage.

Next up was attacking this nasty crap.

This is after my roto-rooting of the frame and blowing the dust and flakes out. @crolison had pointed me towards Eastwood Internal Frame Coating, so I took a stab at it. I masked most of the frame holes (which turned out to be not nearly enough) and used the extension tube to hit the frame from front to back. I used 4 cans and think I should use one or two more for the crossmembers and rocker panels. This stuff is no joke! I'm very impressed with how effective the coverage is, and it seems to do a real number on the rust as well. Hopefully this will be the end of the line for any internal frame corrosion.

 

[WreckDiver1321]

Oh, I almost forgot! Here's the pictures of the new digs.

The all-important backyard getaway with proper shop. Thankfully, the S10 does not come with the property.

 

[D21FJ60]

I thought of this thread, as this morning I discovered more body rust than i'd like on my 99. I envy your shop and capabilities to weld. Most of my rust on the body is in the same places, how hard is it to weld new metal into them? Is this something a beginner with no experience could do?

 

[WreckDiver1321]

I thought of this thread, as this morning I discovered more body rust than i'd like on my 99. I envy your shop and capabilities to weld. Most of my rust on the body is in the same places, how hard is it to weld new metal into them? Is this something a beginner with no experience could do?

Sorry about the late reply, I've been busy hunting and working on setting up the new house, shop, etc. I need to get back on here regularly, but nothing has been happening on the Cruiser, so I just haven't.

Actually, the shop and welder are my brother-in-law's, though I think I'm going to end up getting Sandy into my shop once the shop is ready, then buy a welder and the appropriate gear and start welding. With the truck at home, I'll have a few hours here and there to work on it rather than setting aside larger chunks of time, so I'll probably be able to make better progress on it.

Thanks so much for the kind words, though my abilities with a welder are far inferior to many. I just kind of jump in there and do it, and it sort of works out.

As far as starting as a beginner: yes I think it's possible for a beginner to get into it, but be aware that it's a process and the learning curve is somewhat aggressive. I'd start with learning how to properly run a bead on thicker material. Pick up several chunks of scrap of varying size/thickness and work on welding them together. Learn the settings to get the best penetration and highest quality welds. Once you feel more comfortable with that, start practicing on sheet metal. Trouble with sheet metal is it warps easily with heat and is easier to burn through if you don't do it right. Get some practice on scrap before trying it with your truck. Then I think you'd be safe to try some of the less obvious parts of the body work. If those go well, move on to the stuff that's more obvious.

Going along with the welder though is the ability to manipulate metal. The most ideal solution is obviously to obtain body panel cuts where you need to repair, then weld those into place, but that's not always possible. So a few body hammers, vise grips, and a bench vise will go a long way. Maybe a few dollies to help you form curves. Then you need to be able to cut and grind, and do so pretty precisely. Then apply filler to rough areas and sand to smooth. It's a whole process that honestly is really involved, but totally learnable if you're willing to put in the time and effort. Then you'll understand why body shops want such big money.

Another consideration is the cost of gear. You'll need a welder, welding wire, protective gear, a gas bottle, and some body work tools. It's not a cheap endeavor, but it's cheaper than a body shop. And you learn a new skill. I'd say go for it if you have the time and money to lay out to make it happen. Just be prepared to work through problems or mistakes and remember there is very little you do that can't be undone. But best not to test that if you can avoid it. I think it's a great idea!

 

[WreckDiver1321]

Quick update, boys and girls!

I know I've been absent a few months, and that's largely because I haven't done anything at all on the Land Cruiser. Everything I've done has been to do with getting my new house and new shop ready. The house has gone well, the shop has been a bit of a disaster so far. Trying to do a floor stain and coating has been the bane of my existence for two months. I really would like to get Sandy over to my workshop, but it's completely empty at the moment and I need to get set up. It's taking so much longer than I'd like.

Anyway, on to positive things:

Once the shop is workable, I think I'm going to buy my own welder and welding equipment so that I can chip away at the work on the body rust. My hope is that I won't have a massive bill at the body shop when it finally goes in for their work and paint, so taking the time to do as much as possible myself is ideal. My brother in law is a busy guy and I can't expect him to be available on my schedule, so I'd like to be able to do some work regardless of his availability. I'm still expecting a painful bill at the body shop, but if my welding and body work can save me $1500, I've more than broke even after factoring in all the costs.

We'll see how it goes. I'm hoping I can get the shop to where I want it by the middle of next month and actually get some stuff done. Hopefully. Maybe.

 

[WreckDiver1321]

BIG things have happened!

I did a few things on the shop to get it prepared, but the cold weather moved in, took away the already meager humidity, and caused flooring temps to drop. As such, I won't be getting the floor coating completed until conditions improve. However, I did make some big steps towards getting back into the Land Cruiser.

Primarily, I brought Sandy home. Due to a foot injury and needing a scooter to get around his shop, my brother in law requested I move her, so I picked it up and drove it home.

In order to keep it out of the weather (raw metal) I cleaned out the attached garage and got her parked inside.

It dawned on me that since my brother in law was once again laid up, I would need to work on the body repair myself. I watched a lot of videos and did plenty of research to figure out what I needed and the kind of work I would need to do. Luckily for the stuff that will be visible, I have patch panels, which makes life a lot easier. But I still needed some things, so a trip to Harbor Freight got me set up.

The flange/punch tool will allow me to make lap joints where necessary and plug weld body panels together, which will be a big help. The narrow belt sander will allow me to more easily open up spot welds and clean out rust spots on the hatch and doors. The air hammer will help me separate the layers on the patch panels so I can weld each individually.

I also picked up a hammer and dolly set for planishing work.

I picked up a few other things as well, and made an order. For this:

Since the shop has a 220v outlet, I could afford to pick up a 220v MIG welder. This is HF's Titanium, which from all reviews seems like an amazing deal. For my relatively limited use case, I think this is a good investment and plenty of welder for me. Reports say up to 1/2" plate is doable, but I'll likely never need that capability. Can't wait to get going with it!

Originally, I was going to get the flooring done, panel one of the walls in old pallet wood, get some benches and cabinets built, and a few other projects to get my shop space up and running. Unfortunately, due to the weather, I opted to wait on the floor coating. I had already completed the wall paint, which was a feat. I used patching plaster and a load of paint to smooth out the OSB walls, so they're nice and smooth now.

I then built a wall cabinet to get some tools and consumables moved into the shop. This is the color the cabinets will get painted.

With my brother in law laid up, the weather changing, and spring/summer getting closer, I decided there was no sense putting it off. I Picked up a large tarp and welding blanket from HF to protect the raw concrete, then laid it down in the shop and got Sandy moved over in preparation of metal work.

Here's my plan:

I want the truck ready for the summer, so I'm giving myself a deadline of April 4th to get the body work as "done" as I can get it. I'll make an appointment with a good body place as close to that date as I can, then get to work. I'll start with the costliest and most complex repairs, namely the rear quarters. As I said, I'm lucky enough to have patch panels for most of the hard parts. Then I'll address the small spots. Whatever state it's in in April, I'll get it over to a body shop and they can take it from there. Hopefully that means I'll have it back with plenty of time for finishing touches before we get traveling.

More to come soon!

 

[dividedan]

BIG things have happened!

I did a few things on the shop to get it prepared, but the cold weather moved in, took away the already meager humidity, and caused flooring temps to drop. As such, I won't be getting the floor coating completed until conditions improve. However, I did make some big steps towards getting back into the Land Cruiser.

Primarily, I brought Sandy home. Due to a foot injury and needing a scooter to get around his shop, my brother in law requested I move her, so I picked it up and drove it home.

View attachment 2860087

In order to keep it out of the weather (raw metal) I cleaned out the attached garage and got her parked inside.

View attachment 2860088

It dawned on me that since my brother in law was once again laid up, I would need to work on the body repair myself. I watched a lot of videos and did plenty of research to figure out what I needed and the kind of work I would need to do. Luckily for the stuff that will be visible, I have patch panels, which makes life a lot easier. But I still needed some things, so a trip to Harbor Freight got me set up.

View attachment 2860090

The flange/punch tool will allow me to make lap joints where necessary and plug weld body panels together, which will be a big help. The narrow belt sander will allow me to more easily open up spot welds and clean out rust spots on the hatch and doors. The air hammer will help me separate the layers on the patch panels so I can weld each individually.

I also picked up a hammer and dolly set for planishing work.

View attachment 2860095

I picked up a few other things as well, and made an order. For this:

View attachment 2860097

Since the shop has a 220v outlet, I could afford to pick up a 220v MIG welder. This is HF's Titanium, which from all reviews seems like an amazing deal. For my relatively limited use case, I think this is a good investment and plenty of welder for me. Reports say up to 1/2" plate is doable, but I'll likely never need that capability. Can't wait to get going with it!

Originally, I was going to get the flooring done, panel one of the walls in old pallet wood, get some benches and cabinets built, and a few other projects to get my shop space up and running. Unfortunately, due to the weather, I opted to wait on the floor coating. I had already completed the wall paint, which was a feat. I used patching plaster and a load of paint to smooth out the OSB walls, so they're nice and smooth now.

View attachment 2860098

I then built a wall cabinet to get some tools and consumables moved into the shop. This is the color the cabinets will get painted.

View attachment 2860099

With my brother in law laid up, the weather changing, and spring/summer getting closer, I decided there was no sense putting it off. I Picked up a large tarp and welding blanket from HF to protect the raw concrete, then laid it down in the shop and got Sandy moved over in preparation of metal work.

View attachment 2860101

Here's my plan:

I want the truck ready for the summer, so I'm giving myself a deadline of April 4th to get the body work as "done" as I can get it. I'll make an appointment with a good body place as close to that date as I can, then get to work. I'll start with the costliest and most complex repairs, namely the rear quarters. As I said, I'm lucky enough to have patch panels for most of the hard parts. Then I'll address the small spots. Whatever state it's in in April, I'll get it over to a body shop and they can take it from there. Hopefully that means I'll have it back with plenty of time for finishing touches before we get traveling.

More to come soon!

Nice space you made for yourself! Our garage is so tiny it’s useless for a shop space, I’m working on a deal with my buddy who has a shop just down the road to be able to get my Scout project up and running again over the weekend too. Good luck with the deadline!

 

[Cruzer_89]

Nice work man..

 

[Mike NXP]

Looking good, the great thing about our rigs is they are worth bringing back to life.

 

[WreckDiver1321]

Nice space you made for yourself! Our garage is so tiny it’s useless for a shop space, I’m working on a deal with my buddy who has a shop just down the road to be able to get my Scout project up and running again over the weekend too. Good luck with the deadline!

Thanks Dan! The space is getting there somewhat, but it's a lot slower than I want. Such is the way it goes I guess. I'm really working hard on making this a genuinely useful space but also a cool place to hang out. There will be a TV, coffee table, and seating. Should be great once it's done. Aesthetically, I'm stealing a lot from this gentleman:

I'm planning on doing cabinets like this along one wall, with 208" worth of 18x24 cabinets and one 72x60x18 behemoth. Should make it very functional and very nice looking.

I have dealt with those tiny, useless garages before. It's awful for sure. I can't tell you how excited I was to find this place complete with detached shop. I do wish the building was a little bigger, but I'm not going to complain.

Good luck on the Scout project! My neighbor across the street has one. What year? My dad owned a 73 I think.

Nice work man..

Thanks! Hope I get some momentum back this weekend.

Looking good, the great thing about our rigs is they are worth bringing back to life.

Hey Mike! Thanks for stopping in. Yeah, they really are worth saving. The durability, aesthetic, and heritage is worth keeping around. I just saw a few pics of your rig and realized we're going to have a similar looking build from the outside. ARB front, Dobinsons rear. It looks great.

I wish I got out to your corner of the state more often. My folks live in Seeley Lake, so I get up there a decent amount, but not as much as I'd like.

 

[dividedan]

Thanks Dan! The space is getting there somewhat, but it's a lot slower than I want. Such is the way it goes I guess. I'm really working hard on making this a genuinely useful space but also a cool place to hang out. There will be a TV, coffee table, and seating. Should be great once it's done. Aesthetically, I'm stealing a lot from this gentleman:

View attachment 2860892

I'm planning on doing cabinets like this along one wall, with 208" worth of 18x24 cabinets and one 72x60x18 behemoth. Should make it very functional and very nice looking.

I have dealt with those tiny, useless garages before. It's awful for sure. I can't tell you how excited I was to find this place complete with detached shop. I do wish the building was a little bigger, but I'm not going to complain.

Good luck on the Scout project! My neighbor across the street has one. What year? My dad owned a 73 I think.



Thanks! Hope I get some momentum back this weekend.



Hey Mike! Thanks for stopping in. Yeah, they really are worth saving. The durability, aesthetic, and heritage is worth keeping around. I just saw a few pics of your rig and realized we're going to have a similar looking build from the outside. ARB front, Dobinsons rear. It looks great.

I wish I got out to your corner of the state more often. My folks live in Seeley Lake, so I get up there a decent amount, but not as much as I'd like.

1975. Here she is in all her leaky glory:

So much work to be done to get it functional and much of it tedious, still motivated to finish it though!

IH spam over…