The bodywork thread

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate
links, including eBay, Amazon, Skimlinks, and others.

I've been giving the sunroof a lot of thought, I think I may bail on it. I realized the thing is really heavy, and my roof doesn't have any bracing in it. I'm sure I could get the thing installed and it would look OK, but I'm worried about the bouncing & vibrations, it will likely crack all the body filler material off, then I'll have a huge mess to fix. I think the correct way to do this would be to find another Xtra cab with a sunroof, and cut it off at the pillars, transplant it that way. But I don't have the confidence or skills to try it.

Unless someone has a picture of an Xcab roof with a factory sunroof from the inside, with the headliner removed?

Next question: cab is coming off the frame this week, then I need to get going on it. There's very little rust, but there are a few spots of surface stuff here and there, nothing larger than a quarter. So I need a sand blaster, I was thinking about picking this one up at Sears:

Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

Probably use play sand. I have a very nice respirator and I will use goggle and a full face shield.

Any input? I don't have a Harbor Freight near me, and I don't want to invest in the pressure pot style.
 
KLF said:
I've been giving the sunroof a lot of thought, I think I may bail on it. I realized the thing is really heavy, and my roof doesn't have any bracing in it. I'm sure I could get the thing installed and it would look OK, but I'm worried about the bouncing & vibrations, it will likely crack all the body filler material off, then I'll have a huge mess to fix. I think the correct way to do this would be to find another Xtra cab with a sunroof, and cut it off at the pillars, transplant it that way. But I don't have the confidence or skills to try it.

Unless someone has a picture of an Xcab roof with a factory sunroof from the inside, with the headliner removed?

Next question: cab is coming off the frame this week, then I need to get going on it. There's very little rust, but there are a few spots of surface stuff here and there, nothing larger than a quarter. So I need a sand blaster, I was thinking about picking this one up at Sears:

Sears: Online department store featuring appliances, tools, fitness equipment and more

Probably use play sand. I have a very nice respirator and I will use goggle and a full face shield.

Any input? I don't have a Harbor Freight near me, and I don't want to invest in the pressure pot style.
Click to expand...

Two thoughts. Firstly, I think that's a wise decision on the sunroof, especially if you aren't going to weld it in.

Secondly, I would pay someone to sandblast the frame. I think you would spend hours and hours trying to blast it with small equipment and still not get down to clean metal.

What are you going to paint the frame with? If I wasn't galvanizing then I would probably lean toward POR15. Sandblast, clean with metal ready (phosphoric acid), POR15 (two coats) and then topcoat with their chassis black or something equivalent. Just my 2 cents. I did the axles on the 4Runner with their products and it turned out great. Of course preparation is the key to getting a good finish with POR15 but if you prep correctly then you really get something that you feel will last a lifetime.
 
Well, if I did attempt the sunroof it would definitely be welded in somehow, I'm just not sure the best method.

The sandblaster is for the cab and bed, not the frame. I'm gonna pressure wash the frame and inspect, but I'm pretty sure it will get sand blasted, and there is no way I'd attempt that. Huge mess, plus I'd likely burn out my 60 gal compressor. It's just not worth it.

There's no way I'll ever use POR-15 again. I tried that stuff years ago with my other truck, I followed their instructions to the letter, bought the Metal Ready, etc etc etc. Within a couple of years it was all peeling off. It's too expensive, too hard to work with, poor shelf life in the can, no thanks. Rustoleum Red Metal primer and Rustoleum Satin Black. Cheap, easy to find in any store, and easy to touch up.
 
I have one of the blasters you linked to and it would be fine for small stuff. It took about an hour apiece to completely blast inside/out the fender wells from an old Firebird ... so anything larger than spot rust would take awhile.
 
Sandblaster purchased, I also found the local auto parts store sells black beauty (coal slag) in 50 lb bags, so I'm all set.

Windshield is out. Huge PITA.

Final stages of stripping the cab down to nothing but a shell. How do I get those black plastic trim pieces off of the B-pillars, without breaking them? I'm about to drill holes in the cab so I can get to the back side of them to release the clips, I'd rather not do that.

edit: nevermind. Got them off, I had to snap several of the little clips that hold them on. The trim panels are 100% intact, which is the important part. Hope I can get new clips from Toyota...
 
Last edited:
KLF said:
Sandblaster purchased, I also found the local auto parts store sells black beauty (coal slag) in 50 lb bags, so I'm all set.

Windshield is out. Huge PITA.

Final stages of stripping the cab down to nothing but a shell. How do I get those black plastic trim pieces off of the B-pillars, without breaking them? I'm about to drill holes in the cab so I can get to the back side of them to release the clips, I'd rather not do that.

edit: nevermind. Got them off, I had to snap several of the little clips that hold them on. The trim panels are 100% intact, which is the important part. Hope I can get new clips from Toyota...
Click to expand...

Yes the clips can be purchased through Toyota, just finished painting my xtra cab last month and ended up breaking a couple of those clips. And for your frame, If I had the time to do my frame I would go with a epoxy primer and the Eastwood ceramic 2k chassis paint. But you know to each his own.
 
Quick question I'm hoping one of you guys can help me with. I'm thinking when I start putting this thing back together, rather than drop the engine into the bay and risk dinging up the freshly painted inner fenders, can I just put the engine on the frame, then drop the cab over it? Seems like that's how they would have been assembled at the factory.

But I need someone to take a look under the hood of a truck with a 22RE, make sure it will clear, mostly the intake. I *really* don't want to put the intake on after the cab is on, it's a huge pain to reach all the bolts. I will probably leave the header off until the cab is on, just for clearance.
 
It should work, but being able to get the cab high enough to clear the motor will be the biggest challenge. I don't know what you have at your disposal as far as lifting the cab, two post lifts work well and are very a stable way to raise and lower the body. You can take some measurements to find out if it is feasable to get the cab high enough to clear the motor at the core support.

Hope this helps.
 
I'm not worried about getting the cab that high. My shock hoops are pretty high, they just barely clear inside the inner fenders, and we had no trouble picking the cab up over them. The engine won't be much higher.

How I got the cab off: I unbolted the entire cab, then jacked it up enough to slide a pair of 8' long 2x4s thru, side-to-side. I put some scrap strapping across the 2x4's to keep them at the correct spacing, then I ran a couple of very long lag bolts down thru the seat belt holes into the rear 2x4 so it was all tied together. Then I removed the front wheels and lowered the front of the truck as low as I could get it, the brake rotors were almost touching the ground. I had my son and 2 of his buddies come over, the four of us easily lifted the empty cab off the frame and on to my little cart thingy. Now I can push the cab around anywhere I want, by myself.

I'm back on the doors. I am not going to be able to covert my old doors from vent to non-vent. There's a stiffener plate inside the door for the old mirror that is impossible to reach. So, I pulled out the tan spare doors I have, they were in better condition than I remembered, perfect, not a bit of rust. I spent this afternoon/evening messing with the power windows & locks parts, I got it all installed enough to see it will be no problem, and I even had it sorta wired so I can test everything, I'll need to wire up a couple of relays for the door locks. The one thing that is a pain is the person (not me) that pulled these power windows out just cut the wires in the door jamb between the grommets, not sure how I'm gonna get the wires extended cleanly.

Anyway, so I have to fill in 4 holes now, 2 on each door, the holes are about 1/2" in diameter. I could kinda get to the back side with the welder, but not great. Should I just cut some scraps of 22 ga metal and glue them in with panel adhesive from the back, bondo on the front?

Thanks!
 
Pictures

I don't know if these will help but here are some pics.

From passenger side
07152011063.webp

Directly above firewall at intake.
07152011064.webp

Directly above firewall at valve cover.
07152011065.webp
07152011063.webp
07152011064.webp
07152011065.webp
 
Yes, that does help, thanks. Looks pretty close. Hmm...

Maybe I could leave the VC off, drape a blanket over the engine. It will help that I won't have the bed in the way, so I guess I could come down with it a little too far back, then come forward after getting it on the frame.
 
KLF said:
Anyway, so I have to fill in 4 holes now, 2 on each door, the holes are about 1/2" in diameter. I could kinda get to the back side with the welder, but not great. Should I just cut some scraps of 22 ga metal and glue them in with panel adhesive from the back, bondo on the front?
Click to expand...

That would be the easiest. After it has dried I would take a small center punch and lightly tap around each hole to recess it just slightly so the edge of the hole would not be the high point after the bondo work was done.

By using a center punch it moves a minimal amount of metal so as not to create a large dent to fill but will recess the edge of the hole so it is not a high point. Use a straight edge to tell when the hole is recessed enough.
 
I would think the epoxy would work fine.There will not be any stress on those areas that would cause it to break loose.
 
BTT...

First: gaaaaad I hate bodywork. Just sayin...

So today I started attacking the cab. Biggest concern is the rust that is creeping out from under the rain gutters at the very bottom of the A-pillars, about 4-6" or so. I took a close look at it, and the rain gutter is a separate piece spotwelded to the A-pillar, then at the top it transitions to being attached to the roof panel. I bought a spotweld cutter bit from Eastwood, took out all the spotwelds all the way up to the top of the A-pillar, then used a cutoff blade in my Dremel to slice the rain gutter off at that point, so I could pull it off. It's a good thing I did, there was a lot of rust hiding under there. It's no wonder, there was no paint on the metal at all, which I guess is understandable, as they had to weld them together. They put a sealant on either side of the seam, but eventually it fails, and water works it way between the metal pieces.

So now I'm trying to figure out how to put it back on, and keep it from rusting. I can't paint it either, the only way to put it back on is to weld it. Then it occurred to me that maybe I don't even need it. Wondering what would happen if I just rounded or tapered the gutter off right where it bends to go down the A-pillar, leave the pillar clean of no gutter. Would this work? Downside? Wondering if it would create massive wind noise through the door jamb?

Bed is all prepped and primed, ready for final sanding and paint. I didn't do any of it, my buddy did it all (guy I bought the truck from). He did a great job.
 
You can always strip the paint off and weld it on.

What about ice buildup in the door crack in winter?
 
Bogo said:
You can always strip the paint off and weld it on.
Click to expand...

Well that's the thing, there's no paint between the pieces now, which is why it rusted in the first place. There's no way I will be able to get it sealed as well as the factory did, which means it will start rusting again very soon.
 
Weld through primer is what you would want to use. It's a zinc based primer made for that pourpose and can be found at you paint supply store.

A supplier to one of the shops I worked at relabled cold galvanising paint which worked but not as well as the stuff made specifically for that pourpose. 3M makes weld through primer. One light coat is all that is needed. After use turn the can upside down to clear the straw as it will clog the straw and tip if not cleared.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Share this page

Back
Top Bottom