Victory - a 1977 FJ45

[Airdale]

Well, spring has finally come to Ontario and it is time to get back to work. I'm hoping to get started on sections of the cab in the near future.

The box was tucked away in a ShelterLogic tarp garage for the winter, but to my dismay and disappointment, the box has a significant amount of surface rust on it. There certainly were times with high humidity over the winter, and I checked regularly to ensure surfaces were dry, but a significant portion of the box has surface rust on it. I was under the impression that having it sandblasted and then epoxy primer that the metal would be sealed up and safe from rusting.
Was I wrong, or did the shop I used not do a sufficient job? I used a professional shop and paid the going rate (ridiculous) for the work because I don't have the space or equipment to do it, and now it looks like I might have to have it done again.
Would it be safe to clean up the rust with some rust remover and carry on, or should I wait until I am ready to have the cab blasted and do everything again. I don't want to start body work on the box if it's going to need to be blasted again.
The entire box except for the front wall and the corner posts are new metal. Very disappointing.

Thoughts on what would be the best course of action? I'm thinking I need to find a new paint shop

 

[anothernz45]

That really sucks - I used the same approach with great results. Put some enamel thinners on a rag and see if you get any color when you wipe it on your paint - that should show if the paint is 2 pack or a single. I think you'll have to bite the bullet and get the blasting/priming redone. If this business can't protect new metal they're not very good.
Did the sandblasters also apply the paint? Getting it on quickly is vital, my sandblaster did the blast and prime, took everything to the painter much later.

 

[Airdale]

Thank you for the input @anothernz45.
I treated it with some rust remover and that has cleaned up the visible rust at least. My concern is what is underneath the primer. I wiped it with a rag with paint thinner and a bit of the grey colour did show on the rag, but it's only primer at this stage as opposed to paint.
The blasting and priming were both done at the same shop, likely on the same day, it wasn't there very long.
I have a lot of work to do on the cab, so once that is all done, I'll probably ship it all out to a different shop and get it redone.

 

[Airdale]

Sneak preview of the work ahead. I have a bit of work to do rebuilding the driver's side of the cowl at the bottom - totally disintegrated. Should have looked under the carpet more often Fortunately the passenger side is relatively intact so I can copy for the driver's side.

 

[Airdale]

Finally made a bit of progress. Removed the not too bad mount from the passenger side to clean up and use as a template for the driver's side.

 

[Airdale]

With inspiration from @47coeman (Validating browser… - https://forum.ih8mud.com/threads/another-45-restoration.1216999/) page 4
I fabbed up a new mount for the driver's side.
Going to wait until I'm further along with the floor repair to set the final position for the actual mount 'clip' and trim the ends to length.

 

[Airdale]

Smashed up some new lower cowl/floor sections. They still need some tidying up and final fit, but moving along. Nothing a bit of bedliner or carpet can't cover .
Now to fix up the bottoms of the vent panels on the side and the lower parts of the pillars, and the cowl should be in pretty good shape.