Victory - a 1977 FJ45

[Airdale]

I am a newcomer to the world of body work and rust repair, but after reading all the excellent articles on this forum and having a less than stellar experience with a recommended body shop, I decided to try and rebuild my 45 myself.

This truck started its life in Alberta, Canada, and was relatively rust free until it came to me in Ontario from my brother. The abundance of road salt and brine they use on the roads in Ontario quickly started to take its toll.

Ghost River Wilderness Area in Alberta in the 80's

 

[Airdale]

I was told not to drive it in the winter, but like a fool, I did (first mistake).
After a few years it got to the point where I had to do something about the rust, and a colleague of mine recommended a ‘body guy’ that he knew who would do the work for a good price. So, I decided to give him a try (second mistake).
When I got the truck back, the price wasn’t that cheap (surprise), and while the paint looked good, I soon realized the error of my ways.
The hooks had been cut off the side rails of the box as they were ‘too rusty’ according to the body guy. The tailgate was gone – it was too rusty to repair, so he threw it out??? And the roof was painted the same colour as the body (dune beige).

But, other than that, what did I know, the truck did look good otherwise.

I discovered some time later that there was a lot of filler involved and issues covered up that should have been dealt with.

Camping in Ontario after body work had been done. Hooks are gone, but otherwise doesn't look bad to the unexperienced eye.

 

[Airdale]

So, as the rust returned with a new vengeance, and after reading a lot of the build threads on this forum, I decided to try my hand at body work. I made the same mistake driving it in the winter, but I couldn’t resist, and I waited far too long to get started on the project, but here I go.

I began the work in 2020, and it's taken much longer than expected to reach this stage. I am going to try and document my progress thus far (box ready to go out for sandblasting and primer) and then post regularly as I move forward.

My first thought was that I would be able to just replace the bed floor and then repair rust sections in the bed sides and cab corners.
Upon closer inspection, it was a lot worse than I thought.
I missed the opportunity to buy a new box from @Awl_TEQ when he was building them as I didn’t think I would need the whole box (and the rust wasn't this bad then), but I was able to snag a tailgate, hooks and a rear sill.

 

[Airdale]

I started taking the truck apart down to the frame and quickly realized just how bad a shape the truck was in.
Once I had everything removed, I sent the frame to a local body shop for repair and primer. They did an excellent job, although there is still some rust leeching out where the frame sections overlap as I didn’t spend the money to have the frame taken apart. I’ll just have to be more careful with cleaning and rustproofing down the road.

Before

After

 

[Airdale]

I ordered new steel sections for the bed floor and cross rails from a local metal shop. I sent them drawings and specs and they did a fairly good job, although the floor sections did not turn out as consistent and flat as I had hoped for. I decided to go with two full pieces joined in the middle and then I would cut out for the wheel humps, once I figured out what I was going to do for them.

Note: the two extra wide rails at the back are the wrong size, I had to take them back and get them done again.

 

[Airdale]

I've never welded before, so I took a short introductory evening course that was mostly about stick welding, and bought a welder lol.

The local body guy that did some of the blasting and priming for me recommended using UPOL copper weld through primer. I tried a different brand of copper primer that was cheaper, but after a couple of test welds I quickly went out and bought the UPOL brand.

Mounts welded on cross rails:

 

[Airdale]

Rails test fitted on the frame:

 

[Airdale]

I took the front wall apart and sent it out for blasting and priming.

It wasn't in too bad a shape except for the bottom flange where it attaches to the floor, so I welded in a new section.

Cleaned up stiffeners and welded back on.

 

[Airdale]

Test fit of new floor sections, front wall and rear sill on frame. Hard to believe that those floor sections are new steel - surface rusted just from the humidity in Ontario.
Love the rear sill (thanks @Awl_TEQ )

 

[Airdale]

Folded down the rear edge of the floor sections to look more original.

 

[Airdale]

The next step was to take the sides of the box apart and see just what was hiding under the swollen filler.

It appears that the ‘body guy’ cut the sides just below the curved hip and lap welded on what may or may not have been new metal, and then lathered on the filler – to about 3/8” depth in some places – to recreate the shape.
Unfortunately, moisture got to the metal under the filler and started to quietly rust until it bubbled and cracked through the filler.
Again, my fault for not dealing with it sooner, but I didn’t think I was going to have to worry about the box again, and by the time I was able to devote some time to it, it was too late.

 

[Airdale]

I contemplated joining a new piece of metal to the original top half, but the wheel arches were shot and the tops of the original pieces were also in rough shape. And I didn’t really have the skills to attempt that kind of body work, so I decided to replace the sides with new sheet metal.

So the hunt was on to find a shop that would bend up the sides and top rails. I created dxf files in a free version of Draftsight and after approaching numerous shops (most were either too big or too small) I finally found one that would do everything, except the curved ‘hip’ in the side would be straight bends instead of curved.
I had to wait a while before the shop would do it, but they did an amazing job.

Now I needed wheel arches and inner fenders.

I struggled for some time to try and figure out what to do for the wheel arches, and then found the solution on YouTube on a program called Make it Kustom. He put out a couple of videos on how to hammer form shapes. I also found a couple of threads on this forum that showed the same thing and decided to give it a try.
They’re not perfect, but I think they will do, and they’re brand new 18ga steel.
I first attempted to make them with 16ga steel on a wood form, and that was a disaster. So I made a form out of steel round bar and used 18ga steel and it worked like a charm.

 

[Airdale]

The inner fenders were in really rough shape, particularly around the mating edges.
I ordered a pair from Japan, and thought I had lucked into the right part for my truck, but as it turned out, they were the same part number but for a later year(?) as they were larger. But they were only $12 each plus shipping, so...score.

I decided to try and cut down the larger fenders and make them fit. Again, they’re not pretty, but they’ll work, and they’re new steel.

New and old.

New cut down to fit.

 

[Airdale]

Test fit with new inner fenders, side and wheel arch.

 

[Airdale]

Many plug welds later, the cross rails are welded to the floor and the inner fenders are in. Still have to clean up the middle seam.

 

[Airdale]

Hooks welded on top rails and rails welded to sides.

 

[Airdale]

Original corner posts cleaned up and tacked to sides for test fit.

 

[Bear]

After all that and the work still ahead, I hope you can avoid driving it when the roads are salted. Keep up the good work !

 

[Airdale]

After all that and the work still ahead, I hope you can avoid driving it when the roads are salted. Keep up the good work !

Thanks. For sure, definitely going to be a little more careful when I'm done.

 

[cruisermatt]

Awesome Awesome work. It looks like you are learning a lot
Can't wait to see your work on the cab.