What have you done to your Land Cruiser this week? (66 Viewers)

[nabbasi]

Thanks for the tips and anecdotes. All very helpful tips.

I was leaning towards aluminum and then topping off with rage evercoat (if I ever get around to doing anything about the body). I’ve got some friends with some hammer and dolly skills, but understanding where to cut reliefs and massaging and shrinking metal just isn’t one of the ways my brain works.

I’ve got a decent amount of experience mig welding thin sheet metal (at least a few thousand stitch welds).

On topic for the thread, I lost my locking gas cap on Monday. I had some plastic and a bungee cord, which worked for the 50 or so miles I needed to drive the rest of the evening.

 

[Skreddy]

Evercoat rage gold is my go to, haven't had a single adhesion or cracking issue in 20 years using it and it sands great.

I’m by no means a body guy but the half dozen or so vehicles I’ve needed filler on (and another dozen motorcycles) I’ve always used rage gold.
I use thin, smooth cutting boards from the dollar store to mix it on and spread it from. Don’t mix too much because when it starts to kick, it’s done and just toss it. Better to mix a few baseball size batches than one big batch that hardens while you’re trying to work it.

With the thin cutting boards (like 1/8”) you can feel the heat from the chemical process. Pretty crazy.

 

[rainingagain]

I’m by no means a body guy but the half dozen or so vehicles I’ve needed filler on (and another dozen motorcycles) I’ve always used rage gold.
I use thin, smooth cutting boards from the dollar store to mix it on and spread it from. Don’t mix too much because when it starts to kick, it’s done and just toss it. Better to mix a few baseball size batches than one big batch that hardens while you’re trying to work it.

With the thin cutting boards (like 1/8”) you can feel the heat from the chemical process. Pretty crazy.

A bunch of us shade tree body guys chiming in but at least we are consistent. When I was wrenching, I was also the paint and body guy for fixing things that didn't go through insurance - say when an operator in a skid steer doesn't notice an S-10 parked behind them. Or the bosses truck when he hits his garage at home cause he had a few to many.

I typically went with the Evercoat products like Rage because that's what the shop bought. I also used my fair share of 3M on personal stuff. But yeah, it really is about getting the mix right, if it's a new product, playing with it, and taking your time.

Beat the metal back into shape, a coat of bondo, sanded and then a top coat of a glazing putty to fill any pin holes.

I should also note since this sort of aligns with wheeling - I used Evercoat Everglass on all my lowriders and mini trucks. Yes, I'm telling on myself here. They typically had air ride or hydraulic suspension and would be put to some serious flex stressing. Everglass has small fiberglass strands. Standard stuff would sometimes pop if you were lazy on you metal work.