Have been looking at a landcruiser but noticed there is some frame and body rust. Curious if this is just fighting an uphill battle that i'll never win or will cost me much more down the road? Any insight into potential repairs and costs is much appreciated!
When is it considered "too much" rust?
- Thread starter cory15000
- Start date
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Oh man... run!
Part's truck, ask me how I know... 
You would never be happy or trust this chassis
macdaddy59
SILVER Star
You either have mad fabrication and welding skills (and access to tools, and material) or you pay someone big money who does. Whatever rust you see multiply it by 5x as an average.
wow, a lot of doom and gloom!
On the other side - I got nothin'.
For me looking at that, the expectation would have to be - get the body off the frame, be prepared to replace or fix the frame right (measure weld measure straighten cut weld again measure again, repeat), and be prepared to go through the body panel by panel. And you end up with a gem but you earn it.
Not trying to scare you, just trying to answer the question you posed. Never "too much" if you are eyes wide open.
I just went through the above scenario on a 69 gto - but learned a ton about frames and welding and body work which was rewarding.
On the other side - I got nothin'.
For me looking at that, the expectation would have to be - get the body off the frame, be prepared to replace or fix the frame right (measure weld measure straighten cut weld again measure again, repeat), and be prepared to go through the body panel by panel. And you end up with a gem but you earn it.
Not trying to scare you, just trying to answer the question you posed. Never "too much" if you are eyes wide open.
I just went through the above scenario on a 69 gto - but learned a ton about frames and welding and body work which was rewarding.
That spring mount is hanging on by hopes and dreams. If you zoom in on the pic you can see holes and it almost looks like the frame is buckling by the mount from the stress.
georgebj60
SILVER Star
Yeah, that thing should not be on the road. Nor should you purchase it.
ah yeah, go through @pistonpete 's build n you'll understand. parts truck for sure
no need to zoom, that slapped me in the face when i scrolled down to it. it is crushing in
Maybe with this rust it is not money but mindset; if you can weld a bit and also get some help it it not really a problem, 4 mm metal for the chassis and 1.25mm for body.
Most chassis rust is at the rear bottom, body also rear (wheel wells)
I have so many depressing pictures of rust but rust never gets fixed by talking about it, just slash the grinding disk trough, cut the right size plate and weld.
Most chassis rust is at the rear bottom, body also rear (wheel wells)
I have so many depressing pictures of rust but rust never gets fixed by talking about it, just slash the grinding disk trough, cut the right size plate and weld.
mattressking
10 digits to freedom
If you gotta ask, it's not for you. A true fab person just sees metal and time. Otherwise you're paying a boat load later unless you have spares on hand to put together a clean truck.
As these trucks start to disappear or priced out of comfortable reach, the rustier trucks will start to be saved more often. Happens with every other collector car. Good news, these trucks aren't unibody so it makes it easier long term to mix and match parts.
As these trucks start to disappear or priced out of comfortable reach, the rustier trucks will start to be saved more often. Happens with every other collector car. Good news, these trucks aren't unibody so it makes it easier long term to mix and match parts.
Parts truck....or could roll the dice for less than a grand and vow not to fix anything and just drive it and hope for a couple years before you are forced to scrap it.... Pay no more than you can part it out later.
- Thread starter
- #15
Appreciate the feedback from everyone! I am comfortable with doing some grinding but welding is out of wheel house. I decided to let that one slide but another one has popped up; wheel wells look ok but there is what appears to be some significant surface rust on the under carriage. Thoughts?
georgebj60
SILVER Star
No information in those photos, other than the fact that it still has it's original mudflaps (which is a good sign). But let me say this - if welding is out of your wheelhouse, you need to start looking for a truck out of Washington state. Or find one locally that someone has imported already. Not saying it can't happen, but I have never seen a local truck that didn't need welding. And generally lots of welding.
Sometimes the rust looks bad from afar but isn't deep rot, just surface rust. Too hard to tell from those photos. You need to investigate the frame in front of the rear wheel arch which is collapsed in the other truck.
I do see sunlight poking through a hole in the right side in the first photo above, behind the rear mudflap. From the other photos in the Craigslist ad there is evidence of a lot of bondo work around the wheel arches which have rusted away. That will need a lot of welding to fix. You can get a $500 120 V welder from Canadian Tire and do bodywork fairly easily, it just takes time and space.
Are you looking on Kijiji? They have a few there but across all of Canada. There are some clean ones but $$$$.
Do you want diesel or gas, or don't care? Imports from the US will be gas. If you want diesel you could get a clean imported gas one from the US and put in a diesel drivetrain from a rusted out Canadian truck, like the first one you posted. I would probably do that. The gas engines have really bad fuel economy.
I do see sunlight poking through a hole in the right side in the first photo above, behind the rear mudflap. From the other photos in the Craigslist ad there is evidence of a lot of bondo work around the wheel arches which have rusted away. That will need a lot of welding to fix. You can get a $500 120 V welder from Canadian Tire and do bodywork fairly easily, it just takes time and space.
Are you looking on Kijiji? They have a few there but across all of Canada. There are some clean ones but $$$$.
Do you want diesel or gas, or don't care? Imports from the US will be gas. If you want diesel you could get a clean imported gas one from the US and put in a diesel drivetrain from a rusted out Canadian truck, like the first one you posted. I would probably do that. The gas engines have really bad fuel economy.
LOL based on the mudflap thread those mudflaps could be worth $400 alone...
Check out the first few pages here, not to scare anyone, but that rig I am sure once you start digging into it, it WILL look like this.
my-bj-r-60-resurrected-almost.585257
my-bj-r-60-resurrected-almost.585257
Way worse than mine... sorta.
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