Will these 1975 FJ40 Doors be worth repairing or is it possible? (1 Viewer)

[FJ40RobQ]

I have some damage on the window frames of my 1975 FJ40 doors along with the much needed rust repair at the bottom on the inside and outside. I’m wondering or seeking advice if these are worth repairing and if there is someone in the SoCal or Orange County Area that can do it?

 

[PAToyota]

You'll get a bunch of different opinions. From the snow/salt/rust belt of Pennsylvania, those doors are nearly immaculate!

I'd clean up the rust on most of it, weld that crack, bend a filler panel up to replace the area at the bottom, weld it in, and get to work with some high build primer and sanding to clean the rest of it up.

 

[FJ40RobQ]

PAToyota,
Thanks for the response. I will consider it. I just have to figure out the welding and time to do it. I’m glad there’s hope in the top potion of the doors. I just wasn’t sure if it was possible to weld back to the original position and fit to the Hard top when I get it back on the eventually. Which in my case will be a couple of years.

 

[PAToyota]

Cruiser Corps has the patch panels for the bottoms of the doors: Door Patch - Front Lower - FJ40 1975-1984

From the photos, I'd work with what's there for the rest of the door as opposed to patching in anything new.

 

[FJ40RobQ]

Thanks again for the information, I’m going to have to really practice welding before I tackle doing those patches myself. I’ll have to search the threads on how to approach that kind of work and work up the courage to do it!

 

[PAToyota]

A video such as this will show you the basics:


The FJ40 doors will be a good starting point. One of the difficult parts is grinding down the welds smooth without thinning out the panel too much. That's a lot easier to control on a flat plane than on a curved surface.

 

[FJ40RobQ]

I have access to a mig welder, but not a tig. Even then I will definitely still do some practice runs, as I don't want to ruin $160 worth of metal patch panels on the doors. Thanks again for posting the video and for the support!

 

[Prairie Swamp]

This guy is beyond inspiring. He's a carpenter who picked up a Mig gun to fix up his old high school truck. His results are nothing short of incredible.

 

[FJ40RobQ]

Prairie Swamp,
Thanks for posting the video. That is one of the most thorough videos I’ve seen for door patches. Very motivating and I am inspired by the use of his tools.
I really like that rail road tie idea as an anvil! That has to be one of the best auto body cheap tricks I’ve seen!

 

[PAToyota]

I have access to a mig welder, but not a tig.

The advantage of TIG is that you can apply heat without adding more metal (MIG just keeps feeding wire). You can do it with MIG, but it's awfully easy to add too much weld and then you just have to grind it back flush - and then you grind too much - which you have to weld up again - and then grind again - and...

 

[Prairie Swamp]

The advantage of TIG is that you can apply heat without adding more metal (MIG just keeps feeding wire). You can do it with MIG, but it's awfully easy to add too much weld and then you just have to grind it back flush - and then you grind too much - which you have to weld up again - and then grind again - and...

On top of this - in my experience - TIG welds grind back much easier and with less heat than MIG. But TIG is not an option for most.

 

[tornadoalleycruiser]

only prob with a railroad tie piece is getting it home and cutting it. Took a long time to find a small piece to drag home