drew303

Looking for more opinions and experiences on frame restoration and undercoating.

I'll start off by showing you the goods:
[1987 Single Cab Shortbed, 4cyl carb]


In short I'll be moving this truck:
[1987 Single Cab Shortbed, 4cyl carb]


The frame is identical to my truck. ie no modifying mounts

onto that frame. Why? Well the (above) frame is bent up front. It was in a accident (previous owner). When i bought the truck he didnt tell me and the truck looked unmolested and the bent frame is unoticeable to the eye unless the truck is a on perfectly level ground (or on jackstands! on level ground). After I got the truck I spent numerous long nights fighting the IFS and alignment.. after many beers, many nights, many terrible words I finally figured out I was fighting a war i couldnt win and discovered (with lights and jackstands) the curve in the frame (well its a roll) and the rear lower a-arm mount was bent.

Awhile back I jacked it up and took some pictures to show how its messed up. I added some lines in here to really show how bad it is:



*The lower green line is perfectly LEVEL, in the photo and physically its lined up with the lower corss member on the IFS...... The darker green line is LINED UP with the frame crossmember... OUCH!*

The distance of line A is shorter than line B.. It was hit on the passanger side wheel when the truck had a 4" Rancho IFS lift (with 30" tires... ick how ugly!) ... anyway the truck was struck apparently by someone backing a large SUV into that wheel and pass side door and fender. The impact hit the top of the tire (SUV rear bumper) and the leverage destroyed the rancho lower A-arm (I confronted the owner after i discovered all this) and he showed me the damaged lift parts and revealed the story. It twisted the pass side front frame rail in and pushed the lower rear A-arm mount inward and up. It's like Paul Bunyan put his thumb on the lower A-arm and his fingers on my hood and pinched REAL hard. LOL

It's impossible to align the truck (I've gotten it as close as possible). The truck barely pulls left right now. Cant get any better. The pass side wheel/tire can't be put in perfect camber (it leans IN) .. which is annoying because you can see it when you walk around the truck. In order for the truck to sit level on the wheels you have to set the pass side arm so that its angle is steeper than the driver side (and that looks retarded) so i met in the middle so the truck leans but not terribly..)

I recently blew the CV halfshaft on that side 3 wks ago because the angle on that side is maxed out at ride height with balljoint spacers. I have modified upper bumpstops on there to keep the upper A-arm from dropping any further (as the axles bind)... anyway, they've worn down a bit now and that side is already at max and it went a bit further on some ruts and just exploded the outer CV. (was actually pretty funny)



Onto the topic

I've invesigated these coating options:

POR-15
Zero-Rust
*Spray on rubber based liners

So far I'm leaning towards Zero-Rust (non toxic, less prep, easier to apply)

The frame ISNT rusted. There is a few spots of surface rust but NOTHING major or remotely concerning. However I want to prep the frame so I'll never have to do anything to it ever again. I'm in the PNW where we have rain, but no salt and cars DONT rust out quickly here.

However I want to prep this frame so as to prevent any more rust from forming and take a lot of mud, rocks and overall abuse. I don't want whatever i put on it to chip. Of course with it bare like this powdercoating it would be SWEET.. but I think I'll reserve that work for something a bit more worth it, like my future FJ40 that im going to have someday =)

First thoughts were sandblast it but since its in such good shape I think thats a bad idea to remove the factory paint since its held up for 20yrs this well im sure with a lil top coating it'll be good for another 20+.... So I will just wirebrush it all.

Thoughts, experiences, opinions???

I did a search but theres little info to be found about this kind of attack at an undercarriage.

Sorry for the long thread, heh but I figured I'd answer all the questions on WHY since it is a unique situation. Good truck, bad frame.


No im not SAS'ing it yet those would be a sweet time to do it. Its not in the picture with the frame but I do have a complete 85 front axle sitting a few feet away.. I think maybe next year or in a few years I'll SAS.

hatda02

Unlike you my 87's frame had a nice amount of rust from mid-cab back. I had to go to the extreme of sand blasting to know I would not have to do the same thing all over again (Pittsburgh area is a wet place most of the year and very salty in the winter months).

Where there was no rust I left the factory paint because it was nice and thick and holding up well like you mentioned.

For the areas I blasted I cleaned it a few times with mineral spirits/paint thinner/...etc (what ever I had around at the time) and once dry, I first put down Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator:

http://www.eastwoodco.com/shopping/p...ProductID=1130

The price is somewhat high but from my experiences it is well worth it. I then went over it with about five or six coats of Rust Oleum. Very quick and easy touch up if something gets scratched.

I tried using some of the cheaper paint on or spray on bedliners and they seemed chip/flake/peel over time.

InternetRoadkill

A reputable frame shop should be able to straighten that.

What I did for my frame was to get it sand blasted and then I painted it with a rust-inhibiting primer followed by an epoxy overcoat. I sprayed the inside of the frame (using a long wand) with rust-inhibiting undercoating.

Before:


After:

drew303

Nice job the frame there. =)

Ill look into eastwoods to

As for straigthening the frame. The replacement frame was only $100 and I've almost made back all of it in parts ive sold off it that i dont need.

CJM

Its easy to straighten, find a large tree, get a blanket, some chains and a come along and go to work. I pulled quite a few this way, a frame shop does the same thing but more sophisticated.

Its harder to switch the frames.

If it were me cleaning it up and painting it:

-Get a wire wheel in a HD drill or grinder or a sandblaster if possible
-Clean off with mineral spirits and brake clean
-Put 2-3 layers of rustoleum rust inhibitor, it does work
-Coat with 2-3 layers rustoleum paint or epoxy based paint.

That will holdup really well.

InternetRoadkill

The Eastwood undercoating wand works ok, but it's a POS as far as quality is concerned. I used it to spray the inside of the frame and all the nooks and crannies inside the body (rocker panels, wheel wells, inside of the doors, bottom of quarter panels, etc.).

Kaydon

The only thing I can tell you is, do not get POR on your skin.. It's like a tattoo.

drew303

I think I'm gonna use Zero Rust anyone know where i can buy it locally? Im in olympia, washington. I emailed zerorust and all they sent back was "Wesco does us good" .. .wtf reply is that? what the heck is Wesco? lol

As for 'bending' my existing frame back I can't see it being financially or easily done. It's fooked. The IFS is screwed and the frame is screwed. Example? I did a body lift because the pass side torsion bar was rubbing through the bottom of my cab! CONTACT.. you could never get it back to factory and definetly not for the big cheap price of FREE. The frame is paid for from parts I got with it and this way I get to fix all the rust easily. The only real cost is my time and beer. The rest of the expenses going into this is optional. The frame doesnt really need to be coated, but I like to do stuff RIGHT, the first time.

It's just somewhat time consuming doing the body swap but this is a pickup, not a 4runner. I have waaay less to worry about moving. The bed comes off easily. The electrical is easily removed.. The only somewhat difficult part is transfering the engine and I'm not to worried about picking a 22r out.

I'm going do it all in this order:

*Place frame on jackstands
*Remove Tires
*Remove the bed
*Remove doors
*Remove fenders
*Remove bumper
*Remove seats from cab
*Remove all electrical that connects cab to frame
*Remove Hood
*Disconnect clutch lines
*Remove Transmission and Transfer case
*Remove all Front and rear hard lines from brake master cylinder
*parking cable
*Radiator (needs repairing)
*Remove exahust manifold and head pipe
*Disconnect fuel lines
*Remove battery and all grounds
*Remove Power Steering (all components)
*Remove alternator
*Remove ENGINE
****When the engines out I'll install a new timing chain and repair probably the oil pan gasket and anything else I find. Not rebuilding it at this point, Ill run this motor till it pukes***
*Remove Front differential and salvagable IFS components (brakes, hubs, balljoint spacers etc)
*Remove gas tank
*Remove rest exhaust (this could be a pita with the rubber mounts, probably have to buy new ones and cut the old ones out)

I have a nice double wide flat driveway. I plan to put the new frame (on jackstands) infront of the truck and dissassemble my truck DIRECTLY behind it. After all of the above steps have been performed.

*Install Suspension on restored frame
***Install rear axle, new rear shock hoop, ubolt flip and brake hardware
*Transfer cab over (its light enough with everything removed for a bunch of guys to move it and up and over the new frame (from behind) and sit it down and reinstall the body mounts)
*Then its just a matter of reinstalling everything.


As you can see I got it thought out. I have done EVERYTHING listed except actually REMOVE the motor. This isnt something I'm going into blind. I've had this truck apart and back together more times than i can count. ...and because of this I have accumilated a ton of tools that make what once were head banging hickups easily overcome now (like rusty bolts, stripping bolts, breaking bolts, every socket extension known to man, every socket size known to man, air tools etc... hydraulic press etc.. u get the idea)

All the $ going into this is preventive maintnence and upgrades (rear disc brakes, ubolt flip, radiator repair, new rear shackles, new shocks, rear shock hoop) .. im reverting back to stock torsion bars to (free) .. driveline brake as well. .. what else, new shifter seat and bunches of other small stuff.

At this point, if I did this swap without doing anything to my truck (since i dont actually NEED anything to do this) ... it would cost me $30 in exhaust gaskets and a few bucks for some antifreeze, brake fluid, atf fluid, oil, dif oil). The frame was free after parting out what i didnt need that was still attached.


** Goal is to have it completed in a week. I'm used to roadblocks so my ETA is a bit more than I actually think it'll take but rather be prepared.

drew303

eh... I've been planning this for a year. I got the frame earlier this year and now that its summer i have the good weather to coat it and the weather to do this swap in my driveway. Rain plagues most the year here in Western Washington.