I recently bought my sister-in-law's 85 4runner. It's obviously in need of some work. One of the immediate problems was the battery was leaking everywhere. Consequently, there is a good deal of rust damage underneath the battery going down inside of the image compartment. I want to stop this damage before it spreads or completely rusts out the engine compartment. What can I do?

 

Welcome to YT.

Nice score on the '85!!! I wish I could buy everyone that's for sale.

How bad is the rust damage? Is it just peeled paint or is the metal so thin you can almost push a finger through it or see holes?
If it's not too bad just grind away all the rust and paint it. If it is really bad you could cut out that part of a junk yard truck and weld it in yours.

 

The metal seems very sturdy still. I think it's mainly paint. I've tapped on it and tried pushing it and it doesn't poke through. i'm guessing that it's been there no more then 6 months to a year tops. The battery terminals looked like cotton balls when I got it. I replaced the battery and cleaned the terminals. I noticed the damage today when I was looking for a way to secure the battery in place.

 

Here's a couple of pic's i took just now:

http://yfrog.com/5uk2fj

http://yfrog.com/0l6ljvj

 

Baking soda and water in there after you take out the battery will cut out that acid.

 

I did the baking soda and it worked really well. I finished it off with some rustoleam (sp?) and sprayed all the affected areas down.