Any of you guys in areas with heavy salt spreading come winter know about Toyota's built-in recycling program- eventually our rigs slowly return to the earth, in tiny orange and brown flakes.

I bought my truck over a year ago, and recently when I removed my OEM running boards, I realized the rust issue was FAR worse than I thought. Aside from the massive hole above the fender, it continued all the way down to the rockers. Need to get this squared, and soon. I don't want to be stuck with just a set of tires next year!! And I don't have ready access to a welder, nor the skills to really go at it. Money isn't the best right now, and I'm going at this myself.

(pics to follow, when its light out)

Anyway, I've looked at some replacement options, and the best (and most cost-effective) seems to be the following.

1. Dig out the existing rusted metal with an air cutter. Tools I alread have.
2. Treat surface rust with inhibitor (POR15 or similar).
3. Prime all metal exposed. (over POR 15 and interior sheet metal now exposed)
4. Fill cavities with marine-grade expanding foam.
5. Sand foam smooth.
6. Apply Bondoglass mesh and build out the missing panels.
7. Sand it smooth, prime, and LINE-X it.

Anyone see any issues with this? AFAIK, water doesn't drain from the inner parts of the fenders so it builds up and ultimately wastes them. Are there any channels of sorts I should not plug?


The rust damage is pretty extensive, and there isn't much on each end to get a clean hold with the Bondoglass. This is why I've figured the expanding foam gives be some backing to the Bondo, and hopefully can prevent waves in it. FWIW, I've used Bondoglass building subwoofer boxes before, so I'm not unfamiliar with it.

At the same time, I'm considering fabricating some sort of fender flares blended into the Bondo'ed repairs for down the road.


Will post pics tomorrow.

 

FWIW, this is the foam I plan on using...

http://www.evercoat.com/productDetail.aspx?pID=24

$20 at the local West Marine shop.

They also sell fiberglass mesh in bulk, far cheaper than buying at the auto parts stores.

 

Used that method before. Works pretty Good, Only thing I would sugest is use Fiberglass over the foam, than a finishing coat of bondo over the glass.

 

alternatively, you could cut out the rot and replace will all fiberglass panels, never rusts again. (pop-rivet in the flared panel and bondo smooth)
this is what i may do if i cant locate replacement panels
i suck at bodywork

 

There is only one way to properly fix this, and it is by the complete removal of any rust and welding in a replacement panel.

In your scenario, you're filling a cavity (that is more than likely rusted on the inside) with foam.

1. Closed Cell or not, foam is going to trap moisture and accelerate rust.
2. You are unable to reach the insides of the cavities to treat with a proper rust inhibitor (like Por-15 or Rust Bullet).
3. Foam and Fiberglass bonded to metal will likely crack, and is nowhere near a structural repair.

This has been my experience with old VW's. I have seen this repair before and in all cavities that were foam filled (even using marine grade closed cell), the panel rusted from the inside out.

Your method of repair may cover up the rust and look OK for a while. But, it is just a non-structural bandaid and the rust will return in short order.

It's your rig. You have to wiegh the cost of a welder and the time, versus losing the vehicle to Iron Oxide. These trucks aren't rare yet, and there are still many to be had with solid bodies.

 

UncleBob-

I understand what you're saying, but at the very same time, the inner panels aren't rusted. My concern is exactly what you said- trapping water and creating more rust down the road.

If I was to weld in panels, then wouldn't that be introducing more rust down the road as well?

I didn't get a chance to take pics today. Double shift split between two jobs and no time. Maybe tomorrow? (i hope.) From there maybe some more suggestions...

 

IMHO - if the panel unbolts (aka fenders) get new ones. If you want - get new 'glass ones.

The rest (aka rockers) - weld in new ones. Use a wax interior coating - there should be weep holes left behind anyway...

 

i hear ya with the rust...im still debating whether i wanna cut into my drivers side door and weld in a new peice of sheet metal, or if i just wanna cut it out and seal the inside of the door, and then use fiberglass cloth and resin...the latter would be easier, and cleaner looking for me...but cutting it all out would be nice, with some new metal in there....good thing im doing two layers of herculiner over it, so it will cover up minor imperfections.

 

Problem is the panels cannot be replaced like the 1st gens. The entire panel is one piece up to the roof line. If I could replace with fiberglass panels, I would. Gonna run out now and snap a couple shots.

 

Just finished digging out the old rusted panels, sanding, treating with Permatex rust inhibitor, and foaming the holes. Once again, air tools are your friends. All said and done, the $10 Harbor Freight 3" cutter was a great investment...

Once it cures (about an hour from now or so) I'll fix some fine wire mesh to the foam and nailing it with Bondo-hair. I'm using the long strand stuff, so we'll see how it comes out. Unfortunately, I used the internal memory from my camera so I can't access (at my folk's house and the wire is at my place.)

 

I'm curious for pics and how this works out for you. I haver some fairly bad rust I need to get rid of.

 

Sorry, my cam isn't loading the pics right now. Will try and figure it out tomorrow AM.

After the foam had cured for a couple hours I filed it down and primed with a rattle can. Ran out of daylight, so i ended it there. I'm pleased with the results so far. Hopefully this weekend I can apply the first layer of Bondo-glass and start towards a finished product. Until I can afford to have my fenders and rockers Line-X'ed, I may just spray it with Duplicolor to come close to matching the original color.

A few things:

Tools Used (so far):

3" air cutter from Harbor Freight
Ball peen hammer and putty knife
Needle-nosed pliers for pulling metal away while cutting
80 grit 3M sandpaper and sanding block
4" wire brush wheel and drill

Permatex rust treatment (aerosol can from the local auto parts store) http://www.permatex.com/products/aut..._Treatment.htm
Duplicolor flat black primer
Evercoat sealant foam (http://www.westmarine.com/webapp/wcs...allpartial/0/0)

All said and done, this whole repair is costing in the neighborhood of $50-60 excluding tools. I had quotes of $250 per side from a local body shop.

I used 3M's 80-grit paint/rust paper-- the green colored stuff-- and a wire brush on a drill to remove the majority of the surface rust. Also, some of the panels required a Speed Wrench and a putty knife to work loose.

As for

 

Picture time!! Sorry bout the delay but I've only had one day off in the past week, and today was it! So I got a bit of sanding and priming done.

Here are the rear fenders prior to surgery
Left



Right



Surgery on the left completed, patient expected to fully recover:




The right side:


The back of the fender had another small spot I took care of:



Fun with Expanding Foam!!







After priming, sanding, priming, sanding and priming some more... the end result:







NExt week: Fun with Bondo! Stay Tuned!

 

Since I've spent the past few Thursdays working on the truck, this week was no different. I sanded the foam a bit and the surrounding sheetmetal with heavy 3m and applied a liberal coat of Bondo-Hair long strand to the major holes. Let it cure a few hours (takes about 30 minutes to fully cure), sanded it down, and am so far impressed with the work. This coming week, a few coats of regular ol' Bondo, some priming, and I'm calling it completed. I'll snap a few pics for you then.

FWIW-- The Bondoglas stuff is pretty hard to spread smoothly, so expect to do some sanding. But the end result is very clean.

Total investment to the fender cancer-- about $65.

 

trust me you can replace them..


your method of using foam works good, for a used car lot. I'll be surprised it it last more than a few months.

 

http://www.alfaparts.net/toyota4r.htm

all metal rockers

 

even better metal "weld-ins"
stamped , not brake bent

http://www.toyotafiberglass.com/sheet_metal.htm

 

I have the same truck as you (same color and all) and have the same rust as well. I have been looking at different ways to fix it on a very limited budget and thanks to you I now know exactly how. Really liked the pics as these will help me alot! Can't wait to see the completely finished product!

 

Foam and bondo? Come on. Weld some sheet metal over those holes!

 

Lack of a welder and the appropriate skill required are the major issues here. Believe me, if I could weld in sheet metal, I'd do it in a heartbeat. But unfortunately, couple the cost of, say, Slacker's weld-in's (which i strongly considered) versus the cheap-o rednecking method I chose, I'm inclined to run it as such until I can afford to have a body shop fix it properly. FWIW, I got a quote from my personal shop for $500 plus the cost of the weld-in's. Can't afford that now, so this'll do.

The foam, FWIW, was to give the bondo a firm surface to adhere to. Too deep of a space behind it to hope the fiberglass cured relatively flat.

The steps, so those of you interested: Foam, then patch mesh, bondo-glass, then the actual bondo to smooth over and prime over everything.