Kerry-TGI

Overkill is exactly what I need to sleep well at night. Thanks for the advice

I took a section out of the pillar to see whats up there and solved my mystery of how the gutter is fitted. Its spot welded inside there. So on a positive note most of the serious looking rust was just on the remaining piece of the gutter, but shining a light up there shows that the inside of everything has a very light surface rust. The seal must've broken in parts and let oxygen in there. I guess my next move is to get a wire brush that can fit up in there and then brunox as far as I can get it. I guess what I need to know from you guys is that once that rust is actually inside the body is that the time to call it a day, or once the pillars are welded shut will it pretty much go inert?

@Ghostchips that's the line of thinking I've slowly moved to, my understanding is growing as I go. The plan started as taking out sections and repairing it, then has developed into cutting the whole things off and giving the pillars the attention they need, cleaning them up and then figuring out a channel afterwards. Its just the rust inside there that scares me, but hopefully under the light of day tomorrow it'll be less daunting. I'm just gonna cut the whole thing off and see where I'm at.

I think the dream might be over, at least for this cab. I cut into the upper section of the rain channel and it's kinda sandwiched in there with a hollow part to the outside of the pillar, which is filled right up with nice dusty rust. I'm gonna do some more chopping tomorrow to really see what I'm looking at, because I don't understand how that part is fitted. But as of right now my feeling is that I may be pushing shit uphill.

@Otodat can you clean it without the paint coming off? That's my main concern. I used this cheap primer on the back end of the chassis and it held up nice on the brunox but I wouldn't be too confident about its durability. Hopefully I can use it in conjunction with a higher quality top coat but I've heard different paints don't blend too well.

I'll look into it, thanks. I left the brunox too long if anything, could that have played a part? I did try the primer and that was what reacted, the paint kinda rippled on it. I'm on the west side of lake Taupo.

I tried a bit of this stuff but it had a weird reaction to the brunox so that's off the table unfortunately

Yea I was wondering about that, I was just a bit worried about going too far with it but I need to give it a try cause the lower section is getting a bit awkward to chip at.

The fun stuff. The local panelbeater has advised me that to deal with pitted rust you need to chip a bit of it out before treatment. So I'm sitting here tapping away with a sharpened punch. Definitely an exercise in patience, but I'm thankful enough that the pillar is still intact.

Cheers mate Ive often seen that stuff on the shelf. I quizzed my local panelbeater until his patience wore a bit thin and he suggested some kind of lacquer which he can get at a great price. I'd need to get a spray gun set up though so I may end up going el cheapo. Does anyone have experience dealing with this rain gutter? I got the lower section off by taking out the spot welds but this upper part looks more complex, like its sandwiched in there. I dont want to hack it off if there's a cleaner way but I know there's a bit of rust in there that needs dealing to. And the channel is pretty far gone anyway so if I can figure out how it detaches I might be able to use that to harvest some from a local wreckers, at the least something will need to be fabricated again.

Made a little progress but I'm a bit limited until I get a welder sorted. Smashed the timber off the flat deck and chopped the back piece out. I think it was the way it was welded because it wasn't flat, it had a rise in it from side to side. Pulled the towbar off, cleaned it up and rust-killed what needed it. Just need paint now. Cleaned up the back end of the chassis which was pretty rusty around where the towbar bolted on.

Hey does anyone know their stuff with paint? I've made some progress on the chassis but I was thinking I'd just rattle can it seeing as it doesn't need an immaculate finish. But I want to be able to give it a clean without the paint coming off. Does a durable can spray paint exist that would be suitable?

I was looking at a bunnings one, this one https://www.bunnings.co.nz/bossweld-150-amp-m150-gas-gasless-mig-inverter-welder_p08911795 I do have a bit of experience helping at an engineering workshop but I mostly did prep, the welder was always set up for me