BigA's 68 Toyota Crown Custom Wagon

[BigA]

Been finding some pin hole rust issues so just going through and marking those out for repair. Overall I am happy with the way the car is looking condition wise, but will have to reserve judgement till I get to have a look underneath and start stripping back the underside.

[BigA]

So stripping back some of the bog has revealed some interesting things. 

A big gouge at that back on the drivers side and on the other side it's mainly rust but also a bit of a ding.

Passenger side bottom sill is looking pretty good but the drivers side rear has been filled with bog with a dent and some rust holes.

Overall better than what I was expecting and easier repairs than what I was thinking they were going to be.

Did spot some little rust holes in one of the front and rear drip rails and I have wire brushed the front and chucked some rust converter in there to stop it.

[BigA]

Spent most of the weekend stripping as much as I can on the wagon and then going over the bodywork to see where all the high and low points are to get sorted.

[BigA]

Passenger side lower sill is pretty much shot for about half the length of the wagon  so will have to replace those.

[BigA]

So started cutting out the rust patches and have had to go deeper than expected due to internal rust issues.

Sand blasted the metal and removed areas that have gone past being ok.

Will have to reinstate inner structure before welding in new metal and have also been using rust converter to stop further rust spreading.

[BigA]

Cutting into the lower sill reveals some more rust, but not as bad as I thought it might be.

Will have to spray some rust convertor down through the whole lower sills and make sure the drain holes are cleared as there was a big blob of bog covering the rear one where this rust was.

Going to be doing the bottom sills on both sides where rust holes have appeared just to make sure that I can check the whole inner structure.

[BigA]

I have made the decision to replace both lower side sills rather than just patch where the rust is as they are looking pretty sad on the inside and I don't want to have rust bubbling through in a couple of years.

[BigA]

So just finished doing my rendering of what the wagon will look like in the end.

Going to do a split colour combination which will be a white with blue pearl roof and the base colour will be this nice icey blue metallic I found online. Colour is representative of what it will look like as it was hard to find an exact match. 

[BigA]

Been cutting out the awful repair job that was previously done on one of the doors. Will be moving onto the other doors over the new years break. Had been thinking about buying some doors out of Japan for all 4 doors as it might save some costs but that was if I was going to get a panel beater to fix them. $150 per door was a pretty good deal but then add shipping and tax and possibly would cost the same as repairing them.

[BigA]

Another busy weekend cleaning up the bottom sills and getting a length ready so I can get it all bent up to replace the rotten ones.

Then spent a lot of time making up panel patches for rust repairs and the bad door repairs

[BigA]

Got me some japanese goodness new lights for the wagon. 

Upgraded to halogen and was way cheaper than trying to buy locally 

[BigA]

So went to use my new TIG attachment for my welder only after putting everything together that I had no way of attaching the gas line.

Went back to MIG welding for the day but managed to blow through a couple of spots of thin metal so not happy about that.

Will sort out the TIG situation with the supplier during the week and then I can finish up doing the patches.

[BigA]

Just got my lower sills come back from the metal fabrication guys. Very pleased in the way they turned out.

[BigA]

Going to have to get a panel made up for the tail gate as it's pretty rusty.

Sometimes I really wonder about the way that Toyota put their vehicles together in the past as this tail gate trim is sandwiched between 2 pieces of trim which just allows moisture to build up.

Will have to look at fixing this some how will putting it back together.

[BigA]

Been busy cutting out inner structure rust issues and making up replacement patches.

Was going to weld the patch in place but ran out of time. Next weekends work. Once I have that in place I will make up the small inner structure for the lower guard which I will make up in 2 pieces as I don't have all the tools to make it as 1 but hoping it will come out as planned.

[BigA]

Got a new addition to the wagon yesterday so had to test fit it.

So stoked to have this and it's going to complete the look I'm going after.

[BigA]

New piece made up for the rear tailgate.

Just need to figure out a way of bending a 2mm edge at the bottom of it, but I think some flat bar in the vice should do the trick.

[BigA]

Tacked in one of the new lower side sills today after replacing some more inner structure on the passengers side.

Some more fitment refining to do but I think it's going to look really good once done.

[BigA]

More patch work done today in the doors. Had to redo the rear door as I did a silly thing by putting to much heat into the panel and warped it.

Just tacked in place for now and will gradually weld it this time to get even distribution of heat.

[BigA]

Also created the rear lower sill including the inner structure which I will also have to replicate on the other side.