So the old girl's got cancer...

[Canyonero 4x4]

What's the best way to get this shite removed, or is it terminal?

Here's the rig:


Here's the damage:
Along the underside of the gutter. (Note the bubbling in the paint)...


Along the top. There's a bit of bog in there, but along the lip is cancer.


In the windscreen frame:



Gutter again, behind passenger door:


And underneath:


It's a 1990 model, 1HZ, 345000k's, full rebuild at 300 with new head. Rear quarter chop, and few other goodies aswell.
I've spent a fortune on this and I don't think I want to part with it.
I've looked at the gutters before (2008) and replaced some sections with steel and minor bog (well the old man and uncle did while I was away one weekend, cheers). But it's making a return next to where we stopped. I also mounted a shitty, solid frame roof rack to it a few weeks later and I don't think it did the bog any favours (hence the new aluminium trackmount system).
I'm confident in cleaning back and repairing the window frame, but what's the best method with the gutters?
I've seen replacement floor pans on ebay. Anyone do gutters? Anything I need to know about the roof/body attatchment at the gutters? ie flex?
I'd consider a body swap but I don't think there's a troopy out there without rust, and I can only imagine it would need a coat of paint.

Thoughts?

[Canyonero 4x4]

I've found a replacement section:
http://www.ebay.com.au/itm/Toyota-Landc ... =RTM839190" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;
Thoughts on using this?
Anyone used it before?
Looks like I'd have to cut around the windows. More fucking around than it's worth?

[TWISTY]

Aussie Restos (your Ebay link) is currently building a new stretched tub for my 40 series. The panels they made up for mine turned out awesome, so I would say these are too. Check out the members area for some pics of mine.

[SCANAS]

Nothing to worry about mate,

You'll never get rid of the rust, but fully clean it up and you'll get another 5 years out of before it needs to be done again.

[rockcrawler31]

How's this for a better idea.

Get a late model 78 series cab ane swap every thing over. If you hunt about you can get one from the wreckers or look for a front hit at the auctions

[SCANAS]

That would be a lot of work. Speaking from experience you'd get another 8-10 years out of the body before you'd get the plod hassling you about it.

[Canyonero 4x4]

I thought you were going to suggest an extra cab chop Milo.
Body swap would be worth it in the long run and wouldn't be too hard. What would you expect a body in reasonable nick to be worth? Straight bolt up fit? I can only imagine pretty exy. Yet again, would save a hell of a lot of fucking around with panel beating.

[SCANAS]

Chances of finding a good rust free troopy body would be pretty slim, a good 75/78/79 cab's can sell for $2000-$3000 so a Troopy, guessing lots more.

I think a 3 or 4 months of sundays would dissapear into a new body. All for a touch of rust. Are you ever going to find another Troopy body worthy of all that effort? I wouldn't think so.

When you open up any cruiser with gutters apart from the 80 series you'll see why they will always rust. They are a shit design, with all the parts of the roof meeting in the one spot and being welded.

I would pull the hoodling, see what your dealing with, cut as much as you can out, treat what you can't cut, and put it back together. I remember cutting some rust out of a 60 gutter, the patch showing was about the size of my finger nail I cut it out 10cm either way and there was still rust. I could have chopped the whole roof off at that point but what's the point on a 4b when next weekend you could rub a tree or something. That 60 did another 5 years including lots of beach before it showed again.

The gutter is full of sealer which is also the blame, look down into your gutter that stuff that has gone old and started to crack, traps the water and also exposes the water to bare metal, If your super keen get rid of it and start again. Also the way the gutters drain are useless, drill some holes through the channel away from your front windows to let the water drain out.

You'll get another 5 to 10 years out of it that way. After that you could repeat the process. Cruisers never die.

A backpacker posted on here a while ago and asked if anyone could look at a troopy he was buying from other backpackers. He came to work and we put it on the hoist for him, this thing had half an exo, water tanks, beds, full camper spec late 80's. You could literally put three of four fingers inside the a pillar and the gutter, it was rooted, I told him if he bought it he would never, ever, ever get a rwc he wasn't concerned as it was WA rego (No RWC) he came in about 4 months later and gave me a bottle of scotch for using the hoist. He'd been to the cape, fraser island, blue mountains and everywhere in between, in the whole time he didn't service it or change a tyre. They blew a shock up at the cape and didn't replace it until back in mackay.

So don't stress about a bit of rust mate, get out there and enjoy your troopy.

[rockcrawler31]

scanas is right as far as the cars servicability with a bit of rust in it.

But if you're anal about it, love your car, or are obsessive compulsive with all things mechanical (i'm pretty much all three), then the cab swap really isn't that hard. A few mates and a LOOOOONG weekend and you'd have most of it done.

I got a troopy cab that needed a little panel work but was otherwise rust free and the paint was excellent for 2200 about 5 years ago. That was completely and totally stripped, no doors, nothing. So that would give you a starting point to work from.



















































oh yeah, set a plan otherwise you'll end up with an extra cab comp truck troopy