Full restoration of the Rusty 3rd Gen

[TravThePro]

Here is a link to the shortened album for those of you who want to follow the story as it unfolds 4Runner Restoration Progress (Timeline) - Google Photos

Over the course of the last two and a half years, a major transformation took place with the old rusty 3rd gen. The previous owners thrashed this rig to the point of it becoming a colossal POS (Spinning out in a barbed-wire fence, front end collision, etc). After being made fun of at far too many off-road meets, I angrily vowed to do a mediocre paint job to restore the poor beast to its former glory.

This journey began with the cracked windshield coming out and a new windshield replacing it (after converting the rust underneath it). The next step came with replacing the rusty, damaged fenders/hood with the straightest parts I could source in the junkyard :thanks: across a 6-month span (replacement fenders/ hoods you order from warehouses used significantly thinner metal that I couldn't bring myself to trust).

I ended up with a vehicle that looked far worse than it did when it was just busted up and rusty. uke:White body, green hood, and two mismatched grey fenders. To say I was thoroughly embarrassed would be the understatement of the century. Just to give you an idea, I was looking through all of my photos (including the deleted photos back up) and was only able to find one single photo with it having all the mismatched colors when I was out mudding in clay.

One of my neighbors took notice of the nightmare parked in the driveway and couldn’t help but begin to offer me advice on my project. I would later find out that he was a master of paint and bodywork with the background of running an auto body shop for many years.

I'm out of time to finish the story for now. If people are interested in me finishing it off, I'd be happy to.

 

[spartacus]

Would be great to read the rest of your story. So the pics on the link and it's a lot of work. I ve always been interested in body and paint work which I am really bad at.

 

[brillo_76]

Yes nice restoration project. looking a lot better.

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[brillo_76]

Would be great to read the rest of your story. So the pics on the link and it's a lot of work. I ve always been interested in body and paint work which I am really bad at.

So am I not the greatest at autobody work. I mostly use a brush as you can see what needs to be done with the plastic to keep the spray exactly where you want it.

I have buddies that own autobody shops. It's a lot of work to prep the metal get the imperfections out. The OP did a great job. He even tore it down to a shell so the paint all matched.

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[TravThePro]

Would be great to read the rest of your story. So the pics on the link and it's a lot of work. I ve always been interested in body and paint work which I am really bad at.

I appreciate the feedback. Paintwork is pretty difficult to do, I probably did things wrong hundreds of times before I began to grasp how things are actually done. I'll try to get to finishing more of the story later today.

So am I not the greatest at autobody work. I mostly use a brush as you can see what needs to be done with the plastic to keep the spray exactly where you want it.

I have buddies that own autobody shops. It's a lot of work to prep the metal get the imperfections out. The OP did a great job. He even tore it down to a shell so the paint all matched.

Thanks, man. I still don't trust myself to do complete body paint, I have a knack for being impatient and making the clear coat run. It is surreal to think just how long it has taken to be so tedious with the project. Without counting the master of bodywork, friends, and families' help, I believe I am somewhere around 1100 hours of work into just the paint/bodywork.

 

[Wedgy]

Lots and lots of work.... nice job !

 

[TravThePro]

Lots and lots of work.... nice job !

Appreciate it! It was more work than I would have ever imagined, I'll probably never do it again.

 

[brillo_76]

I appreciate the feedback. Paintwork is pretty difficult to do, I probably did things wrong hundreds of times before I began to grasp how things are actually done. I'll try to get to finishing more of the story later today.







Thanks, man. I still don't trust myself to do complete body paint, I have a knack for being impatient and making the clear coat run. It is surreal to think just how long it has taken to be so tedious with the project. Without counting the master of bodywork, friends, and families' help, I believe I am somewhere around 1100 hours of work into just the paint/bodywork.

Believe it or not. The professionals on occasion will get runs in their clear coats and base colors from time to time.

Nobody has a clue how much time is involved to body and paint repairs until they have done it.

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[TravThePro]

Believe it or not. The professionals on occasion will get runs in their clear coats and base colors from time to time.

Nobody has a clue how much time is involved to body and paint repairs until they have done it.

Haha, that is why I had to sand the back half of the vehicle back down again. I have to walk by it every day with a broken heart until temps rise to finish the project now. I'll probably do a top-end engine rebuild on the downtime. Just have to make sure I don't mix parts up between it and the 1FZ-FE I'm full building.

Have you ever taken on this sort of project before?