lakesuperior4runner

Hey ya'll -

Any Minnesotans out there have any good shops that are a full stop shop for rust cleanup/repair, the full wirebrush/sandblast on underbody, POR15 etc. treatment, welds if needed?

Just picked up a 96 4runner, spent 22/25 years in Arizona and last few in UP of Michigan so not completely a disaster and honestly still in decent shape, but a couple trouble spots behind rocker panels and such and due for a cleanup and treatment to help extend life as much as possible.

Thanks!

fierohink

I can’t speak for Minnesota, but I can give the advice of “do it yourself”.

About 25 years ago I had a shop buddy that had his Nissan Hardbody soda blasted for prep and then POR-15. He was charged about $1500 just to soda blast the frame and chassis. We pulled the bed and stripped cab of everything we could and then bagged and masked what was left. We had probably 15-20 hours stripping it down. Then he painted on the POR-15, which was probably another 10 hours because you have to brush it by hand. That stuff hardens and is impossible to clean up so you can’t shoot it from a gun. Well, unless you want to scrape off bits and hammer nuts and bolts later.

Then another 20+ hours putting everything back together and replacing what was questionable, ball joints, fuel pump and filter, ALL the bushings, etc.

That was our labor which was in brown bottles, and the shop to media blast, in today’s money, plus not doing your own work, I seiorisly wouldn’t be surprised if you were quoted $10k.

Back to your original question, check with a small private body shop, or hot rod shop if you can find it. Explain what you want, be upfront with deposits and payments so they aren’t out a bunch of cash, and expect it to take a couple of months.