First was the brush guard. I took a sander and went over the parts that were rusting. The reason that it was rusting was due to the fact that the guard was installed on the silver FJ which was totaled and it received some damage. Most of the rust was in the welds that were stressed during the accident. I took a sander and tried to take off most of the rust down to the metal. I had masked off the front of the FJ with some magazine papers which took a while. Then I used rust reformer paint on the rusted/bare metal sections. After that had dried, I used Rustoleum textured black paint on the entire brush guard. One can gave about three coats with some additional touch ups on the rusted areas. I think the texture made the guard look much better as well as hiding any imperfections due to any rusted areas.
Rusted area near the bottom of the guard.
Same area on other side.
Welds on driver side with rust due to accident with previous FJ.
Painted brush guard - rust reformer on rusted areas and three coats of textured black paint.
Finished brush guard.
Once I was finished painting, I noticed that there was some overspray on the hood that was not covered. It was actually quite a bit but since I had previously used a clay bar to take off any overspray on other vehicles I have owned, I wasn't worried. I had washed the FJ the previous day, so I passed the clay bar on the hood, used cleaner wax and then finished with carnauba wax for a clean finish. It only took about 1.5 hours for to complete everything and the hood actually looked much better than it had for years. I then finished the rest of the FJ with the carnauba wax since I had not done so for quite a while.
The rock rails from Demello had rusted all over and had flaked off on the areas that bolt on to the frame. I had to sand the heavily rusted areas on the brackets as well as underneath the stepping area. The powder coat that I paid extra for did not seem to be very thick or long lasting. I had used some spray paint to perform a touch up on the step, which I had chipped with a cleat, when I first put these rails on. This section had no rust on it and everywhere else there was a some paint with rust that looked like it was coming from underneath the paint. So if you ever order steps/rails, make sure that you don't pay for the powder coat and spray it yourself. After the sanding was finished I gave the entire rail(s) a coat of the rust reformer, making sure I did not see any rust when I was finished. After this had dried, I gave 3-4 coats of the textured paint that I had used on the brush guard. It definitely hid all of the deformities from the rust and it made for a non-skid step. Previously when the step was wet, I would slip sometimes since the powder coating had a smooth surface.
Freshly painted rails
Rails back on FJ looking brand new
The skid plate was peeling due to the pasti-dip spray that I had put on 8 years ago. So it was time to peel it all off. I have not yet sprayed it with the textured paint, but plan on doing so soon.
I do not expect the rails or brush guard to rust ever again with all of the coats of paint that they currently have. We will see.
