Just bought a Jimny – stripped it down, now wondering how far to go with rust pr

Hey everyone,

Yesterdag i bought a 2003 Jimny and spent today stripping most of it – seats, interior trim, bumpers, etc. – to get a proper look at the frame and chassis.

I plan to turn it into an overland/camping build and wanted to start by checking the structural condition before going further.
Now I’m debating whether it’s worth going all-in and having the frame sandblasted, treated for rust, and professionally coated or painted – or if that’s overkill.

There’s some surface rust, but it doesn’t seem too serious at first glance.
What would you do in my situation? Would you invest the time/money in doing a full treatment now that everything is accessible? Or is there a smarter balance between effort and benefit? I’ll add a few photos to show the current state.

I found this welded section above the front wheels.
The previous owner said it was done by a garage about 2 years ago.Is this a solid repair? And is this a common rust area on Jimnys?

Also found a weird hole near the stick shifter, is this a problem?

Only 2 ''serious'' rust spots i found were in the boot floor on the right and near the right rear lights. Also added some pictures.

I noticed some oil around the rear output flange of the transfer case looks like the seal might be leaking

oh and the left swivel hub is leaking it seems, i already kinda cleaned it but still put a picture, there doesnt seem to be any wobble i have driven 100kph+, but i should still repair i think?

Sorry for the long post and many pictures!

Appreciate any input from those who’ve done this before!

My view is that the longer you are wanting to keep it the more effort you put into rust prevention. This can happen either of two ways, spend money on buying the newest cleanest one you can and treat it to stop rust forming or buy an older one and then put in the work getting it up to a standard where you can treat it to keep the rust from returning.

Sjimpie wrote:

 
Now I’m debating whether it’s worth going all-in and having the frame sandblasted, treated for rust, and professionally coated or painted – or if that’s overkill.  [...] Would you invest the time/money in doing a full treatment now that everything is accessible?
 

God, no.  For a 2003?  It is absolutely not justified.  And I think you may be underestimating the time it would take to make the frame "accessible" enough for this work, and the cost of a professional to do it all.  It is harder than it sounds.

I found this welded section above the front wheels.
The previous owner said it was done by a garage about 2 years ago.Is this a solid repair? And is this a common rust area on Jimnys?

A common rust area for most any body-on-frame vehicle, yes.  I'm not sure about the quality of the repair; it seems to have a few red flags.  I could be wrong, just have the photos to go by. A professional could tell you for sure. 

On the other hand, a cheaper option is just to keep an eye on it, and see how things develop.  It may not be great, but it may be good enough to last a while before it needs to be addressed again.

Only 2 ''serious'' rust spots i found were in the boot floor on the right and near the right rear lights. Also added some pictures.

Very common.  Not too hard to repair for a competent welder.

 

I have to disagree with @Lambert: I don't think the answer depends on your intended use at all.  Instead it is a very simple economic equation.

Unfortunately a 2003 Jimny is not and will never be worth paying someone to do heavy restoration work upon.  Clean up the rust you see, and then drive and enjoy.  In a couple years, there will be more rust, so you'll repeat the process -- if it is still worth it to you.  But there is no need to go looking for things to spend your time/money on.  

In other words, fix things when they break, and otherwise just drive and enjoy.  Save your money for the travels.

 

That is in unbelievably fantastic condition for a 2003! - I guess it comes from a country where they don't cover the roads in highly corrosive salt mixed with sharp gravel to chip any underbody coating to bare metal to give the salt a chance to work.


I'd sort out the existing rust patches now, and then get a load of your favourite cavity protection wax (We tend to use one of the many Dinitrol concoctions) and a proper pressure fed wax injector spraygun with flexible lances (not a Shutz gun, they are useless with the flexible lance/tube) and inject it everywhere that is hollow.

I have a Sealey sg18 air operated wax injector kit- they are a lot more expensive now than when I bought mine!

(Actually, a cheap Shutz gun screws onto the Dintorol can and does a reasonable job spraying the black underbody wax, you might as well get one as well, cleaning out the Sealey is a chore...)

Then brush/scrape any loose/damaged underbody protection off, treat and replace it. You can go over the top with one of the Dinitrol exterior waxes with your handy spraygun.

Some people recommend spraying with lanolin, but I suspect that vermin will come to eat it and chew through any wires, or even decide to move in to the cabin!


Your leaky swivel is the oilseal in the axle end, usually caused by the swivel ("king pin") bearings being worn, an easy & cheap fix.

The oil underneath- could it be lubricant coming out of the CV joint on the propshaft? I don't like the look of that sock around the shaft.

facade wrote:

I don't like the look of that sock around the shaft.

I saw the sock to. It raises questions
 
This car looks a bit like mine did earlier in may. Many holes here and there and generally a bit lacking in treatment. 

I did just what the doctor orders here last post, do whatever welding that needs to be done, scrub it all down with a wire brush or use a machine of some sort. On any visible rust there are several rust milky stuff products or oily paint with "rust transformer" to put on it.
Then spray or brush on something thin first, and something thicker after. 
My honest advice based on my own experience is, while you contemplate what to do and what to treat it with, the rust just go on eating.  Better to just do something now and as fast as you can.

Thank you guys for your responses!

@Motacilla
So i actually plan on building this car out a bit for overlanding, and would like to keep it for a while! 
I would like to strip it down myself, i have my own garage and a lift.
I'd only have someone else do the sandblasting, this shouldent be too expensive i think, just will take me alot of time but i dont really mind!

something like this! 

I was wondering how hard it will be to remove the body from the frame, but cant find any detailed posts on this, but i read it should be relatively ''easy''.

@facade it actually comes from the netherlands, we do use salt here but not mixed with gravel. I guess it just dident drive much in winter, it actually has run 255k KM! i also thought it looked very good still.

I'm still debating on if i should put in a Liana m16a engine, i could do all of it now in 1 go, strip down completely, sandblast and treat it, put in the new engine and fix all the leaking stuff. I'm also going to paint the outside with raptor liner.