I need to brag about a friend of 38 years

We got our 1995.5 Tacoma, V6/5spd back last year after selling it to our neighbor 18 years ago. Needless to say, it was in dire need of TLC and serious help with cancer above the drivers side of the windshield. He let pine needles and leaves sit, sit, sit, sit and sit and sit and sit for years. I think you get the point...

Here are pictures of the observable damage and holes and after we were able to get the windshield out (without breaking).

 

He began by cutting the top section out and was considering sandblasting the side pillar area. After inspecting more, he determined it would be a much better thorough job by removing half of the pillar to replace also. And then we went out to his compound to pick out a donor truck, look at that... a 2000 in the same color (not that it mattered, lol).

 

He cut the replacement piece in two sections to work in. We had to grind through every spot weld from the bottom to have remaining only the top layer needed to weld into the truck. After welding it all in, he laid down a layer of fiberglass for the base to work with.

 

After a LOT of work on his part to get the body work looking just as amazing as I could have ever hoped... primer was sprayed. We sanded to hood and roof all down to renew the old clear coat which was 90% worn off. And got paint on it the next day.

 

This was all done over 4 days. It's not the professional finish some may need, but it's as professional as you will ever get for durability to last as long as this truck can. All for the cost of materials, you can't imagine how thrilled my son and I are with this unbelievable improvement on my sons truck.

 

I want to add to the story, I met this guy when I was station in Virginia Beach in the Navy. I had a Buick and had built a 455 with a dual quad setup on it. He heard about it and came looking for me. We became friends then, I worked with/for him for some 3 years at his shop for automotive repair and body work/paint. His shop specialized in Toyota trucks and cars, although we did a little of everything else. We moved away some 5 years after changing jobs back into the electronics field I did in the Navy. We stayed in contact through 3 moves. We both still have Buicks and Toyotas, of course he has some 25-30 Toyotas and 6-7 Buicks in his compound, lol.