time to tackle rust (1 Viewer)

[CaptKevman]

Hi guys,
I'm about to start the task of trying to remove and repair the rust towards the rear end of my 80 on the undercarriage. Typical spots where any car or truck in the Northeast would see signs of aging and decay and cancer.
Overall the truck doesn't look like it's going to be as bad as it could be but one of my concerns is treating the inside of the frame along with all the other stuff I can actually see.
I was going to go with 3 part POR-15 kit with a degreaser and a metal etcher/prepper and the paint itself. What are all ya'll using to treat the inside of the frame? Eastwood?

I'm looking to everyone for tips and tricks and ideas and stuff to look out for. Products that work are appreciated as well.

thanks all
kev

 

[BILT4ME]

Do a search on here for "Fluid Film"

You'll get lots of answers and alternatives for the NE and Eastern region.

 

[nigelsiam]

Are you cutting off the rust and repairing with new panels? After you finish all that there are ways to cover the undercarriage, etc. with fluidfilm, bar chain oil. etc.

 

[Mixelplix]

I've been working with my 91 for the past few days doing the exact same thing. My goal is to get the undercarriage to the point where it's good for the next 10 or so years with normal fluid film application. I don't have any holes in any of the body, or frame - just a lot of rusty metal.

I tossed the truck up on ramps and I pressure washed the underside twice using the 15degree head to get all of the big stuff off. Not being happy with the result, I got concentrated simple green (the purple stuff) and hit it two more times. That got a lot of junk out. I then put it on jackstands and took the wheels off to do a real thorough cleaning of any spots that resembled grease with a nylon bristle brush and a bucket of simple green.

After I was satisfied that everything on the underside was pretty clean and grease free I loaded up a windex bottle with diluted phosphoric acid and sprayed anything that resembled rust. I let it sit for a while until all the rust took on a white haze and rinsed it off.

This weekend I intend to spray / brush on Sherwin Williams macropoxy 646, and topcoat it. The 646 is an epoxy which I trust more than POR / Rust Bullet / Chassis Saver and it's intended for 'marginally prepared steel' which from what I understand is any steel which is not completely clean of rust and scale. This stuff is used for bridge steel in Pennsylvania, and is suitable for marine environments, and for metal which is submerged in salt water. As a bonus, it's also far cheaper than POR15 and supposedly more forgivable.

Following the 646 I'm going to topcoat everything under there with a utility grey (like a mid century truck chassis), and apply fluid film mixed with bar and chain oil in the spring and fall.

Regarding the inside of the frame, I haven't tried it yet - but a neighbor told me that he used to duct tape a shop vac filtered by a dust mask on one end of the frame, and spray his preferred rust inhibitor on the other side of the frame - letting the vac pull it all the way through. I'm going to give that a shot.

Good luck with it, man. It's a lot of work so far - but, like you I want to keep this truck on the road.

 

[BILT4ME]

I've been working with my 91 for the past few days doing the exact same thing. My goal is to get the undercarriage to the point where it's good for the next 10 or so years with normal fluid film application. I don't have any holes in any of the body, or frame - just a lot of rusty metal.

I tossed the truck up on ramps and I pressure washed the underside twice using the 15degree head to get all of the big stuff off. Not being happy with the result, I got concentrated simple green (the purple stuff) and hit it two more times. That got a lot of junk out. I then put it on jackstands and took the wheels off to do a real thorough cleaning of any spots that resembled grease with a nylon bristle brush and a bucket of simple green.

After I was satisfied that everything on the underside was pretty clean and grease free I loaded up a windex bottle with diluted phosphoric acid and sprayed anything that resembled rust. I let it sit for a while until all the rust took on a white haze and rinsed it off.

This weekend I intend to spray / brush on Sherwin Williams macropoxy 646, and topcoat it. The 646 is an epoxy which I trust more than POR / Rust Bullet / Chassis Saver and it's intended for 'marginally prepared steel' which from what I understand is any steel which is not completely clean of rust and scale. This stuff is used for bridge steel in Pennsylvania, and is suitable for marine environments, and for metal which is submerged in salt water. As a bonus, it's also far cheaper than POR15 and supposedly more forgivable.

Following the 646 I'm going to topcoat everything under there with a utility grey (like a mid century truck chassis), and apply fluid film mixed with bar and chain oil in the spring and fall.

Regarding the inside of the frame, I haven't tried it yet - but a neighbor told me that he used to duct tape a shop vac filtered by a dust mask on one end of the frame, and spray his preferred rust inhibitor on the other side of the frame - letting the vac pull it all the way through. I'm going to give that a shot.

Good luck with it, man. It's a lot of work so far - but, like you I want to keep this truck on the road.

646 is good stuff!

 

[nigelsiam]

I've been working with my 91 for the past few days doing the exact same thing. My goal is to get the undercarriage to the point where it's good for the next 10 or so years with normal fluid film application. I don't have any holes in any of the body, or frame - just a lot of rusty metal.

I tossed the truck up on ramps and I pressure washed the underside twice using the 15degree head to get all of the big stuff off. Not being happy with the result, I got concentrated simple green (the purple stuff) and hit it two more times. That got a lot of junk out. I then put it on jackstands and took the wheels off to do a real thorough cleaning of any spots that resembled grease with a nylon bristle brush and a bucket of simple green.

After I was satisfied that everything on the underside was pretty clean and grease free I loaded up a windex bottle with diluted phosphoric acid and sprayed anything that resembled rust. I let it sit for a while until all the rust took on a white haze and rinsed it off.

This weekend I intend to spray / brush on Sherwin Williams macropoxy 646, and topcoat it. The 646 is an epoxy which I trust more than POR / Rust Bullet / Chassis Saver and it's intended for 'marginally prepared steel' which from what I understand is any steel which is not completely clean of rust and scale. This stuff is used for bridge steel in Pennsylvania, and is suitable for marine environments, and for metal which is submerged in salt water. As a bonus, it's also far cheaper than POR15 and supposedly more forgivable.

Following the 646 I'm going to topcoat everything under there with a utility grey (like a mid century truck chassis), and apply fluid film mixed with bar and chain oil in the spring and fall.

Regarding the inside of the frame, I haven't tried it yet - but a neighbor told me that he used to duct tape a shop vac filtered by a dust mask on one end of the frame, and spray his preferred rust inhibitor on the other side of the frame - letting the vac pull it all the way through. I'm going to give that a shot.

Good luck with it, man. It's a lot of work so far - but, like you I want to keep this truck on the road.

Lot of work but will be so worth it.. Let's see some photos of the finished product.

 

[CaptKevman]

lots of good tips. there's not going to be a need for any cutting. there's no cancer in there that bad. a lot of grinding/brushing/sanding and cleaning and prep will tell the real tale. but in it's current state i don't think there'll be any cutting/ replacing panels. I'll def post before/after shots.

 

[Tbkw01]

I've been working with my 91 for the past few days doing the exact same thing. My goal is to get the undercarriage to the point where it's good for the next 10 or so years with normal fluid film application. I don't have any holes in any of the body, or frame - just a lot of rusty metal.

I tossed the truck up on ramps and I pressure washed the underside twice using the 15degree head to get all of the big stuff off. Not being happy with the result, I got concentrated simple green (the purple stuff) and hit it two more times. That got a lot of junk out. I then put it on jackstands and took the wheels off to do a real thorough cleaning of any spots that resembled grease with a nylon bristle brush and a bucket of simple green.

After I was satisfied that everything on the underside was pretty clean and grease free I loaded up a windex bottle with diluted phosphoric acid and sprayed anything that resembled rust. I let it sit for a while until all the rust took on a white haze and rinsed it off.

This weekend I intend to spray / brush on Sherwin Williams macropoxy 646, and topcoat it. The 646 is an epoxy which I trust more than POR / Rust Bullet / Chassis Saver and it's intended for 'marginally prepared steel' which from what I understand is any steel which is not completely clean of rust and scale. This stuff is used for bridge steel in Pennsylvania, and is suitable for marine environments, and for metal which is submerged in salt water. As a bonus, it's also far cheaper than POR15 and supposedly more forgivable.

Following the 646 I'm going to topcoat everything under there with a utility grey (like a mid century truck chassis), and apply fluid film mixed with bar and chain oil in the spring and fall.

Regarding the inside of the frame, I haven't tried it yet - but a neighbor told me that he used to duct tape a shop vac filtered by a dust mask on one end of the frame, and spray his preferred rust inhibitor on the other side of the frame - letting the vac pull it all the way through. I'm going to give that a shot.

Good luck with it, man. It's a lot of work so far - but, like you I want to keep this truck on the road.

Let me know how 646 worked out and how much you needed. It’s around $50 a gallon right?

 

[Jason Gallant]

I just did all of this (still doing it really) using chassis saver if you want to see the photos im on instergram at mainly_fjz80

 

[sunrk]

We don't get huge winter snows or salted roads in winter here in Oz, but loads of people do beach driving in 4wd's so most (including mine in the past) have a lot of latent rust issues from that. Breaking off bolts especially small M6's around the bottom area of the body happen a lot. They rust hard into the old captive nuts.

With mine, I've got rust in some annoying areas of the body that I'm slowly trying to overcome. Around the bottom of the side cargo area windows (I've got fixed glass not sliding windows), where TJM flares are fitted on some of the body panels, and where the front outer fender panels butt up to the a-pillar structure just below the bottom corners of the front glass.

The vehicle is white and has never been repainted so I'm regularly touching up surface rust from stone chips, etc. and the roof has a fair bit of paint peel just from the effects of the sun. It might get a POR-15 style gloss-white topcoat treatment in the near future which I used on the sills under the doors a cpl of years ago and it's held up very well.

 

[Mixelplix]

Let me know how 646 worked out and how much you needed. It’s around $50 a gallon right?

I got mine for free from a painter I work with. I'm not finished yet but I think it will use slightly less than 2 gallons.

 

[CaptKevman]

I finally got the truck up on some ramps inside my dinky garage. I'm pretty concerned about the rotted out area around the top of the spring.

this is the worst of it.

opinions? thoughts?

 

[PDoyle]

Subscribed.
I'm trying this crap this year....
BlackStar Rust Converter | Mr OChem
I've tried many others with no positive results yet. I don't want to seal the rust in and so far that is what I'm finding is happening.

 

[Mixelplix]

I'd remove that spring, clean up the top spring perch, and weld a patch (assuming the perch isn't hosed) to remount your bump stop.

The critical part of that area isn't visible in your pictures. The area where the spring makes contact with the perch (at the very top) needs to be structurally sound. The part that's rusted out is really only there to make sure the spring stays in the correct location laterally (which it's doing) and to provide a place for the bump stop to mount.

The panhard rod mount looks strong (although your swaybar bushings are shot). Your rear bumper is better than mine. Your LSPV valve is typical.

All in all, it looks like a 20+ year old truck that spent it's life in winter conditions. It's better than my truck was prior to fixing it. I'd remove loose rust, phosphoric acid, degrease, and paint.

 

[ppc]

That trailer light wiring harness is a disaster waiting to happen. The wire splices and lack of protection of the wires is going to cause electrical issues.

There seems to be a lot of fluid leakage around the LSPV. Have you sprayed the area with something? The rust is an issue for sure but I would be looking at the braking system and other safety items as my first priority.

 

[CaptKevman]

right before the pix I took it to the car wash and high pressure washed whatever would come off underneath. that's why it looked wet near the LSPV. I did have a brake like bust recently. It was surprising to say the least. Agreed, the trailer wiring is a mess. PO did that, I'm just sorting it all out. Good tips about removing the spring and checking the integrity. That's going to be out of my realm of expertise. All good tips.

 

[Brimley]

you should try a needle scaler if you have a compressor ( https://www.amazon.com/YaeTek-Pneum...&qid=1537402260&sr=8-5&keywords=needle+scaler )

They really work great on the scabbier stuff .

 

[Red Merle]

I have been working on rust mitigation for two years on my rig. I have replaced a ton of stuff and I do an acid bath with muratic acid and repaint on a lot of the brackets, fittings and fasteners. It's a time consuming process, but the acid gets things down to bare metal in a hurry and I have been using a wire wheel on my angle grinder, a big needle scaler and plenty of scrubbing with a chore boy and then rinsing with water and re-spraying with chainsaw oil or Fluid Film on stuff I can't dip in acid. It looks a lot better than it did and I haven't snapped a bolt in a while due to the oil soaking into the threads. I do need heat on much of what is underneath, but I can usually wiggle everything out or replace it if I snap something.

Take a look at your fuel filler neck, gas tank and skid plate. I replaced all of that stuff and it was the right call because I am pretty sure that was going to be what would have killed the truck before I replaced it. That also gives you an opportunity to reach a bunch of stuff that is normally tough to reach.

My rig is close to not really being rusty anymore and I have removed and replaced so many things that it's actually starting to look pretty good under there. My body and interior are pretty dang nice though and I have also replaced pretty much all of the major systems in the truck and have rebuilt the top end of the motor along with a bunch of new parts for the motor. I am into this thing for the long haul.

I took the whole front end apart and put on a new front driver's side fender and repainted a bunch of the front radiator support and all of the stuff that came off.

Here is the front bumper, waiting for reassembly once the paint cures. This stuff was all really rusty, especially all of the brackets and hardware. They will look really nice once it's all back together and it will last for years. POR15 on the backside of the bumper and then everything else is just acid washed down to bare and clean steel and then primed and painted with Rustoleum Professional Series in Semi-Gloss Black, which is a hard color to find. I ended up ordering a half case off Zoro.

 

[Red Merle]

Made some more progress with my rust project. The fender matches perfectly and I added a new gasket for the flare as the old one was degraded. Also painted parts of the front radiator support, some with POR 15 and some with color match spray and clear coat. I also decided to pull the lower valance and get that painted and I tried to bang out a kink it had, but you can see the hammer marks if you look closely, but I doubt you will see it while standing. Also went ahead and POR 15'ed the frame horns as I was there and I was close to having them prepped anyway. Just did a little more wheeling and wire brushing and then cleaned with mineral spirits and slapped on a coat with a brush. It looks fine and will hold up for a while.

 

[Red Merle]

I also got my hardware store MacGyver on in order to salvage the otherwise nice bumper ends. The studs that were glued into the ends were rusted really bad and I had to carefully yank them out in order to get them off the bumper. There was one casualty but I saved the day with a cut off toilet to drainpipe bolt after I peeled up the area surrounding the old fastener for the studs, tucked them under that and then I glued them with some Gorilla glue and then finished with a little JB Weld marine epoxy putty. These babies are solid.