Hi all,

So I decided to try my hand at dealing with the rust on my truck, well, I started with the tailgate as its the smallest piece haha.

So, here is how it went.......

started with this....



then used a 2 inch sanding disc on my drill/driver and sanded the rust spots down, luckily only one had a little pitting in the bare metal but the rest were easily sanded clean.



so after the sanding and buffing of the rust spots I used a "rust remover gel" and woke up to this the next morning, a nightmare looking tailgate.......

 

so after cleaning the tailgate of all that remover and de greasing it I primed it with 4 coats of zinc rich primer, this pic is after the first 2 thin coats.....


I then sanded the primer lightly and got started with the paint.

I used dupont single stage enamel #4A8. I did about 15 light coats in all, sanding with 800 grit between coats.
I still want to do a final sand with 1500 grit and clean up the tapped of areas.........





so I am overall pretty happy with it considering I had the paint mixed in arosol form because I have no paint gun or booth or tools like that, and I also did the bumper I will take better pics with a good camera outside.

 

that looks great! good work

 

Thanks, yeah I am happy with it, and feel after I sand it with 1500 and clean up the edges a little it will be a little better.

I was suprised the color matched pretty well with the 27yr old factory paint, so next is the box. the cab has only a few spots.

 

yes , nice job ..

rust is very difficult to stop , but your's was minor , so i'm sure your "good to go" .. I'm glad to read you used the zinc .. that or epoxy are the best sealers .

 

What do you think the best way is to tackle the seams of the bed?




those are the worst areas on the truck right there.

looks like the p.o. did somethinhg to the bottom of that one seam, and also used the sme light color to go over the rust spots lol.

what should I do, do the areas and try to blend?

oh, and none of that surface rust is there anymore, I was able to remove it all with the rust remover gel, so its just the damage and light paint spots now.

 

here is a pic of the cab, it is very solid with only a few small spots of rust on wheel wells and front bumper area.

so once the box is done, it will be almost complete.

I have also done the wheels now as well, they are now shiny white. stripped um down and primed and painted them.

 

honestly .... there is NO way to stop the rust on the bed .



I have personally cut off the skirts , sand blasted , sealed .. put on BRAND new skirts .. sealed , welded and coated ..
the rust was back "bubbling" in a year . I spent over a grand in the repair parts , and I did all the work myself .. WASTE of time and especially -- money .


sorry .. but I wont offer any help on repairing the bed , as I think your wasting your time and money !



.

 

do you think it will come thru the tailgate? even though I got it to the bare metal?

the box is worse though, I have not spent much money, I had a friend of a friend get me the dupot paint, 3 12oz arosols and the rest of a pint can for 30 dollars. then I bought a few 2 inch discs and some primer. also some 3 dollar packs of sand paper, so I have maybe 50 dollars in stuff.

what about por 15? I plan on por 15 for the frame. and maybe the bed, then use hurculiner.

 

that stuff on the gate was just surface .. same as most on the box it looks like .. it's the seams you'll never stop ..

what your contemplating , has been tried a million times .. and always fails .


you can try , i'm not saying dont .. cuz everyone does anyway .


.

 

Yeah, I will get that surface rust off then deal with the seam, I have the supplies anyway.

 

you should see the rust im dealing with, dont think I have any pictures of my box, basically im bobbing it so I have some material to patch the floors and sides, theres a fist sized hole beside the fuel filler

 

Just start saving for one of Slacker's fiberglass replacement beds like I need to do...

 

They are a great option but I cant justify spending that much on my truck, it is just a beater, I have $2500 total into it including what I bought it for.

 

NICE WORK MAN!!!!
that is a great looking truck!

 

KEY WORDS !!! right there !!




>



My product is NOT for everyone ..




.

 

Thanks, yeah I really like it, only 51k miles!

 

I hear you. I don't know what all goes into the making of them but I assume they are a good price for what you get, but they are expensive! You went about things smarter than me...I'm in pretty deep with my truck already, and it's my dd, not a beater (even though it kind of is a beater). That's still a lot of money, though. I'll probably look into flatbeds at some point, too, but a lot of what I need the truck for, I need the bed with a topper on it.

My bed is really in great shape. Other than my '93 this is the best bed I've had. My '86 & 87 were way more rusted. It's just that now that I have a new engine, tranny, clutch plus a bunch of other stuff, but driving it around it still looks just like a somewhat well maintained 25 year old pickup...I don't care that much, but thinking what it would be like to have no rust and a nice new paint job...

 

Has anyone ever tried welding the entire seam on the bed so there is no seam at all, And rather just one continuous side. Then if you POR 15'd the bed (or atleast where the weld is) there would be NO way for water to get into the seam and hence no way for the seam to be a weak point. Im pretty sure this would solve the problem, but im sure im not the first to think of this.

 

I would like to hear about that too. There's an '86 or '87 around town here that has some sort of thing covering the seam on it's bed, and it's then painted over and looks factory. It looks like a strip of thick tape under the paint along the seam. It has no rust, but sometimes there are trucks out here with no rust, so I'm not sure if it's a fix for something already starting to rust.