Hello,
So I'm in the process of reviving an old f250 that has been sitting for many years. Fortunately during the 10 years of storage it was left in a shed then a storage garage so rust is minimal compared to many other trucks in the rust belt from that time. I would like it to stay that way for a while though so I am trying to take care of any existing rust and prevent any more rust from appearing. What I am doing to existing rust on parts under the car that don't get too hot is first sanding and scraping any loose rust off then using rustoleum rusty metal primer and then a semigloss black rustoleum paint. I've done this on some exhaust heat shields that were pretty rust, differential cover and a few rusty spots on ibeams and other suspension parts. Will this work or is there something better that I can do that is fairly inexpensive. My method will cost me about $30 for the entire underside of the truck. Is there anything else I should do that would be under $100 or is there something better for what Im doing?

For body rust I am grinding it down to clean bare metal then filling with bondo, spraying a primer and using ford red spray paint, a couple coats. I want to paint it eventually, my problem here is the truck has been sitting inside for 10 years now its sitting out in wet and cold and sun and rust spots are popping up pretty fast everywhere, I don't know what to do about this, its now freezing cold here im not going to be able to paint it for at least 4 months. any suggestions?

Thank you

 

Any pictures of the rust? If there isn't any holes it's not too bad, but depending on the damage you might need to weld in patch panels. Both rear wheel arches cost me like 60$ for the panels, and a few more bucks for bondo/primer/spray paint.

 

Very very little rust compared to similarly aged trucks. The rear wheel arches are just getting the first bubbles of rust, i do not need to do new panels yet, no where on the truck has rust gone through and there really is miraculously little. Im concerned more about rust prevention its now sitting in the sun and weather 24/7 in the rust belt and it hasnt done that for 12 years. Im going to paint it holefully next summer and i want to get a truck cover but im on a very tight budget at the moment.

 

Do you want cheap? Or something that will actually work?

because what you are doing is a Waste of time an money

 

Brad, love your way of telling things like they are

 

Okay, so there is nothing that is inexpensive and will work? I don't mind putting time into it but I cannot get more money to put into it. I wanted to use that POR 15 stuff but I cannot buy it. should I just wait until I can afford it?

 

No. If there was something inexpensive that worked, there would be no need for the expensive products

 

No point in sugar coating something to get someones hopes up only to have their process fail miserably all the while throwing their time and money down the drain.

One of my favorite sayings is..

If you can't afford to right the 1st time, what makes you think you can afford to do it a second time

 

If the wheel wells are starting to get bubble there gonna be a lot worse than you think.

bondo is not the way to fix it unless you want it to fall out every year.

if you don't wanna spend a lot right now get some motor oil in a spray bottle thin it down with kerosene or diesel and spray the underside of the truck.

 

That's not universally true. I'm paying my way through college and trying to fix this dang truck all the time, I'm looking for something to prevent rust for a few month, again, not permanent.

Think about a cedar fence, after 30 or so years its going to look like crap, many people would just say that's it time for a new fence, but cedar doesn't rot, even if it is starting to rot its probably only in a few small, repairable areas. However, someone with a bit of time may tear down the fence and instead of scrapping it sand/plane each piece and just re-assembe plus re-stain the fence. This would essentially be free except for hours of work and probably 50 bucks of sandpaper and the fence could look like new. I'm not saying that the truck has a solution like that, but there are always multiple ways to approach a problem, sometimes some take more work, other times it takes more money. I'm merely exploring to find an option that would be a little less $$ and I'd be willing to put a little more work into it.

 

I'm a firm believer in rustoleum rusty metal primer. Been using it for 45 years with good results. But then again, I also like bondo too. Sure you have to redo it from time to time, but not everyone has access to welders, patch panels and the like. A backyard afternoon fix, while not the accepted way today to repair rust, at least makes your rig look better until you can fix it 'right'. I lost count at 35 old ford trucks and have enjoyed the heck outa this hobby all of my life. In closing I have also used lps #3 which is a rust preventative sprayed into doors and rockers etc. I drill extra holes if needed. It sprays out thin to penetrate and then thickens to a waxy coating. I am not saying the other posters here are wrong by any means, just that there are ways we can help in the interim. I never went to college, but 3 out of my 4 kids did and it's hard to argue with the results, so keep at it and enjoy that f250. Awesome trucks!

 

Fine. Paint over the rust with rustolium and do it AGAIN every year for the rest of your life. That will be a cheaper solution

 

There are a range of Band-Aid solutions for rust ranging from not very good to terrible. What they all have in common is that they don't remove the rust, or at least give a new place for it to start.

The best Band-Aid solution is to cut out the rusted area and weld in a new panel. Not at all cheap and generally within maybe 5 years you get rust starting around the edges of the patch. I know, lots of people are going to scream that this isn't a Band-Aid, and the only reason it starts up again is because it wasn't done right. Maybe that's true, but I have no confidence in that. I think the welding / grinding must put enough stress in the old metal (and maybe the new as well) that it provides a better place for rust to start. And if this was really a permanent solution then why do people say the best solution to a rusted fender is to replace the entire fender or bedside? Unfortunately it's the best you can do with cab rust (other than a whole new cab).

The Band-Aid solution I did on my truck was to sand / grind away the rust, hit it with POR-15 and then throw some rattle can paint over that. This will only work if it's truly just surface rust (or at least not much more than that). And rust in most of the normal spots is NEVER just surface rust. In that case you'll end up with huge holes when you try to remove the rust. In my case I was lucky and the body shop didn't have any big holes to fill after grinding above the windshield. I'm hoping the repair looks good for 3 years. I'm at 1 year now and so far so good. But is $1000 a cheap for a 3 year fix? Of course it's a lot cheaper if you do it yourself.

When the rust is coming through from the back (like it always is on fenders, cab corners, etc) all you can do is slap some rust converter on what you can see and throw some paint over it. You really aren't even slowing down the rust that way, but at least it looks better for a few months to a year.

For what it's worth, here are before and after pics of my windshield. The "after" is from right after it was done, but now a year later it looks the same.

 

Diluted motor oil or FluidFilm are probably the easiest, "most effective", "inexpensive" way to slow the rust down and prevent it from forming where you don't have any, yet. In the old days, boiled linseed oil was used, & that can be effective, also.

 

Boiled linseed oil? I've got a gallon of that lying around, I'll look into that, that would be for parts that don't have rust? I'm sanding most of the rust that is there off, what I can anyways, AGAIn this truck has very little rust for it's age, just a few spots on the rail on the bed, no where has rust come through, a few tiny bubbles in various places and a few rusty parts.