Me and my friends call em frame painters (people that tear down to bare frame and then never touch it again). Tearing a vehicle down is easy. Restoring/repairing/fabrication is the hard part and people get overwhelmed since they didn't have a true understanding of whats involved. These Tv shows have only made it worse.

 

Second question. Were the frames on our trucks(48-56) painted when they were built? I have worked on dozens and never seen a scrap of paint on any frame...

Up here we are lucky, they don't really rust except for a bit on the surface. Road salt was not widely used til about 10 years ago so most old stuff is pretty solid.

 

I cleaned and sand blasted the frame on this 56 pickup I'm doing, under the grease laden sections there was black paint from the factory, so I think if you are truly restoring it to original or street rodding painting the frame is part of the build process. It's true you don't see it unless you are under it but doing it you know you have preserved it for many more years. If it is completely disassembled I say why not do it.

 

It also keeps the frame paint manufactures workin.

 

I guess i'm lucky , frames don't rust much here I just repainted the section that shows when the hood is open.

 

In my case I thought they were coated in some way from the assembly line. After I blasted ground, and brushed off all the rust, I figured the bright metal areas would need some protection. I guess that was my original reason, but as time passed buy now I like the undercarriage to look as good as I can get it. IE I have a new tranny cover sitting in the corner to be replaced only because I don't like the way the original has been hacked up over the years and looks bad from underneath. And back to the frame, last but not least, as a newbie I saw everybody else doing it, so thought it was supposed to be done.

 

I think that all of the frames were painted on our trucks, however, the manufacturer used the cheapest absolutely worst paint that was available. Not much better than coal tar and kerosene. It probably lasted long enough to get the truck sold off the lot. That is why most people don't see any paint on their frame. I have been to car shows, where a guy showed up in a pair of white coveralls, and actually crawled under the vehicles to judge them. Having said all that, if you have the cab off, paint the frame. If you don't want to paint the frame, that is your choice. I really don't like over restored vehicles, some look 10 times better than when they were new. Just my opinion.

 

I think it is all about starting with a clean slate. I think cleanliness is a big factor, and I am wishing I'd have done it from the start as every time I get under the truck to loosen a bolt, etc, I get an eyeful of Arizona dust, and it stings!
I actually got poisoned from the grit/ bugs/ dead animal mix as a result. When I was under my truck taking out the tank, a whole heap of ancient dirt, spider husks and insect wings and heads fell on my bare skin. A mosquito happened to get me around that time and I ended up a week on crutches with cellulitis from being poisoned by the germs. Plus, as I think others have suggested, it makes you feel good.

On the other side of the coin, I totally agree, Tim, that a LOT of projects don't get beyond the strip down and sand blast of the chassis and there it stops as guys contemplate the enormity of putting it all back together. I thought that would happen in my case as well, as I have had a couple of epic fails with cars in the past and not followed them through to driver stage.

My plan was to get it on the road, have some fun, and then maybe a year down the track, tear it down and do it properly, but once she is on the road, I really don't think I will want to do that.

 

I think it started when a "frame off" restoration became the benchmark of a first quality build. How do you prove a frame off build? Paint the frame parts that couldn't be painted any other way. That's my best guess story and I'm sticking to it!
I dislike working with dirty greasy ugly parts, so the first thing I did when I got my panel was to scrape and scrub down the parts of the chassis I could reach, then I painted then to keep them from getting ugly again. Result is my truck's frame is painted back to the firewall. The rest is just been powerwashed. Fortunately since my truck came from NM it only has a light surface rust on it.

 

Well living here in the rust-belt it makes sense to try to get ahead of the moisture, ln the immortal words of Neil Young rust never sleeps

 

I think most people paint the frames because it looks nice.

But the other part of the question... I agree with c91x. The disassembly is pretty much free and easy. A few cans of satin black spray bombs and a case of Bud Light. Oh yeah! Then the reality of the situation sets in and some get overwhelmed. Its unfortunate that it happens so much.

 

I dislike grease and rust also, I did a complete "frame off" in my tiny little shop. I would rather work on a project without all the dirty old grease and rust.

 

Exactly.


Yes, Ford painted the frames with "chassis black". Here are a couple pictures from before and after our era trucks. Both pictures show chassis parts painted black.
http://d3310hm27mievn.galaxant.com/0...al-photos5.jpg
http://www.autolife.umd.umich.edu/Ra...mbly-Rouge.gif

 

If the wife can get a new paint job so can my truck frame.

 

First, I did not read the other posts in this thread. For me, I strip everything down to a bare frame, and start from the ground up. I think it's simply the perfectionist in me..... to a point of OCD.