I'm thinking I need to clean up my interior. Most of the pieces are still there, but they are showing their age. I want this to be a driver, not a show car or a junker. I've got more time than money.

The sheet metal has a lot of blemishes, stains, pitting, and in the lower kickpanels, surface rust. Some of the stuff that looks like dirt, but is not coming off with soap and water. I'm calling these stains, but is it something else? Is this typical? I guess I could try to rub it out with rubbing compound and see what happens. Removed the dash pad and found that the dash underneath has thin paint and even an area without paint - looks like primer to me. I wound up putting a few scratches in it as well.

I'm wondering how hard is it to paint the interior? I'll need to take care of the rust. I'm thinking (hoping) a wire wheel will get the worst of it. Would I want to just prime the bare metal and then paint, or is there other steps in between? What type of primer and paint?

I will need to remove the seat and the gauge panel. Is there an "easy" way to pull the gauge assembly? I'm hoping theres just a few connections, but when I had it loose for the dashpad it looked a little more complicated. What’s involved?

Should the gas tank come out, is there any danger of leaving it in the cab with sanding and painting going on? I prefer leaving the tank in place; no need to cause new problems. I do smell fumes if the truck sits with the windows up on a sunny day. I plan on replacing the rubber filler hose. Anything else that might contribute to the gas fumes?

As much as I hate to admit it, the back glass needs new rubber. So, I might want to pull it out, paint, and reinstall with new rubber.

To me this sounds like a simple process, but also sounds like a lot of work. My main concern is doing all this and having it turn out bad. Or becoming a money pit. Is this mostly just labor on my part (disassembly, sanding, painting, reassembly and being patient) with money for paint, primer and a new rear window gasket, or am I overlooking something?

To anyone who has done this, how hard was it? Would you do it again? Thanks.

 

Take your time and have fun with your project. Its not ever easy taking on a project as this. Go to your you local paint store and they can recommend the best primer and paint for your truck. If your have any rust spots be sure to either cut it out or sand blast it. if you just sand it and cover it with primer its sure to come back. If you remove the gas tank, I would put some kind of sealent behind the cab then put the tank back in. Get a book on your truck and read up on it. Theres lots of good information. Search the web, lots of good information there as well.

Just my 2 cents

 

If you dont have access to a sand blaster (I don't), you should be able to get all the surface rust off with a wire wheel. I've also had extremely good luck with Dupli-Color Rust Converter. I got a spray can of it at Oreilly Auto Parts. Of course I also used a rust stripping wheel I picked up at wal-mart, then sprayed the rust converter on. That was about 3 months ago and I've been driving the truck almost every day. No surface rust yet, and I havent even top-coated it yet!

 

Stroked 77, i was thinking the wire wheel and rust converter also. I went out this morning and used one of those rechargable power scrubber (sears) and some soft scrub cleanser. It took alot more grime off than the soap and water did. The vinyl door panels look pretty good. The "chrome" strip peeled off the raised area, but other than that they look good. Dash cleaned up pretty good too. I still think I'll try using rubbing compound on it because it looks like most of these area are just stained and dirty.

The kick panels and inside metal door panels do have surface rust. I don't want to sand blast the interior just for this, so I think I'll try the wire wheel, and rust convertor or POR-15 and see how it goes.

Has anyone found kick panels for this year? They'd have to be aftermarket. I was thinking it would be nice to mount some speakers done there and once the rust was fixed cover it with a panel. Has anyone made kick panels? Guess I should do a search

 

Pull the gas tank. For the three bolts involved it's worth it. That'll give you the opportunity to do a thorough cleanup and check the tank for pinholes.

 

The November issue of CCT just happens to have an article on interiors. They pulled the windshield, sanded the old paint, used spray cans, turned out pretty good. I think it said the spent $100.00, so that's not too bad.

 

I saw that article. It was pretty good. dotcentral, what part of Charlotte are you located in. You should join the NC chapter. There are a lot of local guys here that belong to the FTE, but use the NC chapter site more. Contact Jowilker at the NC chapter link. KURT

 

Kurts74Ford, I'm in Charlotte, close to carmel commons on 51. I'll have to send Jowilker an email about NCFTO. Sent you an email.