Once you scrape the crud off sandblasting is one of the best and quickest way to effectively clean the frame well enough for painting. Wire wheel seems to take for ever and isn`t nearly as thorough. Hard and almost impossible to reach into all the small spaces. In my area it is about $150 for a professional and thorough sandblast on a truck frame. Well worth it before I started buying my sand in 4000 lb bulk bags. Even after that cost is still not that much more when all the costs, electricity, compressor wear and your time are considered.

 

I know of no other way to get the frame clean other than patience and persiverence ( i may have spelled that wrong). I am working on a 63 chevy frame now and its slow and tedious. But in time (like forever) i will get it done.
I did one just before that.
My truck i am working one isnt a Ford, but my big truck is a ford and one of the best vehicles i have ever owned. I wouldnt spend a dime to buy a newer chevrolet. They are ugly.
Hang in there , you'll make it ....

 

what a good product by name/brand to coat the frame with that can leave it "bare" metal for a couple months while i weld on new brackets and such?

I read couple things; "metal conditioner", "Phosproic acid", but i'm really newbie to this stuff, i alway just painted the black paint. this time i would like to use a better product like POR 15 or something...

 

I would use a good iron oxide primer. Why not?

 

Needle guns do some pretty work on any rusted up parts. They get the scale out of the way.

 

To leave it a bare frame try Picklex. Google it. Perfect for what you want as long as iit is garaged.

 

when i did my 58'f=100 frame,i took the cab and bed off and used a scraper and a wire wheel on a 4'' grinder to clean all that crust and grime off.it worked real well.

 

I restored my frame and used a pressure washer, a putty knife, a wire brush, and a scrub brush with degreaser (marine clean). It was hard work, but it looks great now. Definitly go with the pressure washer to get the first layer of grime off. Also, POR15 works great for the frame and other areas that will not be exposed to sunlight. Media blasting works great, but a epoxy like POR15 actually works better when there is some surface rust on the frame.

Stan

 

I plan on putting POR-15 on my frame while I have the bed off. It takes some time, but I'm happily going at it with a wire wheel and brush. Sometimes I bang on it with a hammer to get the big flakes off. I like to think of it as a labor of love lol.

 

Think of it as tough love.

 

If you have the money, there's powder-coating or a tough paint like Imron. For a lot less money, polyurethane "liquid plastic" paint from the hardware store seems to be pretty tough once it's had time to harden.

There are sandblasting attachments for pressure-washers. No dust, and you don't need a monster air-compressor to power them since water is more efficient than air.

 

78-f150-4x4-351m how big a compressor do you have and use with that HF sand tank. I have a Harbor freight near by and am in the planning stag. $70 bucks sounds alot cheaper than the $400 I was quoted localy.


I can't afford to stay at a Holiday Inn Express, Thats why I ask so many questions.