I admit it. I'm a noob when it comes to paint and bodywork. So, I will rely on the vast knowledge and expertise of the ppl on this forum.

My '77 F100 is looking terribly shabby. There is rust everywhere. I dream of fixing it up so that it's a pretty truck again, but I just don't have the time or money right now.

I want to clean up my truck enough to preserve the metal for an indefinate number of years until I can do the paint and bodywork properly. What can you kind people recommend for eliminating surface rust and preventing rust from returning?

Should I sand and use a primer? Should I sand off the crappy paint while I'm at it, or just smooth out the parts that aren't peeling off? What about the Rust Bullet stuff that I've read about in other threads?

HEPL?

 

No takers? Some years ago, I saw the rust coming in a few small spots on the hood. I didn't know what to do, so I just sanded them until there was no more rust, cleaned the spot with denatured alchohol, waited for it to dry a minute, then hit it with some Rustoleum primer. That seemed to hold off those little rusty spots for a couple years, but now they are back with a vengeance.

Should I just use Rustoleum again?

 

How severe is the rust? surface or threw the metal? If its surface rust I would just sand it down to bare metal. clean it and use some good primer and then some paint. I think that if you just prime it and leave that expose that moisture can attack the metal. If it is cancer type of rust then that maybe difficult.

Matt

 

""" My '77 F100 is looking terribly shabby. There is rust everywhere. I dream of fixing it up so that it's a pretty truck again, but I just don't have the time or money right now. """

You need to really think about your words here. Pretty comes with a cost.

I am just about done with a almost 7 year restore on my 79, and it took a lot of time and a lot of money. The most expensive project on a restore is the body work/ paint. Auto paint components are expensive, even if you do your own bodywork/paint like I did. ..

There a many different ways to make a truck look better, all the way from a rattle can paint job to a $10K - $25K frame up restore project. You will need to make a decison on what you want your truck to look like and what you can live with. Before you start taking it apart to make it pretty again remember this: You will have to finish it or end up selling it as a parts truck....

Keep in mind as you make each piece new or pretty, it makes the one next to it look shabby. Before you know it, you are in a full blown expensive restore. Have a plan on how much time and money you have to spend on it. Keeping in mind it is not a good $$$ investment, but just a love for the truck. You will not recoup half of the $$ you have in it, if you sell it later. And they all get sold sooner or later...

Once the body work is started and raw metal is exposed, you have made a commitment to at least get epoxy primer on it which will retard rust/moisture. Even when a truck has epoxy primer on it, it should not be out in the rain. ...

If the body work/paint job is done right for it to be a pretty truck again, all windows should be out and all body ornaments /trim/lights taken off, basically making it undrivable. Sorry I was not of any help here, but there is no getting around what will be a fact of life for you. good luck on your truck. jmo

 

Thanks for the input, guys.

Like I said, I DREAM of doing it the RIGHT way... that is a frame-off restore type project. I hesitate to do anything to the paint because it just doesn't seem right to try to paint the cab with the windows, seat, etc. still in it.

I guess I will just sand the surface rust to the metal and use a decent spray can of primer to keep it at bay.

 

If your truck is really rusted bad, prepare to spend some money and lots of time. If you don't have the equiptment or ability to repair all the rusted areas correctly then it can mean a lot of money. Greg is right, Paint and materials for a nice looking body and paint job are expensive, and will only continue to go up. There are some good cheaper lines of materials, but still expensive, and you have a lot of time wrapped up into getting a body to the point its ready to paint. A lot of times your money ahead if you find a good body to start with. Rust, even taking all the right steps to fix, fights to come back. The best option is replacing the panel, second best replacing rust damaged metal by welding or glueing in a new piece and protecting against corrosion both inside and out. If this is only surface rust you could grind or sand those spots down to bare metal, use a clean and strip disk to clean any pits and apply a few coats of epoxy primer to those areas. Get rid of it all. Rust is often more then it appears once you take off the paint. Epoxy primer will weather when exposed to the elements, so later you should sand and apply more. But epoxy isn't porous like other primers and will seal the metal. Might not be real pretty, but should protect it. If you rattle can anything, it will need to be sanded off later when you continue. It could mean incompatability problems later, or even if not, will be a weak link in the paint job. 2k products with an activator are so much better then old air dry materials. On the insides of panels its often hard to do a good job, but do the best job you can at removing it, and use phosphoric acid then epoxy prime after neautralizing. Epoxy primer can be poured into the cracks and seams you can't spray good, or you could brush the inside. Inside panels could have a lot of sound deading or undercoating which would be a lot of work to remove to see what its like under there. If there are holes and weak metal, you are going to need to replace that, so I would save up till you have the money and time to do it all. I would also plan on taking it out of service to do all the work. Could take quite awhile. Do mean to discourage you at all. I am all for someone wanting to fix up there ride. You are going to have a long road and a lot of work if that body is pretty rusty. And it won't be cheap like greg said, even doing it yourself. I remember years ago when Greg dove into fixing his truck and was asking questions. I am sure he found out what it involves fixing an old body up.

 

Good one Ken, my wife said there aint much that can be done to fix my old body up.


Red77,

Just like Ken's great post here said , I am not trying to discourage you from your project either. But you need to know what you are getting in to. Even with the help from all the great people on these forums, it is still you, your money, and your time that has to do the work. So starting out with a truck that doesnt require AS MUCH , is always more desirable. With the price of gas, these old trucks can be bought very reasonable now. There was one in my local truck trader mag 2 weeks ago, a 79 F150 4x4 4speed longbed, all new paint inside and out, new tires and wheels, $5K. I had that in mine before I ever got the engine rebuilt. good luck

 

More great advice! Thanks, guys. I sure do know what I WANT to get into, and I know how much time, effort and cash it would take.

My truck's body is in pretty good shape. There are a few door dings and some cracked bondo on the rear corner, but overall, I'd say it's in good shape. The worst part is the floor pans that have rusted out and are now mostly license plates and lots of screws! :P

I expect that if I put more crappy primer on it now, I will have to remove it if / when I get to the point of doing the job correctly. I'll have to do more research on materials!

Thanks a 1/2 ton!