Ford F-250 rust repair process.
 

I currently work at a body shop. I bought this truck back in April (today is June 25) I knew about the rust when I bought it. But know I am going to fix it. This could possibly be a step by step "how-to" fix rust spots on our trucks. Here are some before pics of all the spots I plan to fix. The last one is of paint going bad under the clear coat.

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May not be for a couple of weeks before I start since I am currently arguing with the dealership. They said they weren't trying to screw me, but everytime I go in, either the owner is away or he makes the excuse that he can't find a full bed without rust on it (which was the original plan). So I'm fixing it myself with funds he provides me with :)

That looks like a nice truck (minus the rust). I look forward to seeing your progress. :)

Tag to see what happens here...

I hope you follow through with posting the process! :) I'm looking at early 90's F-150's as a weekend "for-fun" truck and I found one that has only one fairly small rust spot to tackle, so I'm thinking it might be doable for a beginner like myself.

Also investigating the most cost-efficient way to repair peeling clear coat on the hood, but that's a topic for another thread...

Well, I have been procrastinating because I've been getting tired and haven't found the time to repair all the rust. I may end up buying a new bed and putting it on while also still showing the repair process with this bed so I can sell it and make money. Nope nothing is wrong with this bed...

The best way to deal with that is to sand the hood and repaint it. or you could buy a "refurbished" hood from LKQ. They own many junk yards around the world (Even in Guatemala, a co-worker is from there) they only sell quality Body parts, and if your not satisfied with it you can send it back and get another one. If it needs to be painted a different color, you can take it to a Body Shop or what not and they will paint it for you if they want your business. If you live in Indiana I can help with most of it! I don't know which is less expensive, but one is

Yeah, that's what I've heard. No good way to really spot-repair clear coat failure I guess. And I'm actually from Philadelphia, haha, hence "Jim_Philly." I haven't looked on here specifically, but is there a good step-by-step with photos on how to sand down a panel, properly primer and paint it? Even just getting it to the primer stage myself would save me a lot of money I'd imagine, and then I could take it to get professionally finished... a friend owns a body shop about 1.5 hours from me.

I actually bought a Mazda 3 OEM in-dash Nav screen from LKQ on eBay last summer... only came in European Mazda 3's. Had intentions of putting in a "carputer"... yeah, that screen is still sitting in pieces in my closet, haha.

Not that I know of, but I can type one up for you tomorrow, without pics of actually doing it since we don't have a car with that problem, so you can have it if there isn't one on here. I'm only starting to learn some of the body repair process. I know the basics like taking bumpers, fenders, and quarter-panels off as well as doors and hoods. Other than those I have no clue how to do anything else. I'm probably not even going to weld the pieces of metal to the bed when I take it off. I have only tried it once and that was learning to spot weld and that was 4 months ago.

Im looking forward to seeing this. I did a few rust repairs on my truck last fall. All surface rust that I want to keep from getting bad. I sanded everything down to metal then used primer and paint I got at an auto parts store. Just rattle can stuff. Given the money I put into it I didn't think it looked too bad. When you looked close you could see where I blended it but looks were not what I was worried about. What really disapointed me is that one of the spots lost all the paint over the winter. Now I need to do a rush job before this winter. It would be nice to know how to do a little better job, I certainly put the time into it last year.

[QUOTE=UncleShank;10686322]Well, I have been procrastinating because I've been getting tired and haven't found the time to repair all the rust. I may end up buying a new bed and putting it on while also still showing the repair process with this bed so I can sell it and make money. Nope nothing is wrong with this bed...


You stated you work at a body shop. Dude, you have all the resources. If you do not know something, isn"t there a pro co-worker to ask? It would seem you have all the tool's and equipment at your disposal for after hours at work. The rust spots shown in your pictures are not all that difficult to repair. You getting tired and not finding time..well, we cant help ya there:-X03

You state you will buy a new bed and repair this one and sell it and make money?:p

It should be soon that I will be getting this done. I may be starting a new job at the end of the month delivering campers and I want to get this done before then.

the places with minor rust, i woul,d sand the area with about 80 grit, where the rust is to bare metal, bondo it up (if the rust is only on the surface) sand the bondo with 120 then smoothen it out, move onto 240 for the entire area being painted, then once again with 320, prime the bondo, then sand it with 400 grit. and then of course with the big missing chunks on the bed, you will have to grind out that area, cut out a chunk of the rust, and weld on new metal. hope that helps!