Rust Proofing YES!

[tbirdfiend281]

So my truck currently doesn't have any rust. I would like to keep it that way, for like, forever. I dont care what the truck looks like. I just don't want holes, or have to repair any rust. Could I just por15 the whole outside? or do por15 and maybe some sort of bedliner/rubberized sealer?

I need some ideas.

Thanks.

 

[79jasper]

I've heard a LOT of good things about the POR15. And I believe most people just use that.
But there are undercoatings available.

But that's just from what I've read, no personal experience in that area.

 

[f-two-fiddy]

Por 15 needs a coat of paint over it. It's not made to withstand daily exposures. Check Eastwood out. Plenty of quality stuff there.

 

[6.9poweredscout]

por the frame. when you change your oil dump it in the doors, fenders, put it in a bug sprayer and spray everything underneath. do it every few months and it should last forever. especially with diesel oil, it soaks into everything. i had a '74 scout and every pinch weld there was greasy oil leaking from it and that thing was solid!

 

[tbrumm]

Something to remember is that most so called "rubberized undercoatings" will be great under the body for a while. It has been my experience that over time the undercoatings dry out and crack, allowing moisture to creep in behind the undercoating and get trapped, cuaing even worse trouble. Simply spaying more undercoating over the cracks just traps more water and causes more problems. Now, I am talking about spray can type - a commercial grade of undercoating that is applied "hot" might be better - but I do not have experience with that. I have heard of sprayig the underbody with chainsaw bar and chain oil. It clings well and also hase a corrosion inhibiter built into it. In my case, I did not want an oily residue under the truck catching dirt and mud. I throughly cleaned the underbody, used wax and grease remover, and then sprayed on Eastwood rust encapsulator. POR 15 would work too. Chassis Saver from Magnet Paints has worked well for me too. Any of these are expensive, but really bond to the metal and keep air/water out. The key to the whole thing though ios surface prep - ya gotta git it clean before ya paint! After the Rust Encapsulator cured, I sprayed eveything again with black Rustoleum. For being "cheaper" hardware store paint, it actually makes a pretty durable coating, if you apply it thick. I used a WD-40 "smart straw" on the Rustoleum cans, and it really sprays it on thick and gets it into the seams and hard to reach areas. The best part about having paint on the underbody (as opposed to undercoating or oil) is that you can go back and touch it up or respray anytime (provided you clean and prep first. I usually do it once a year in the fall before winter hits again. I shot the wheel wells above the rear wheels, inside rockers and and inside doors with Eastwoods "Heavy Duty Anti-Rust". This is a wax/oil that really creeps into the seams and seals everything. As a matter of fact, be prepared for some cleanup as this stuff will creep and actually leak out the seams a bit. It never really hardens up but stays "waxy". Works good inside body cavities/seams, but I wouldn't use it as an undercoating. I have long thought about having my whole truck sprayed in "Line-X", but could never afford that. I have seen where some people have painted the outer body of their trucks with product called "Durabak". It seems like it would be nearly indestructable, but I haven;t decided if I like the "look" yet. You can tell I live in the rust belt . Up here, vehicle corrosion is a fact of daily life! Eastwood now has a new product that combines Rust Encapsulator with and undercoating. Given my experience with rubberized undercoating, I haven't had the nerve to try it.

 

[GOOSE]

I am subscribing, I'm in the same boat. Paint is your best friend. Take the bed off and stand it up on the bulk head end. Pressure wash, scotch brite, and prep as necessary, then paint it. I plan on doing the underside in gun metal grey. Paint is a very good sealer and doesn't give too much "clinging" ability to snow and salt.

I also hope to disassemble the tanks and what not on the frame, wire wheel, rust treat, prime and paint everything, them re assemble. Going to use gloss black, not because I like how it looks but because road grime, salt and snow clean off of it easily.

I wish I had the resources to take the whole body off and do the front half like this......

 

[Coyote_Red]

Por 15 needs a coat of paint over it. It's not made to withstand daily exposures. Check Eastwood out. Plenty of quality stuff there.

por the frame. when you change your oil dump it in the doors, fenders, put it in a bug sprayer and spray everything underneath. do it every few months and it should last forever. especially with diesel oil, it soaks into everything. i had a '74 scout and every pinch weld there was greasy oil leaking from it and that thing was solid!

Move to northern/central Texas and parking under a shade tree everywhere.

Seriously though, I have used the Eastwood Rust Encapsulator and will continue to do so. I painted a frame with it and then left it sit outside uncovered for two years with no rust popping up anywhere including the rear spring hangers. For bodies I have done the same thing that 6.9scout does and it works wonders, the truck will look horrible for a few weeks as everything seeps and creeps out into sight. Be sure to wash the lips on inside of the fenderwells, the cross braces for the bed, and down inside the cowl by the bottom of the fenders, pull the covers to the cab mounts, pull the plastic door sills and see what in under them.

 

[Knuckledragger]

Another paint subscriber.

Pouring oil on the joints is not only messy, but could possibly make the rust problem worse by masking it. I bought a car some years ago that had been in the desert for over 20 years. Nice and dry, no problems on the surface. Well, this car had an oil bath air cleaner (1959) that had been taken off the engine and thrown in the back seat on the floor. Oily mess, but still no problem, right? Wrong. The car had been sitting so long that way that the oil created a seal for any water that got into the body and created a pool cover, since oil floats on water. Effectively, the water got in, but could not get out by evaporation. After a number of years, the floor rusted out, but only under this pool of oil.

 

[6.9poweredscout]

If there is fresh coats of oil it will stop rust. I think the fact it soaked into the carpet was the issue there

 

[tbirdfiend281]

I am trying to come up with a permanent solution. Not having to rust treatment every year. I want to do something with the body panels to keep them from going.

The idea of spraying oil all over the place on a perfectly clean truck doesn't settle well with me. I know it should work and thats the thing I keep seeing everyone recommend on rust treatment. I would like to be able to find a paint or process to keep rust out without having to do that. The underneath will not go, it will most likely be the body. The truck leaks every fluid except coolant anyways so the frame is rust proof because of that.

 

[FORDF250HDXLT]

por-15 user here.nothing lasts forever though fyi.

 

[IDIDieselJohn]

Us Canadians have this.

http://www.krown.com/


I been having it done for years now (or should I say me doing it my self) I use to work for them. Do it every year around August/September, so it's still very warm out but winter is right around the corner. This stuff goes on better, and protects best when applied in summer/early fall.




And best thing about Krown, it's NOT a sealant, it's a penetrant!

 

[79jasper]

Have any of you all seen any rusted school/charter buses?
They use an undercoating also.
I'll ask my buddy that worked at the I/N bus plant if he knows what it was. I remember him saying they have a special cleaner to get it off your hands, nothing else would work.

 

[Maverick1701]

I have had good luck with dupicolor bed liner when used as undercoating...not so much when used as bedliner.

 

[coletrain777]

As someone who owns a paintshop I will chime in...
There are a few things you need to know to help you in the process.

1. POR 15 is not a great solution, all it does is encapsulate the metal forming a protective barrier that will peel, crack, fail sometime down the road. Of the several restorations I have done for folks over the years, many have used this product on frames, floors, etc... all of them without exception have failed between one and six years down the road. Does it work for a while, SURE, but it is not a fix... just a band-aid. The best thing that you can put on freshly blasted, clean metal is Epoxy Primer. Epoxy bites to almost any substrate extremely well, and has good durability. If I was trying to ensure that a rust-free vehicle remained that way I would prep my surface, shoot epoxy, shoot paint/clear and stay on top of cleaning the undercarriage frequently to ensure moisture/mud did not have an opportunity to sit and rot the metal away.

2. Most of your body rust is not going to come from from the underneath... Most panels rust due to poor drainage from the inside (ie; inner fender wells, bottom of tailgates, cab corners). No matter what you do to the outside of these panels, there is not way for you to apply something to the outside to protect the inside The factory uses seam sealer, foam, and other types of material between inner and out fender wells. They do this to cut down on noise, moisture build-up... the problem is that once these materials begin to fail, rust eats away the panel quickly. The best way to ensure that outer body panels don't rust away is to ensure that drain holes are always kept clear, and to apply something like body-schlutz, or another oil or waxed based spray to the inside of the panels in order to wick moisture away and keep it away. Make sure and clean out the inside of your cab corners a few times a year, and it can't hurt to sand them to shiny metal (with around 220 grit), and give them a few coats of paint so that they are protected.

The advise you have been given to spray down the metal with oil is actually a very good process. Now, as someone who does paint work I hate to advise someone to do this, as in my line of work oil/silicone is the devil... but it sure does help to keep rust away (as long as it is applied fairly regularly and not allowed to cake up with dirt/grime and become something that ultimately traps moisture.

Ultimately... as much as you want the metal of your truck to last forever, it just cant. Metal has a life span just like everything else exposed to the elements. Whatever you do, please don't use something like bedliner or the like... it will do its job for several years if done right... but when it fails it will trap moisture like nothing else Then it's bye-bye sheet metal.

If you have any specific questions please let me know... take care of your truck and it will take care of you.