Frame how bad is it actually

Just posting this to help maybe debunk some questions or perhaps help people gauge how bad is bad.

This is my experience at least, I bought this truck cause I was told this frame was solid I couldn't see any issues at first, but once I got underneath it I some a little bit more than I was comfortable with, so off with the box.








Soo, this was what I was working with, so I started to wire brush off the preventative, and to little success, luckily for me there is a sandblasting shop locally that could fit me in, for me to do the box section of the frame cost me around 285 CAD,

so if you notice that some of the Cubby pockets are rotted away, but the main rails are bit pitted, but still structurally sound, I will also add this, some of rot will have been made worse with bead blasting, but the damage was still done. which I made a couple of patches to reinforce the sections


At this stage the frame is cleaned up repaired I now have started, to prep the frame, diff, and leaf springs for POR15 Application, so degreaser,metal prep, and paint and ill follow it up with Cosmoline to add on top of it.


Fully reassembled, POR15, Cosmoline applied

What I can say is its a lot of work but it will surely last if you take your time to do it right, POR15 is incredible product, it applies super easily and flows out easy to make a beautiful finish and unbelievably strong paint.

Even this clean frame had a bit of rust to it but it was like the add said after I got through the worst of it was still solid.

So I hope this helps those who maybe questioning whether a frame is solid or not, and which areas that might go first, on mine it was primarily where the shocks mounted and pocket sections and one spot where I was starting to go was beside the fuel tank on the inboard side.

 

Nice. I would say you are good to go, now!

 

It’s such a nice frame, hand it over. My frame is so rusted it hurts.

 

That is sexxy

 

Nice job you were lucky you got to that quite early another Winter would have been lots more work.

 

Looks fantastic!

keep an eye on those shock mounts,
They are the worst design for collecting water and dirt in them and tend to rust through the frame because of the
poor design with no drainage and you don’t see these area as it’s hidden.

I ended up cutting out the complete shock support section out so there is no cavity there, it’s all open space
for water and dirt to pass through and added trail gear supports in that area.
The shock support is totally open now,

 

Replace all those brake lines, and that block. Also the gas tank area with heavy rust might wanna replace that. Nice job on the frames.

 

Nice job on your frame, @Nylock81.

Did you topcoat the POR-15? The standard stuff isn't UV resistant -- it'll get dull and chalky with exposure to direct sun and eventually come off. With a topcoat -- almost any topcoat -- the stuff is practically indestructible.

Most of your frame, of course, isn't going to see sunlight and will be fine. The arches over the rear axle might see UV, depending on where you live and how you park.

 

Awesome work on the frame. It looks great.

I would definitely address the fuel tank filler gasket. They get hard and crumble resulting in a fuel seepage. Your's looks toasted.

The fuel pump looks original. I'd replace that unless you don't mind dropping the tank or removing the bed again in the future. Those bolts are notorious for round off and/or breaking. Soak and let set. I use small vice grips and go slowly.

The housing on the right there has a small vacuum shutoff inside. The dome on top and the hose connection tube both rusted off on of my trucks. I could not find one to buy (don't come with new tank) so I had to make one.

 

Thanks everybody for the support!

@jruiz555, thanks for the suggestion the maintenance has been piling up abit just got the truck in November so been tackling all the rust issues first, but i will be doing brakes and fluids soon

@4xdog i just used the standard kit of POR15 no top coat, for those areas with UV i coated in cosmoline which is a waxy like substance hoping that will pick up where POR15 lacks

@Wsidr1 Thanks for pointing those out, im still pretty new to this truck just got it in November, ill look into replacing those items.

Again thanks everybody for the support and help

 

I had a new frame fabricated from the cab backwards, you can check my post history, and I used 2 layers of POR 15. This was in October-ish of 2021 so only a few months ago. I was living in BC. I moved to Alberta, and I don't know what the issue was (maybe the cold), but the POR 15 is pealing off and I'm already developing surface rust again. Gonna have to Adress it this summer.

This was on brand new metal, POR 15 says you don't need to prime it and so I didn't, maybe thats where I went wrong. Not sure, but I won't be using POR 15 Again.

 

POR15 is too much work and too finnicky to be worth it. Look into RustBullet.

 

@rtwbound damn man that sucks, did you do the full metal prep and degreaser? from my research, POR15 only sticks to rust with no prep work, and the degreaser/ metal prep is to allow the non rusted metal to adhere the POR15 bond to it. I did mine in December so hears hoping it lasts...

@Nessal yea it is ALOT of work

 

Looks great.. Sand blasting is the way to go. A bunch of my friends are into restoring old chevy impalas/bel airs. Many are starting to strip and powder coat the frames or sand blast and paint. Really a great process for frame prep.

 

Priming the metal surface before POR-15 would completely undo the benefits of POR-15 in tightly binding to the surface to prevent corrosion, @rtwbound. One definitely does not want to do this.

But as @Nylock81 correctly notes, the metal surface needs to be degreased and clean before POR-15 application. The "advantage" of a previously rusted surface is that it has a lot of tooth for the POR-15 coating to bind onto. A clean, fresh metal surface really isn't the best place to use POR-15. It can work, but the metal has gotta be clean, and scuffing the surface will help.

 

I used the Direct to metal top coat, it said no prep was required

https://por15.com/collections/topcoat-paint/products/top-coat