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Rust...The Cancer...the pits


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Just wanted to get some pointers on how to handle some rust. I am getting the cancer and I want some suggestions on how to handle the crap. I am looking for a cheap and easy to seal (slow) the inevitable death of my daily driver. There are a thousand ways to attach the problem and I am looking to find the cheapest (best) way to handle the death wish. You guys are always great on here and I am looking to hear what you have to say. Thanks for your time.

 

Conan :cheers:

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starting to hit the doors (lower), at the door jam right at the back of the cab, undercarriage, basically the body is starting show the cancer (small pieces). I know that once you see rust there is more and I am trying to save the beast as long as I can (Illinois weather sucks). Anyway, any tips would be great. Thanks :bowdown:

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There are probably 1001 variations on how to slow rust but I'll tell you what worked for me when I lived up north. Assuming you don't want to replace doors, fenders, etc (if you could even find rust free ones) grind as much of the rust off as you possibly can. Shoot it with rust converter, let it dry, and follow that up with a helping of Bondo. When you repaint it it will last a lot longer than if you just ground it and/or hit it with rust converter. I had a perpetual rust bloom on the quarter panel of my old Pontiac 6000 that was too deep to grind out completely. Using this method the paint held until I sold the car...3 yrs later.

My MJ came from up north but now I have access to rust free doors, fenders, etc, which is a nice change of pace.

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Keep in mind that most of the common rust areas on our trucks start rotting from the inside-out. :( A simple grind-n-spray will probably not stop anything, only delay the inevitable. But then, a weld in patch won't solve anything if you don't have access to the backside to properly clean/paint it (rockers, frame etc). It's a tough choice for some of us as to how much effort we really want to throw at it. :(

If your floors are rotting, you'll want to find/seal the cab leak that has been letting in the water.

 

Bottom line, I hate road salt. :fs1:

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should I take off the fender flares? They seem to look nice but I do believe they are more a problem than a nice looking addition. They have been on there since manufactured. I do not know how much rust they are hiding, but if they gotta go to help slow the cancer down, I understand. Just trying to keep this rig on the road for a few more years without falling apart. Thanks a ton guys. I appreciate the help and I will try a few of your suggestions. Please send more suggestions if you have them.

 

Conan :cheers:

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Be prepared that removing them can be a real pain in the kiester. The little brackets that hold them on are likely also rusty and the bolts tend to snap off. Though I guess this is only an issue if you want to put the flares back on. Most guys seem to pop out the remaining stud pieces and use SS bolts to reinstall the flares. :thumbsup:

 

How nice do you want this all to look in the end?

 

Can you post pictures of the problem areas?

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