Advice for refinishing inner fenders and battery tray

[1967C20]

These are my inner fenders and battery tray. This truck is a driver and I wanted to freshen the doghouse while I had it off for a front end rebuild. I want it to look nice but I would rather not have to take it all apart either. There is some moderate rust under the battery tray where the core support and the inner fender bolt together. The battery tray looks bad but is actually pretty solid. I need advice on paint: POR-15, Rust Bullet, rattle can black, other? Can I get a smooth finish by brushing on the rust paints or will I have to spray? Either way, I see a lot of sanding in my future.

[lowriden58]

inner fenders i would drop off at a body shop and have them sprayed gloss black. might cost up to 200bucks but i think well worth it if you cant do it yourself. as far as the battery tray i would hit it with some POR15

I recently had my inner fenders painted at my work (dealership) for 30bucks! so if you know someone it will help

[TotalChevy1]

Originally Posted by 1967C20

These are my inner fenders and battery tray. This truck is a driver and I wanted to freshen the doghouse while I had it off for a front end rebuild. I want it to look nice but I would rather not have to take it all apart either. There is some moderate rust under the battery tray where the core support and the inner fender bolt together. The battery tray looks bad but is actually pretty solid. I need advice on paint: POR-15, Rust Bullet, rattle can black, other? Can I get a smooth finish by brushing on the rust paints or will I have to spray? Either way, I see a lot of sanding in my future.

If you have time, I would spend about $75 and have the fenders power coated and buy a new try for 50. I had a shop powercoat my core support, both fenders, hood latch, grill support, wiper bottle, rad supports, and a couple other things for $200.

[1967C20]

Thanks for the replies. So you think refinishing in place would be a bad idea? I'd like to avoid taking it apart because I may open a whole new can of worms trying to separate the core support from the passenger side inner fender. It's pretty rusty there. Anyone know the quality of new inner fenders?

[yotaforce]

Sandblast (tape off what you don't want to work on), prime with quality 2k primer, paint with good urethane base/clear.

[lowriden58]

well look at it like this.. if its pretty rusty in a certain area, and you spend the time to repaint/refinish around that rust its just gotta eventually undo all that work you just did. i would pull the inner fenders and check it out. the aftermarket inner fenders arent that great of a fitment, ive got a set on mine and they fit OK but it could be better.

[1967C20]

lowriden58 - you are exactly right and I've considered that. I'm just trying to weigh time and money right now; not a lot of either. Where's Chesapeake Beach? I grew up in Aberdeen (Army brat).

[msgross]

soft wire sheel on a grinder... POR the battery box and powdercoat or paint the inners. I would remove them from the fenders, not that hard and you can clean up the nooks and cranny's too...

If you want a quick job then spray with rustoleum... after you clean them up..

[1967C20]

Thanks, Mike. Seems like the right thing to do is take it apart and face the ugly (rusty) truth. One thing leads to another!

[pmpski_1]

Originally Posted by 1967C20

Thanks, Mike. Seems like the right thing to do is take it apart and face the ugly (rusty) truth. One thing leads to another!

That's how it works. Sometimes I think I should have just left it all alone in the first place But that wouldn't have been any fun.

[leddzepp]

If you use POR 15, you do not have to do much prep work...it is designed to bond to rust. Looks like most of the prep work has been done for you! You can put POR 15 on both your battery tray and your inner fenders, and can brush it on. Then topcoat your inner fenders with their chassis coat semi-gloss. If you use a small airbrush, they will look pro.

[msgross]

I used this on my frame instead of POR.

www.nomorerust.com

The sealer is AWESOME stuff... you could use it and your own paint and have no issues either. I used a foam brush to put mine on, would suggest that on the fenders, spraying them would be nicer.

[AusMarty]

Get it sandblasted and paint in two pack, it will eliminate the problem all together and you'll end up with a long lasting finish that you won't have to do again later on

[1967C20]

Thanks for all of the great suggestions, guys. They have been very helpful. That's why I love this board. AusMarty, dude, shouldn't you be asleep right now?!

[lowriden58]

Originally Posted by 1967C20

lowriden58 - you are exactly right and I've considered that. I'm just trying to weigh time and money right now; not a lot of either. Where's Chesapeake Beach? I grew up in Aberdeen (Army brat).

its in southern md. down Rt4 near prince frederick.

[1967C20]

Flipped her over today to get a better look. I've got one small rust hole on the inner fender (below and to the right of the middle bolt head) otherwise it is very solid. Fender corner is bubbling the paint on the outside but the rust on the inside only goes up about 4-5". Core support is pitted but solid. Battery acid is some evil stuff. Also, how do you remove the undercoating on the bottom of the inner fenders?!

[oldspowered]

to remove under coat i always use a propane torch and a putty knife. just heat it and scrape! then use a wire brush to get the remaining crud.

[msgross]

Originally Posted by oldspowered

to remove under coat i always use a propane torch and a putty knife. just heat it and scrape! then use a wire brush to get the remaining crud.

done a lot of that... works great... you can use a cheap torch from Lowes or Walmart for the job...

[1967C20]

Yep, got one already. And a fire extinguisher, too! LOL I'm going to dig into this thing this week and fix what I can. Some of this I will have to fix later. I need to get the truck back together soon.