Surface rust on frame and making a SWB...???

[BaggedC10]

Well, I'll be picking up a LWB 78' C10 frame w/ surface rust next week. Go figure, rust in California. This time around, I'm going to have the frame painted. In the mean time, I have to do some fabrication and it would be nice to have a clean, rust free frame to work on.

Should I have the frame sandblasted and primed? I've never dealt w/ rust before, so any advice/tips would be appreciated. When said and done, I want the frame to be smooth like the exterior sheetmetal.

Also, does anyone have an article explaining how exactly to shorten a LWB frame and make it a SWB? If not, I'll be building a long bed. Which is fine w/ me because they are more rare in the custom truck scene.

Thanks.