My bed restoration/ repaint, with photos

[Mister-B]

The bed on my truck was pretty rusty. It had a spare tank that was rusted all the way through on the inside edge, and there was a a brown layer of rust on the bed, that would get my gear dirty.

So, I removed the extra tank and got rid of it. There was 40 year of mud and dirt under the tank, and a thick layer of calcified crap. I bought a wire wheel attachment for my grinder, and went at it. Went around the rest of the bed, and smoothed out any rough spots. Used a wire brush on the entire bed floor to get any loose rust chips or paint off.

Next, I scrubbed the entire bed bottom and sides down with CLR diluted with water, and a scotch brite pad.

Here's a before with the tank installed

Here's the bed after I removed the tank, ground it down, and scrubbed it with CLR. Note there are a couple small rust holes that I'll fix at a later time.

Here's the primer I used, which was left over from my back bumper project. It's the primer on the right. I didn't need more than this. I used it for my previous bumper project, and painted the bed, and have a bit left.

Here it is after painting the primer


Next, I'll get some blue paint mixed up to match the paint as closely as possible, and cover the primer with it.

This should all give me more of a classic look, while helping to stop further rust, and might be able to get the wife in the bed now lol

I'll post up a final pic when I'm done with the final blue coat
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