Must Read!! Save $$ Prevent Rust!

[Rokcrln]

By
Lewis Fabrication Design Inc.

Thought I would share this with the rest of the board. I was working on a customers vehical today replacing rockers and cab corners when I noticed some dirt falling out of the bottom (where it meets the inner rocker panel) of the rear cab support chanel. Their is a small 3/16-3/8 gap between the end of the support and the back side of the inner rocker for dirt to get into and out of. So I grabbed one of my body hammers (it was the closest thing) and started tapping on the bottom of the support chanel and I could not belive how much dirt and sand came out. This is by far the worst enimy we have with these old trucks. The factory left gaps here and their for drainage but it also lets dirt build up. Once dirt starts collecting it is only a matter of time before it gets wet and starts causing rust. Also the dirt acts like sand paper and scratches the metal letting water get deeper and deeper.

So head out into your shop, driveway, garage or barn and start beating on your trucK!! Get all you can out and you do not need to hit hard to do it just alot of light taps should break everything up and cause it to slide out the bottom. Once it is all out you can take an air hose and thru the factory supplied holes in the cab support blow out any last bit. Then I would take a can of an kind of rust stopper (really just slows it but that is better then how it is right now) and using a spray or and under coating gun with tube empty out a can or two in the upper holes allowing it to run down and coat the metal. This will not be a fix all but it sure will help stop or slow down a problem that is not cheap to fix later.

Hope this helps out a few people that did not know about these factory rust traps before. Post some pics of what you get out of yours!

But before you start please put on some good safty glasses or better yet gogles because it is not fun to have sand in your eye's. It is even worse when you do it to your self!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[rage'nrat638]

mine did the same thing...
so i drilled 3/4 holes in each one and washed them completely out..i drilled the holes on the bottom so they would not trap dirt any more...
them sprayed por-15 inside them..lucky mine were full of arizona dirt and not rusted at all...but here in chicago il..this would be a big problem...

great tip..

[Palf70Step]

Good advice Kevin. Guess I'll do a different sort of beating on mine tomorrow.

[extd56]

And the cab was soda blasted last year but that looks like sand. Kind of makes you wonder what your truck would say if it could talk about where it has been and who has mistreated it.

[Green Machine]

I had dirt, sand and small rocks to remove on our latest project. We used a 5/16 drill bit and drilled a hole about 1/4 inch from the lower edge in the center of the support. Then put a bar in the hole and pry up. That will open the gap and let you flush out all the junk and looks kind of factory. Get one of those little brass sweep nozzles on the garden hose and flush away from the center holes under the cab down.

Mother nature may have already supplied very large holes there so this only applies if you are fortunate enough to still have metal there. (I'm 1 for 3 on that scorecard)

[N2TRUX]

It sounds like a good place to use a small hole saw. Cut a hole large enough to gain access to clean all the debris out. Then seal it with rust inhibitor and add a plastic drain plug...

[Rokcrln]

These are some great tips guys! Lets see what other ideas are out their for preserving these trucks! As far as drilling access hole in the box's for flushing/painting first go to the hardware store and see what size rubber/plastic plug caps they have and drill your holes to match. This way after you get it all cleaned you can plug the hole to look clean and keep more dirt from building up thru your new holes.

Lets here some ideas for rust product applications. Are you spraying, brushing, pouring and how? Weed sprayer, bottle brush's, Tip & Flip cab dolly and pour it and roll it around ?

This was actually the thought behind the Tip & Flip so you could roll the cab to different positions for getting Por15 or = up into the roof area and A & B post's. My first cab was a victom of rust and I did not want it to happen again it's just to hard to find people to work on these old pile's

Keep it all comming!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[krue]

Thanks for the tips! I probably need to get on this too.

[wolfthing2000]

Everyone usualy asks me what the heck I'm talking about. ,,,, but the best thing you can use after clean out is the Gibbs Lubricant. Google it and PM me if you are interested in it.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I discovered this back in feb when I swapped my cab mounts and took a REAL good look at the underside of the cab. Mine were packed full of sand and wasp nests. I always tried to vacuum out the sand from the inside of the rear cab corners but I had no idea it collected under the cab as well. Mine came down in big clumps (red clay) so I shoved a skinny screwdriver in that slot by the inner rocker to break the clumps up.

[TravisH]

Originally Posted by wolfthing2000

Everyone usualy asks me what the heck I'm talking about. ,,,, but the best thing you can use after clean out is the Gibbs Lubricant. Google it and PM me if you are interested in it.

Its nice stuff but I can't believe that it would provide long lasting protection on bare metal, especially with dirt and sand rubbing against it. Haven't had it long enough to see though, what have been your experiences?

[ThatOneBlue67]

Great lookin' out! While I was restoring my intereior, I actually went in there with a scrub brush, soap and my garden hose and showered every inch of my interior. I unclogged those drainage holes and flushed all that crap out.

[prairewolf]

As far as bottom of the door rust is concerned, the suggestion i liked the most
came from a perfectionist i know with 95 Sub, it had light surface rust starting
on the very bottom at the seams. A body shop guy told him to open all the doors, take off the door panels, put drip pans underneath them. poor in X amount of oil into bottom of each door on the inside to fill it up 1/2 inch or so, then let it drip till it is done. The idea has merit i think, because 32 yr old oil pans rarely have holes in them with bare metal on the outside and
oil coating on the inside. I will do mine when the neighbor is not watching
so i won't need his affirmation that it is a good idea. life is good.

[prairewolf]

Originally Posted by prairewolf

As far as bottom of the door rust is concerned, the suggestion i liked the most
came from a perfectionist i know with 95 Sub, it had light surface rust starting
on the very bottom at the seams. A body shop guy told him to open all the doors, take off the door panels, put drip pans underneath them. poor in X amount of oil into bottom of each door on the inside to fill it up 1/2 inch or so, then let it drip till it is done. The idea has merit i think, because 32 yr old oil pans rarely have holes in them with bare metal on the outside and
oil coating on the inside. I will do mine when the neighbor is not watching
so i won't need his affirmation that it is a good idea. life is good.

Thinking it through a little, oil pans are different metal but i will try it anyway.

[Rokcrln]

Originally Posted by prairewolf

Thinking it through a little, oil pans are different metal but i will try it anyway.

I just hope you never plan on repainting those doors!

Kevin
LFD Inc.

[wolfthing2000]

As far as the Gibbs for rust protection goes an example is that the panels of Humvees have been sprayed down with it and after being shipped to the assembly plant, painted right over. I have done it to rusty shovels and painted right over after the Gibbs drys and it is as good a coating as anything gets. The shovel abrades the paint away from use and like anything else would need recdoated.
I removed the windshield from my 67 truck 2 weeks ago and naturally there was pitting and flaking rust under there. I knocked off the flakes and sprayed down with Gibbs. Yesterday I wiped everything off and the flaking rust is cleaned up and everything has a nice black finish and not orange rust. A wire brushing and some Rust Shield and I think it will be fine.

[Sweet72]

I've heard of pouring oil in inner doors and other bilge areas. The British do that on their cars. The Ausies use fish oil, whether it's actually rendered from fish, whales or what, I don't know. I knew an oldtimer that used boiled linseed oil on farm tools to keep them from rusting. I think I'd just clean the inner doors rockers, cab support and spray them with a moisture cureing urethane (MCU) using a undercoating gun. I prefer MasterSeries Silver over POR15. http://www.nomorerust.com/aboutus.html

[chevybill]

Anyone ever heard older guys talking about rubbing kerosene on auto body parts to prevent rust. Now it is not cost effective, but I am talking about people doing this to Model'Ts and such in the 30's and 40's.

[PanelDeland]

The best anti rust tip I can give is to install the cowl vent screens.They sure have helped keep the trash out of the cowl and lower footwell area.

[Sweet72]

Never heard of the kerosene tip. I know it takes off tar and probably your wax job.

[chevybill]

The kerosene was used when most people did not have paint left on their cars to wax. This was mainly for rust prevention and not to make the car or truck look any better.