1951 Project underway

[bretcopsey]

Hello,

I joined quite a while ago to ask a question about a potential project. What I was told was a 52 GMC turned out to be a 51 Chevy when I looked at it. Being up for a challenge, I took it anyway.

Here's a couple pictures. You can see more at the link below.


http://www.cardomain.com/ride/2285825

[Jebb1978]

You are an ambitious guy, that's for sure. Great progress so far, keep up the good work!

[dwcsr]

Whats the acid treatment your using?

[bretcopsey]

I'm using phosphorioc acid, which is a generally accepted method of removing rust. The unconventional part is that rather than use 'Naval Jelly' or 'Ospho' which are both somewhat expensive, I have found that a tile/shower cleaner sold under the Zep brand name at Home Depot works great, and is only $6.88 a gallon.

[dwcsr]

After first seeing all that rust I didn't think you'd be able to save much of that. But that dip works great. Do you dilute it or straight? and will it run thru a pump so you can shower a part?

[bretcopsey]

I have diluted it quite a bit. The large tub seen in the radiator support picture is one of the ones I have used, filled mostly with water and experimenting with the amount of acid. I think that is a 30 gallon tub, and I had about 2 gallons of acid in it.

I have also tried using a submersible pump to shower a part, but my pump flow is too great. I need to find a way to reduce the flow. Since I haven't done this long term, I don't know what the effects of running acid through the pump would be. Hopefully it won't be eaten from the inside out!

As for the rust on this truck, the majority of it is actually surface rust only. There is very little that is severe rot. As an example, if you look at the pass side door in the picture above, most of what you see that is brown is actually just stained paint or primer. Only the darker patches are surface rust. This truck had a plate on the front from South Dakota dated 1962!! It has just sat in the weather for many years.

[CAL 58 GMC]

That's amazing how well that works on removing all of that rust!

[dwcsr]

I have some inner fenders that I had preped by a resto body shop and have just found that under the good looking primer is a layer of rust. So I'll be trying this out real soon.

[bretcopsey]

I have gotten a little more acomplished. I shaved the front bumper...

[bretcopsey]

I also started pounding out the front dr side fender. I wanted to have a clean piece to metal work so now it is soaking in the acid bath, and I will update the progress if you'd like. Right now it is 30 gallon tub with 1.5 gallons of acid. I sanded the exterior and left the inside surface as it was.

[bretcopsey]

Here's a 'before' for comparison.

[bretcopsey]

Lastly, I started work on the dr side cowl. This was a parts truck, and someone had previously cut out this panel for a patch. I drilled out the spot welds and am about ready to start fitting the replacement panel. I just need to repair the hinge mount areas first.

[texascowboy593]

Looks like its coming along well... Keep us posted!

[bretcopsey]

Not to run this into the ground, but here is one more of the fender above after soaking in the 'bath.' Unfortunately, we had some rain, so everything that wasn't submerged got pretty nasty looking

You can see that while this works on the heavier rust, it is better to knock off what you can by sanding to get better results. The solution weakens as the rust is desolved

Also, this tile cleaner stuff does work well, but seems to have some detergent in it as well, because it foams up something aweful. I might be going back to the previous product I was using if I can find it! I'll fill you in when there is more to update!

[layedoutnoma]

looks like all i need is a bin big enough for a bed and cab and ii'm all set... maybe the swimming pool would work..

[gr8one]

does the acid remove the paint?

[bretcopsey]

In general, if the paint is in good condition, it will not be removed. I cannot say that there wiould not be long term effects though. I plan on removing all paint remaining by sanding off.

If you look at the pictures above, the paint in the recess for the headlight bucket is still intact. The paint that was already failing did come off, as well as the oxidation on some of the paint in a little better condition-see the small blue dot on the next to last picture above.

[Daniel U]

Originally Posted by Jebb1978

You are an ambitious guy, that's for sure. Great progress so far, keep up the good work!

yup, very ambitious! "Build'em don't crush'em."

[55ChevyPU]

I get scared everytime I see your truck GL

[bretcopsey]

Originally Posted by 55ChevyPU

I get scared everytime I see your truck GL

Me too!! Kidding, of course. I've been plugging away lately and been too busy to post some updates. I also lost a bunch of pictures from my camera.

I almost have the frame clip done. The only sheetmetal to 'de-rust' is the hood and cab, both of which are a little too big to fit in my 'dip tank' so I've got to come up with a creative solution for that...

Hopefully more to come in the next couple days!

[bretcopsey]

As promised (or threatened, depending on if this truck scares you LOL!!)

Fenders after dip-flash rust is a problem. After wiping down with undiluted acid, problem resolved.

[bretcopsey]

Inner fenders. Majority done, but need some touchup. Also starting on hood.

[bretcopsey]

Camaro frame clip, in the middle of the grafting process.

[bretcopsey]

And some dash pieces I just won on eBay.

[bretcopsey]

That's it for now. I hope to get the bed off and finish boxing in the frame this weekend. If time allows, maybe even finish the hood. I'm working as fast as I can now before it gets too cold to be in the driveway!!