dealing with the rust

[B_lineBronco]

I am close to purchasing a '72, but the frame and undercarriage are coated with what appears to be surface rust only, no cancer. I was wondering what the process would be or how succesful it is to treat the rust with a product such as POR15 without actually taking the frame off?

I was thinking that this would be preventative treatment for now and to stop any damage that was being caused by the rust. I have read a lot of the posts of the members using these products and was hoping that I could get some good advise to see what I am getting into.

I plan on doing a more extensive restoration / refreshing later on once I get more free time, but want to start driving it as soon as I get it, thus the preventative treatment.

 

[Tito]

Yeah if it is just some surface rust, take pressure sprayer to it with their marine clean in the soap dispenser and clean it real well first. After cleaning with the marine clean, rinse, then rinse. Then use their metal ready (put a spray nozzle on the bottle) which basically converts the rust to a zinc oxide (Something like that). The let it dry and put a couple coats of por15 on it. It will look great, shouldnt need a top coat either less you plan on flipping your Bronco anytime soon (the por is UV sensitive). The spray bottle will only work for one use, the metal ready ruins the inside mechanism. Get a gal of marine clean, 20oz or quart of the metal ready and a quart of por15, plenty of latex gloves, and a few cheap brushes. Should do the trick. Lemme know if you have any other Q's.

If you dont have access to a pressure sprayer just use a spray bottle and squirt the marine clean all over the bottom and then rinse several times.

 

[B_lineBronco]

Is there any protective measures that need to be performed to protect any of the lines or bushings prior to starting the cleaning / POR process, in other words will any of these compounds do harm to the others items that will be exposed to the cleaning and rust pertection?

 

[Tito]

Not completely sure on it (mine was bare) but try to keep from hitting the soft lines with the metal ready, it has some degradation properties to it. Read the back of the label, should give you a better idea of what not to hit with it. The marine clean is safe on most of it though I believe, as I have rinsed everything with it before. Bushings should be fine with any of it. The metal ready gets rinsed off too after a few minutes so not too much of a concern. So before actual application, give it all a good good rinse and you are fine.

 

[B_lineBronco]

Any suggestions as to how get the best possible job with the body still on? I was thinking of trying to find someone with an outside lift so I could get it up in the air thus allowing to stand under to best perform the cleaning. I have however, not been able to find anyone with an outside lift so may be left to just jack and block it up as high as possible and crawl under...

 

[Tito]

Yeah once you start trying to unbolt the body bolts, etc it gets interesting if you want to pick the body up temporarily to paint under where the frame is. Access to a lift is tough, I have utilized my cherry picker a lot for crap like that. Your best bet is to get a rolling mechanic dolly and slide under it. Get some portable lights to go with you when you are painting to make sure you get everywhere you can, also attaching some long vise grips to a paint brush helps to get in some of the tough areas. Thats what I used to get in the frame and up in the door posts as far as possible. Wear your rain gear and some good eye protection from all the gunk and have at it.

 

[B_lineBronco]

From your post it appears that you like the paint brush method, is there any benefit to using a sprayer, other than making more of a mess and possibly getting onto the real paint, but I thought the sprayer would cover better and get into the nooks and crannies better than the brush.

Thanks for all the help and information you have provided. I have been going back and forth between a very clean '74 with no visible rust undernieth and a '72 that has the normal "rust color" covering everything undernieth. I keep leaning towards the '72 for various reasons (not the least $3000 less) but I like the white dash of the '72 as compared to the painted dash of the '74.

 

[Tito]

I just didnt want to make a mess with the sprayer (only have my household garage). Painting the dash is pretty easy, it'll take a day to take it apart and paint it, etc but it gives you a chance to clean up some of the unused wires behind the dash (and install a modern stereo at the same time). You can also take it and get it powdercoated somethin cool too. Be sure to get one of those bezel removers too from one of the vendors as I have ruined too many bezels with the screwdriver method.

 

[Carl]

I was thinking cleaning up the undercarriage then just spraying black Rustoleum everywhere. Its quick and cheap and can always be touched up easily. Unless you are restoring it, I think it would look good enough. Most people aren't going to notice that you used spray paint instead of POR15 but they will notice rusty axles and suspension components.

 

[fordtrucks4ever]

If its really just surface rust, I would consider leaving it alone. The problem you have with a frame on coverup, is the areas rusted that are not accessible. Body mounts, above gas tank, behind fuel and brake lines, and mounts brackets etc. You are going to disturb areas that are protected by a surface rust layer, then do a coverup with something that can seal in moisture in the areas not adequately prepared or cleaned. Its like undercoating a car that already rusted. If you use something like POR, it will dry and make any parts laying against the frame or secured by bolts nearly impossible to remove later without some major effort. Just my "2 sense".

 

[B_lineBronco]

Once existing bolts have been coated with POR, are they close to impossible to get removed later once I start actually working on things?

 

[Tito]

No they come off even with the por, your stock bolts will be tough to remove regardless of paint. If you paint the thread parts with por, that can make it tougher to remove your nuts cause the por is thick.