The plan is to pull off the body to access as much of the frame and belly of the car as possible. Then I'll de-rustify everything as good as possible with wire wheel, scotch bright wheel, sand paper etc on the end of my trusty drill or by hand. The exterior of the frame along with the underside of the body (after needed patching) will get POR-15 and Chassis Coat Black. After the POR-15 has fully cured, the interior of the frame rails will be treated and after body and paint are complete, treat the body cavities. Should be good to go for another 40+years.
If you are going with POR products, make sure you get some Marine-Clean and Metal-Ready. The M-C is a fantastic cleaner (much better that Gunk), and is safe to use in your driveway, and the M-R should be used with a good wire scrub brush and a medium/coarse Scotch-Brite pad. Spray it on, scrub it good and wash it off with water. Both of these products should be used prior to painting with POR-15. I think you will be happy with the results. :2_thumbs_up_-_anima David
On a budget, I'd go with the Awesome Orange cleaner that you can get for $1 a bottle at the Dollar Store, instead of the Marine Clean. I'd also use Ospho instead of Metal Ready. I always found the prices for those two items that POR sells to be high, and I never liked that the directions called for you to rinse off the part to which you had applied the Metal Ready.
From personal experience I second what David recommended. The POR-15 products worked very well for me. I still use the Marine clean around the house for different projects. Great stuff!
Those sound like great alternatives! http://www.ospho.com/ I don't have any brand loyalty to POR, I just saw that that was what he was going with. I've used both products and was very happy with them, but there are good low-cost alternatives. David
Thanks for the advice. Lots of guys highly recommended POr-15 while I worked on my 71 Datsun 240Z. The negative feed back came from the guys who tried to skimp on the manufacturers instructions. Use what they say to use, top coat with what they say to top coat with...everyone's a winner. Might be a little pricey but I have to wait for overtime to pick back up at work to afford new bushings, mounts, body plugs, etc anyway. :banghead3: In the mean time here's a pic of my progress on the interior dissy. All that's left is the dash, steering wheel, and to disconnect all the lines, cables, wires, etc.
Hey, that tailgate looks to be in great shape, and the inner panel too. Those are very hard to replace. I'd avoid the fiberglass, that was used on our 1967 Country Sedan 20 years ago, it only slowed the rust down for a few years. If your frame is in good shape, rejoice.
I finally got around to popping the body off the frame and assessing the rust damage. I checked around with a few of the local body shops about fabricating some of the needed patch panels. None of them were competent enough to volunteer. They said I need a donor to cut the patches from. Sooo... I finally came across a 67 Country Sedan out of Deming, NM. Pics looked good other than all glass broken out, interior was shot, and a few odds and ends missing off the 390FE. $700 for the car and $740 for shipping and its finally here!
Lots of junk parts inside along with about 4 inches of mud and shattered glass. I gutted the interior and behind every panel there was a healthy layer of mud. Apparently the car was in a severe flood at some point in recent history. Dings here and there over the body, river rocks, mud...you get the picture. I shoveled out the debris, pulled the body plugs and sprayed everything out thoroughly with the garden hose. Still really rust free except for the "trunk" pan and some pinholes in the lower postion of the tailgate.
Wow, that's quite a find. Would you post pix of your parts car? If there are some decent spare trim pieces, etc., there are a few that I'm looking for.
Did ya happen to take photos of the mud, etc. within the panels? That would definitely make some great before and after photos later down the road. EDIT: Disregard it was the parts car that had the mud...READ TOO FAST...sorry
Nice find, I used Rust Dr, I really like how easy it was to use. http://www.therustdoctor.com/ I don't know how it would work on the frame rails. I had some rust in the trunk and front floor on the passenger side it work great. http://www.stationwagonforums.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=2907&d=1261424977 Best, Rick
Here are some pics of the new car. I'm not sure which one will be the official donor, the Ranch Wagon or the Country Sedan.
I thought I had taken some interior shots before I got started gutting it all out but can't seem to find them. All but the dash and steering wheel are taken out. Body plugs pulled and everything hosed down.
