I'm about to begin a project, but after botching the first one so bad I think I'm going to need a bit of advice. Actually 3 bits...
I "restored" my old P-30 a few years back. Dissassembled the whole vehicle, THOUROUGHLY sandblasted to bare metal, cleaned, primed, and painted everything. An example HERE of what I did, Er... or tried to do. It took 8 months to complete, and the thing wasn't on the road a year before it looked nearly as bad as it had before. Total waste of time and effort. Wanted to cry. Where did I go wrong?? I'm building a driver not a show truck so what can I do differently? I know this is way too general a question with not enough specific info, but I'm hoping that some of the pro's can at least point me toward some good info/resources. In the field that I'm GOOD at, the net is so full of crap that I shiver at the thought of trying to sus out good info on this topic by myself.

I also no longer have a sandblaster/compressor. Am I just gonna have to pony up for another, or do some of these magic chemicals and a few dozen wire wheels on a grinder have any merit?

And a few other Q's, sorry about the length...

Any tips on protecting the (anodized?) finish on things like ball joints and the flex hose brackets? I tried clear primer/clear lacquer. Didn't work.

Besides the totally obvious, how do you tell how much metal has been lost to cancer? Specifically frames. ALL chevy pu frames around the great lakes are totally covered in rust, how does one know if they are structurally sound still? Or is the rate of loss so slow on the (relatively) thick frame that it usually isn't an issue?

Thanks in advance.
Jim.

Stranded in time. Surrounded by evil. Low on gas...