I media blasted the front end of the frame. I think it was called Black Blast or something along those lines. It's a black slag type material. It was about $5 for a 50 lb bag, so I thought it wasn't too bad of a price. I didn't want to use sand because of the silica dust.
When the front section was done, I used some rust converter to go over it. The picture shows a bluish tint, but it wasn't that pronounced in real life.
