The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Paint protection / Clear Coat /Undercarriage

I am hoping to leave my truck's paint alone for a while and am wondering what type of protective coating or clear coating folks have used just to seal it up and make sure the paint is protected from the elements?

Also - I would also like to protect the frame and undercarriage to make sure nothing rusts anymore. I am not taking the truck off the frame, so I will crawl under there. I assume I will need to sand the frame a bit and then apply some paint. POR 15 maybe?

Thanks!

If the truck is 50+ years old, don't worry about it because it's taken 50+ years to get that way. You really aren't saving the truck if you really think about it. Those ol' trucks were worked hard in thier day, and put away wet... there''s nobody or nothing that will tax them as much ever again.

Andy, do you know someone who has an outside lift?....like maybe a big truck washing place? or someone else?

Since its a truck, and not that hard to get off the frame you may want to rethinnk this....just a suggestion...but if you could get it on a lift and pressure wash it, or even better steam clean it, let it dry good and then a coat of POR15 I'd think it'd last longer than any of us here. (yes, I like POR15)

...or do one 12 inch square a day.....15 minutes a day will work wonders in months time and keeps you motivated.
let us know how you proceed.

I appreciate your comment and don’t really disagree, but my first attempt at working on these old trucks was on one that came from upstate NY. It was extremely rusted out/through and the engine was in terrible condition.
My current truck is coming from AZ, the dry desert and it is in great shape. I’d like to protect the AZ truck from becoming a North East truck;)

Thank you! I don’t think I’ll have access to a lift, but I like your 12 inches per day idea.
What would you use for steam cleaning? You are saying pressure washing and steam cleaning should prep the frame sufficiently and sanding isn’t needed?
Can the POR15 be applied to everything on the undercarriage? Drivetrain, leaf springs, differentials, inner fender?

When I took my farm 3100 apart, it had caked on mud from front to back. When I did the resto,, I removed all the mud off and noticed beautiful sheet metal underneath, the inner fenders were gloss black on the wheel side too, never knew that. Dried mud is an excellent preserving agent.
The best way to control future rust is to disassemble, clean/blast and rustproof. Tedious love of the labor,not much else to say, turn on the radio and pretend you are really enjoying what you are doing. We have all been there, it is what you make it.
By the way, taking the truck cab off the frame is really easy and makes frame cleaning and rust proofing the only way to go for a complete correct job, IMHO.
Steve

My 51 was bought new by a farmer in Indiana and when it wasn't working it lived in a barn. It stayed on that farm until 1989 when the old farmer died and a neighbor bought it, doing a cosmetic rehab...without touching the drivetrain or anything on the underside. When I got it there was 63 years worth of an oil saturated dirt mud encapsulating the frame and all attachments. When it was good and hot that first August of ownership, I started spraying diesel on the encapsulated frame. After 3 or 4 days of spraying daily with a pump up sprayer I donned coveralls, goggles and started cleaning with a gasket scraper, a couple screwdrivers and wire brushes. As Steve said, under the crud was near new black paint. After a couple days of gouging, scraping and brushing I sprayed the newly liberated frame and everything else that was now clean with straight Purple Power and then started washing with a 120v pressure washer. Frame came out looking too good to mess with. That was 4 years ago and it's still original with no extra effort beyond the occasional car wash spray.

Good Luck,
RonR

....Andy, it all depends on just how bad it is under there. A good pressure washing most likely will do it....... As for steam cleaning I rarely see that done anymore. We don't have the dirt roads like my earlier days and engines ect just do not leak oil and everything getting gummed up. Still, I believe you can still rent steam cleaners...if so needed.

But yes, if using POR15 that should be good enough prep.

Good read Ron R., enjoyed it, really good idea on the diesel oil too. I wish I would of kept all the crud off of the frame and underbody so I could of weighed it, it was absolutely crazy how much came off, sitting here laughing about it.
Steve