The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Rust removal behind the dash on AD

I am stripping all the rust from my cab, what is the best way to remove the rust behind the instrument panel, seems hard to use any tool.

Any suggesstions are appreciated

Rgds.,
Ganesh

Remove all the gauges etc and sand blast it. Even then you probably can't get it all so the next step is treat it with phosphoric acid. Lots of folk here swear by the por 15 product line, but I have never used it.

I am not looking forward to that little chore myself. I have been completely stripping everything and then treating it with phosphoric acid to get any rust pits that may be left behind. For me getting the bulk of the rust off and treating the under dash area with phosphoric acid doesn't seem practical or necessary. Eastwood had a sale on their rust encapsulator and I bought a couple of spray cans to try just for this area. I have not wanted to use this product in areas I can get to but hopefully it will work well for under the dash.

Chuck

Thanks for the your replies, sandblasting is out of question but may as you both suggessted cleaning with phosphoric acid or spray eastwood rust encapsulation I guess. I dont care how it looks behind the dash, I just dont want any more rust.

Hard to clean the rust to bare metal not happening at all

Ganesh

Ganesh...Sounds like your asking the same questions I had concerning the area behind the dash. Once you remove all the gauges and everything else, just use a small wire wheel on a rotary tool or drill. The rust back there shouldn't be as bad as the outside of the dash. All ya have to do is remove the loose scaley rust and maybe paint. You don't have to get it down to bare metal. Make sure you have the proper goggles on because you'll be looking up most of the time. That's all I did. Then I brushed on some encapsulating paint to seal it up. That's it. Believe it or not, it'll look good and give you piece of mind knowing the rust back there has been taken care of.

Wonderful, looks like cheap option and thatz is available at our disposal , so will live with it

Thanks
Ganesh

I used one of those flexible drive cables that you can get for an electric drill. It also helps to remove the big brace.

My instrument panel is full of oil and crud. Apparently the oil pressure gauge or line leaked. Can the panel be removed on a 49 3100? Easily?

No. It seems as though GM started the build with the dash, and built the rest of the cab around it. I have done it, but I also replaced the entire cowl at the same time. There has to be over 100 spotwelds to cut out in order to remove the dash. I was not able to get the dash out without cutting the dash in half. Putting in the brand new dash was doable with the entire cowl out of the way, but I will never do a dash replacement ever again!
Carl

Thanks. Was the answer I expected after lengthy examination but was hoping for a more favorable answer. I need to clean up behind the panel but also sand and paint the front. Everything has been removed but will have to tape off everything else in cab - ugh. Thanks!!

Another option would be Penetrol. I did not like the idea of rust as I was installing a new harness and wanted the area to be reasonably clean. I just wire brushed by hand and electric drill then used a shop vac. This product is very easy to use, just brush it on and it dries overnight. Make sure to use the one for oil base paint. There is more info on line.

I'm all for keeping things original but one of the things I did on the last car was paint the back side of the dash bright white. It really did make seeing things much easier under there.

I was able to reach a lot more of the area then I would have thought with the cowl vent removed.

Cleaning was a [censored], but I could drop a jam gun through the opening and spray a lot of the back of the dash.

I think I will POR 15 mine when that time comes. Used a lot of the stuff and it really seems to work well. I'm sure everyone has something they like but P-15 has worked well so far for me. My 2 cents..

Yeah, I agree. There was nothing more joyous and wonderful as laying upside down under the dash with a sandblast helmet and blasting the rust out, getting sand in crevasses you only learned about during this process. Wish there was a better way, but it really did the trick if you are willing to withstand crazy conditions for long periods of time. I would like to say I would never EVER do that again.

Everyone needs to sandblast at least once. It will soften you up to gladly dole out the cash to a professional the next time it needs to be done.
Carl

I have been following along and I am in the same boat. I have been debating on taking the cab to be media blasted but I do believe that will be the right thing to do at the stage my truck is currently in.

Carl,
Do you know of a sand blaster in the area?

Bread
.

Just beware. The reason I do all my sandblasting myself is because I DID take it to a professional sandblaster. I expected completely bare metal and what I got back was greenish, splotchy and had areas where paint wasn't completely removed. I paid ALOT so that was that. I did some research, got the equipment I needed and now its just a distasteful, miserable week or two. Not all that bad really in the long run.

http://speedprint.com/deves50/sandblasting.php

Hey Mario,
Precision Powder Coating in Virginia Beach is reputed to do very good work at a reasonable price. There is another good one in Norfolk, but the name escapes me.
Carl

There is no reason to have to lay down etc etc.
Its pretty easy to make a simple rotisserie to spin the cab into position to work in a comfortable position.

I would love to see how you get the cab only in a mechanism that rotates it. Please elaborate! I have one to rotate the frame, but I haven't figured out an elegant way to rotate the cab. My wish list would be like this:

1) full 360 degree rotation in all planes.
2) ability to place the cab on the frame all by yourself
3) ability to raise and lower in any position. I don't need that much raise/lower, just maybe 3 feet or so.
4) wheels that lock on all 4 corners to make it easier to pinpoint place the cab wherever I want.

This is a real problem for me with titanium rods in my back. Thus why I spend lots of time making shop helpers to resolve things just like this. Easy for you, might be next to impossible for me. Altho I have given this very issua lots of thought, never came up with anything that was workable. Easier to offer 4 of my nephews a beer or three to do whatever I need. Sadly, its just not convenient to call on the kids. Uncle Deve can end up being persona non grata!