The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Rust under stake pockets

I have a 9' bed on a 3800 that has no paint, but no rust through either. The posts that make up the stake pockets are spot welded to the bed sides, and are starting to bubble with rust. I would like to sandblast the bed, epoxy prime and paint it. I REALLY do not want to separate the stake pockets, sandblast and then reweld them. Is this necesary? I plan on driving this truck a lot, and am going for a stock good looking and driving truck, not a true restoration. Thanks for the help,
Josh

In which area is it starting to bubble with rust? (got any picture links?)

I dont have any pictures. The flat parts of the stake pockets, that are spot welded to the bed are "bubbled" away from the bed. Neither the bed nor the stake pockets are rusted through, but there is enough rust in between that it is pushing the stake pocket away from the bed between spot welds. I think this is a common problem where two flat pieces of metal are together.
Josh

You'll never get rid of it unless the pockets come off. Considering all the work you're about to do (sandblasting, epoxy, etc) I'd drill out those spot welds in minute. See what needs replacing and go from there. While everything is apart, epoxy everything while apart, then clean out the holes with the "spot weld bit" This post below explains it's use and how to make one....


http://www.garagejournal.com/forum/showpost.php?p=739516&postcount=21

Another method might be to have to seperate the metal in some way, like splitting the top edge with a cut-off wheel, Then I'd try scraping away the excess, loose rust, bathing the area in a phosphoric acid solution (Metal Ready, OPSHO, Picklex), then sealing it with a product like POR15, RustBullet, Rust Encapsulator, etc. Then weld it back up, grind off the weld and finish it nice. If you can get at it from the underside afterwards, you could brush or spray some more after welding.