[JohnAnthony]

Hi all,
I'm currently in the market for a 7.3 4X4 Excursion, and came across one that is high mileage, 1-owner, California owned.

While most vehicles I've seen have easily identifiable rot vs surface corrosion, I'm having a bit of trouble identifying what would have caused the pattern in the attached images (mud? road salt?). My plan is to find a relatively clean truck that I can do light blasting/sanding and apply POR15 or similar. While the chassis rails seem easy enough to clean, I'm worried about the nooks and crannies of the cab/body.

Thanks,

John

 

[tomlin]

Hi all,
I'm currently in the market for a 7.3 4X4 Excursion, and came across one that is high mileage, 1-owner, California owned.

While most vehicles I've seen have easily identifiable rot vs surface corrosion, I'm having a bit of trouble identifying what would have caused the pattern in the attached images (mud? road salt?). My plan is to find a relatively clean truck that I can do light blasting/sanding and apply POR15 or similar. While the chassis rails seem easy enough to clean, I'm worried about the nooks and crannies of the cab/body.

Thanks,

John

Honestly, it looks really good for a 20 plus year old vehicle. I the areas that you are looking at have little to no paint from the factory. Any steel exposed without protection will get rust like that. I've seen new trucks on the lot look similar. It looks like a 20 year Cali truck rust, here in Illinois, you would be sweeping it out of the shop unless you were smart enough to Fluid film everything and they still rot away eventually.

 

[JohnAnthony]

Honestly, it looks really good for a 20 plus year old vehicle. I the areas that you are looking at have little to no paint from the factory. Any steel exposed without protection will get rust like that. I've seen new trucks on the lot look similar. It looks like a 20 year Cali truck rust, here in Illinois, you would be sweeping it out of the shop unless you were smart enough to Fluid film everything and they still rot away eventually.

I got my answer, it's a coastal truck, it's from the salt in the air.

I agree though, this is dry (rust) compared to Northeastern trucks. I'm looking for something longterm, that I can clean-up, but I dont want it to be at a point of no-return.

Currently for something like this, I'd like to:

• Lightly sand it
• Apply rust converter
• Paint-it
• Apply Cosmoline

 

[klhansen]

Agree with Tomlin. Looks like pretty light rust. You could wire brush/sand, rust convert and paint and it would last another 20-30 years. The painted sheet metal above the frame looks even better. Probably no need to do anything to that. When you have flakes of rust coming off, then it's time to pass, but not on that truck.

 

[ford_doctor]

"Coastal truck" makes sense - the truck in the pics looks like a New Jersey plow/salt truck after 5 years LMFAO!!! The bane of my career... but don't worry, I am so used to it I am numb to rust. Personally, I would avoid this. Repairs will require replacement of everything involved, repairs will require patience, skills and special tools for dealing with corrosion and - one repair leads to another when removal of "stuff" is required to access whatever it is you need to remove. (Snowball-effect) Finding parts might be an issue with such an old model. Things to consider.

 

[JohnAnthony]

"Coastal truck" makes sense - the truck in the pics looks like a New Jersey plow/salt truck after 5 years LMFAO!!! The bane of my career... but don't worry, I am so used to it I am numb to rust. Personally, I would avoid this. Repairs will require replacement of everything involved, repairs will require patience, skills and special tools for dealing with corrosion and - one repair leads to another when removal of "stuff" is required to access whatever it is you need to remove. (Snowball-effect) Finding parts might be an issue with such an old model. Things to consider.

😲 YES! This does look like 90% of the trucks at NYC public auctions. Hmmm, I'm still waiting on additional photos of the body.

From what's shown now, the rust is pretty extensive, but not heavily scalled/thick. Wouldn't orbital sanding and soaking in POR15 Metal Prep be enough to clean this up? Im also waiting on photos of the welds around the supports and body seams.

 

[Greg687]

I live int he desert southwest, where our "rust" is paint oxidation from the sun. This really doesn't look bad. I agree that a good wire brush, rust converter, paint would keep this truck going longer than most of us would care. the body panels look great! Other items that look worse are things that get replaced eventually anyway... springs, exhaust, etc.

 

[mwaters_120]

Loctite spray never seize, I you use it on everything for years , inner body panels, undercarriage areas, brake lines , aluminum and flash rust and unpainted surfaces and it stays . New and old daily vehicles , got a 95 Ford F-350 dually still in great shape.

 

[John in OkieLand]

Fluid Film, or WoolWax....

I have seen reports that prefer WoolWax over Fluid Film.


Welcome to Woolwaxusa - WoolWax Lanolin Auto Undercoating

FLUID FILM | Powerful Corrosion Protection & Lubrication

either one, will Stop Rust, just saw a video today about a 2015 pickup with Fluid Film on it, up in the Buffalo, NY area, AKA the Rust Belt..,

the underside of that truck is Rust Free.
Zip down to 5:00 minutes, Eric pulls the Exhaust off the truck at 5;11 you can see the frame, he applied Fluid Film to the truck when the Customer bought it new.

rust Free truck frame

WoolWax products on Amazon

 

[realdann]

Diesel fuel and transmission mix! LOL

 

[klhansen]

he applied Fluid Film to the truck when the Customer bought it new.

That's way different from putting it on a rusty truck. I had a commercial rustproofing done on a previous truck when it was new and they insisted that it had to be reapplied annually for the warranty to be valid. I wasn't going to go to that much trouble. As far as I know, that outfit is no longer in business here now.

 

[John in OkieLand]

That's way different from putting it on a rusty truck. I had a commercial rustproofing done on a previous truck when it was new and they insisted that it had to be reapplied annually for the warranty to be valid. I wasn't going to go to that much trouble. As far as I know, that outfit is no longer in business here now.

back in 1965, I ordered a '65 Plymouth Satellite.
Before it left the lot, I had it under-sprayed with some very tough undercoating.
the kind of stuff that some folks don't like...

but, when I let the car go, 17 years later, there was no sign of rust underneath.