My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

[PetesPonies]

It is fine until you want to paint it. If I wait, I just scuff it a bit.

[Rembrant]

PetesPonies wrote

I would STRONGLY suggest painting all those parts with Master Series Silver. It is a moisture cured primer, that is fantastic. It can go over clean new metal as well as rusty metal. It will take any topcoat your choose. I have been using Master Series for 20 years now in restorations. I have not been let down.

Pete,

Thanks for the suggestion. I'll take a look around and see if I can get this stuff locally. The problem we often run into up here is product availability. Most of the time, we don't get all of the brands of products that are readily available in the US.

We use a contractor through my work that does industrial coatings, and he recommended Intershield 300:

https://www.international-marine.com/product/intershield-300

This is the stuff they use on ship hulls and decks. Not sure if I'll even get to paint this weekend, but I'll see if I can get the Master Silver product.

[PetesPonies]

I don't think you'll find it locally. Although I have no idea what is up there  :)  But it's a mail order thing.

[Rembrant]

PetesPonies wrote

I don't think you'll find it locally. Although I have no idea what is up there  :)  But it's a mail order thing.

And that's an issue in and of itself. Most places will not ship anything like that across the border. I ended up painting it today with a heavy duty rust paint. I would have liked to use the product you suggested, but something has come up in the shop at work, and I need to move my truck quicker than I had planned to.

After hours of grinding and sanding on Saturday, I did the Ospho treatment last night. You can see how it turns kind of white when applied.



I primed it early this morning...



And then painted this afternoon:




Hopefully I can get the leaf springs mounted this week, and the rear-end back under it. I'm going to have it flat-decked to my home garage where I can take my time working on replacing all of the brake lines and fuel line, etc. Going to pull the rear end apart as well...and do wheel bearings and seals at the least.

Next big step will be to finish disassembling the Flareside box, and see what needs to be done with all of that stuff once it's all laid out on the floor;).

[Rembrant]

Interesting to note...and this is a common issue around here, but my new gas tank showed up a couple days ago, with a "Made in Canada" sticker. Funny part is, it was shipped from a warehouse in Phoenix AZ. The price was just a hair under $100 CDN, and it cost $60 to ship. The exact same tank was in-stock here in town, same brand, same part number, etc and sell price was $215 CDN.




I do try to support the local shops when I can, but sometimes stuff is just cheaper online. It just rots me to no end that I can buy something that was manufactured HERE for a much cheaper price in the US thousands of miles away.

Oddly, my oil pan was also a Spectra brand, made here in Canada, and it was cheaper locally. I believe it was the same price as in the US, but obviously I didn't have to pay shipping.

[Gary Lewis]

Sure looks good!  The Ospho treatment gives a good "tooth" for the primer to grab, so that should make a very good paint job.  

[Rembrant]

Hey Gary,

I have only one clamp currently on my rear leaf springs (front of drivers side spring pack). There was also one on the front of the passenger spring pack, but it was rusted and broke off. Is there supposed to be four? Meaning, two per spring pack? One in the front and one in the back?

[Steve83]

Rembrant wrote

Is there supposed to be four? Meaning, two per spring pack? One in the front and one in the back?

It only takes 2 points to determine a line (or alignment), so generally just 1 clamp.  The pack bolt & U-bolts are the 2nd point holding all the leaves in-line.  The only reason for any clamp is so the leaves don't pick up things you drive over.

This caption explains some about the clamp:

[Gary Lewis]

Cory - There was only one clamp per spring on Dad's truck's springs.  Here's a pic where you can see the clamp on the front of each spring:

[FuzzFace2]

Nice job on the frame I remember doing the same to mine not long ago.
I did use the acid but not the primer before painting.

How did you do the painting brush or spray?
I used a spray gun on mine.

I will have to check the springs on my truck and the ones from the parts truck to see on them clamps as I dont remember.
I would say only on the front as they would also act as a poor mans traction bar if clamped tight.

Dave ----

edit: I just did a quick look thru my pictures and it looks like just the front.
I did not have 1 good picture showing this but a few different ones to see this.

[Rembrant]

Gentlemen,

Thank you for the replies. That confirms that there was only one spring clamp per side, and mine was correct. There were no markings indicating that rear clamps were ever there, but I was curious. My leaf springs are opened up a little bit in the rear where there are no clamps, but then again, there's currently no weight on them either.

Dave,

I used a spray gun on the frame, but I'll use a brush for the few little touch-ups that I have to do when I'm all finished. I bought a siphon style paint gun a couple weeks ago when it was on sale. I figured a frame, rear end, leaf springs, etc were good to practice on. If I get ambitious enough to paint the whole truck myself, I'll buy a nicer gravity feed gun later.

It took a little screwin' around to get the rust paint to spray. When I was doing the primer, I had the spray pattern fanned out too much, and I couldn't get the primer thinned enough to work with it. In the end I jacked the air pressure up a bit to get it to spray, but the spray was still too light. It worked fine, it just meant more passes, and more over-spray.

I talked to a friend that uses the same gun and the same paint fairly often, and he said to adjust the spray pattern to the small circle (not fanned out at all), and lower the pressure way down. This eliminated the over-spray, and the paint went on much thicker. This worked MUCH better, but the paint ended up being a bit heavy in spots. I'm OK with that....it's still just an old truck, not a show piece.

I was pleased with how the Ospho product worked. I was a little hesitant to use it....I had used a similar Rust Check branded product on the core support, and it never did dry fully...it stayed kind of tacky. This Ospho stuff dried completely and was hard as a rock the next morning. I spent 30-40 minutes with brown Scotchbrite pads scuffing the frame afterwards to remove any of the light/white dry residue, and it seemed like it was all OK. Fingers crossed.

I slathered a lot of the Ospho on there, but still didn't use much of it. I bought a gallon of it, so I have lots left. Will be doing some other parts of the frame, and the bottom side of the cab with it as well.

[Rembrant]

Gary Lewis wrote

Gary,

That rear diff and springs looks REALLY NICE! I wish mine came out looking that good. Everything of mine is pitted badly from rust. My diff is the 8.8, so if I'm still feeling rich enough after all of this, I'd like to install one of those nice covers like you have on Big Blue. I suppose that would give the impression that there's something other than 3.08 open gears in there...lol.

In any case, I'll be replacing the cover. A new steel cover is cheap, and some stainless SHCS bolts would pretty it up a little bit. Unlike a 4x4, I don't think you can see my rear diff much when there's a spare tire under there.

[Rembrant]

I jacked the heat up in the shop last night, and the paint is nice and dry this morning. I'm really pleased with how this worked out. I had what looked like a couple sags in the paint when it was wet, but it seems to have self leveled and dried nice and smooth.

Need to pick up some new axle U-bolts this week, some spring clamps and a few other odds and ends, and I'll have this thing rolling again this weekend.

[FuzzFace2]

That looks nice. Mine looked that good till the body filler dust started flying!

On the Ospho mine also turned white when it dried. A few days later when I was going to work on it it was raining so I pulled the water hose out and rinsed off along with rain water what would come off.
The next day was nice so I use shop air to blow it dry and then painted, no sanding of the Ospho.
For frame/rear axle/front beams & suspension I used TSC brand black oil base paint with hardner

So far it is all good but guess it would if it never leaves the garage LOL.
Dave ----

[Gary Lewis]

Cory - Thanks!  Your work looks excellent.  

I think you'll be really pleased with what you've done.  It is a lot of work, but the truck is going to last so much longer, and be really nice looking.

You are closing in on having it rolling.  Good luck!

[Rembrant]

Gary Lewis wrote

I think you'll be really pleased with what you've done.  It is a lot of work, but the truck is going to last so much longer, and be really nice looking.

Gary,

It's a constant struggle...lol. I have good days and bad days with this stuff. Standing over a pile of rust and dirt looking at holes and bolts that need to be drilled out, it's easy to get discouraged and ask myself what was I thinking???...lol. But, looking at some nice dry glossy paint renews my enthusiasm...at least a little bit...lol.

[Gary Lewis]

Trust me - I understand that in SPADES!  With Dad's truck in a million pieces it is questionable whether not I was thinking.

[FuzzFace2]

Man do I know what you guys are saying!
$800 truck to haul trash to the dump once a week turned into a big frame off rebuild project, that was not thinking big time!

Not much more is needed to lay paint to mine, I just cant get myself out there to do it.
Then I get thinking after paint I have the task of putting it all back together like the 2 gutted doors.

I think if I could have done a little at a time like Rembrant, it would have been a lot better.
Oh well to late now LOL
Dave ----

[Rembrant]

FuzzFace2 wrote

I think if I could have done a little at a time like Rembrant, it would have been a lot better.

Dave,

I do a little at a time for a couple reasons. One is because I only have a little car and half garage at home, and I can't really lay something up there for long periods...plus there's simply not enough space. Second is the costs...spending a little at a time when I have some money in my back pocket allows me to fix the old truck up strictly on a cash basis. It makes it feel like it's costing me less that way...lol. I could have bought a finished truck for $10k-$15k, but then I'd end up being bored with it because it didn't need anything.

Oh well, entertainment costs money, and for me this is it.

[Steve83]

Rembrant wrote

...give the impression that there's something other than 3.08 open gears in there.

HEY!!!  Easy on the open 3.08s!   I've done most of my wheeling & long-distance travelling with them.

The Explorer/Mountaineer IRS cover is a good one, but it's hard to extract in the JY.

Rembrant wrote

...the paint is nice and dry this morning.

I'm really leery of painting assembled leaf packs.  The chance of the leaves becoming laminated is too high - they need to slip relative to each other.  I'd separate them (it's easy to make a replacement center bolt if the original is destroyed) and apply graphite paint to their internal surfaces.  The truck will ride MUCH better.