Chevy truck repairs

[casey]

Hi all , love the new interface !

Anyway I have a 92 Chevy Ext cab that has great wheel lips on the bed , very unusual for this area , I want to know what I can do to keep them that way ! I have no idea how far any rust has progressed up in that area but I want to get something up in there to stop any rust that has begun. I can hose it out good but thats about all , can't see up in there. Vehicle is getting a full paint this spring so a few drips is no problem.

What product to use ? ZeroRust ? I can drill a few access holes in the back to get the product in there. Gimme some thoughts guys.

Ray

[Phil V]

Ray, the simple truth is that if there is rust inside the pinch weld where the outer quarter panel is spot welded to the wheel well (technically the outer wheel house) then there is nothing short of drill out all the spot welds holding he quarter panel on then remove the quarter panel. Once the outer panel is removed you remove any rust by sandblasting. Re-install/weld in the quarter panel and hope that you didn't cause new rust to start in the newly welded areas. Obviously no one is going to do that. You can spray a rust neutralized up in that area the way it is now. It can't hurt but its not going to really help either. If there are no rust blisters signifying starting rust holes around the rear wheel openings then just sand the truck box and paint it. Hoping that the box will last for at least a couple years before rust starts popping through. Once the rust holes do start blistering then the way I see it is you have two choices. (1) cut the old quarter panels off and install new quarter panels. My experience with welding in patch panels on truck boxes is a waste of time and money. Just weld in new quarters and be done with it. OR alternative #(2) - Buy and install a set of Bushwacker fender flares. They do an excellent job of hiding any rust holes around the wheel openings on pick up trucks, they look good and it will be at least 4 or 5 years before the rust is visible around the flares. Actually there is a 3rd alternative - find a good used truck box that isn't rusty. I used a combination of alternative 2 and 3 on my older Ford F150 4X4 redo. That was almost three years ago and it still looks like a new truck.

[casey]

Well to update I couldn't leave well enough alone and it's winter so i was itchin to get started, Chevy has split wheel tubs in the 88+ trucks so I pulled the bed and stood it up on the front end, drilled out all the spot welds in the outer halfs (about 16 per side) and got up in there.

The rust on the inside of the quarter itself was pretty mild , blasted that rust and cleaned the whole inside of the quarters , etch primed and painted with 2 coats of uro paint.

The wheel tub sections were badly rusted up on the tops where I couldn't see , blasted them white and applied Z-chrome filler to smooth out the pits , etch primed and 3 coats of uro paint on these.

Slipped the wheel tubs back into place and spot (plug) welded them back in , then took a garden sprayer with a product we use at work (Rhomar LubraSeal encapsulant) and sprayed a couple coats over and around the tubs especially where I welded. The rest of the bed is cherry so I didn't want to risk an early rust out by ignoring what was behind the wheel lips.

Just a side note , the Rhomar lubra seal I used is a product designed to protect highway salt speaders in the off season, just pressure wash off the salt residue allow to dry and coat twice , it keeps the spreaders rust free for the off season very well, it's low viscosity and slow drying compared to paint so it's great for spraying into hidden enclosed areas , continues to creep and run for about an hour , then it can be recoated, doesn't leave an attractive finish for exposed parts though.

http://www.rhomar-industries.com/lubra.htm

Ray