Rust

[Holmes]

The frame is rusting on the 1996 Isuzu NPR I converted into a dump truck.  I will be parking it under a roof from now on but I want to stop the rusting as much a possible.  My thought is to hand scrape the frame with a putty knife then paint  the frame with black rust-oleum . Is there a better way to stop the rust?

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Is there any way you can sand blast it? and then repaint.

[Dan_Shade]

I've not tried it myself, but I've heard naval jelly works pretty good at removing rust

[Holmes]

 I am afraid sand blasting might take out some brake lines. Things are looking scary under this truck , but is so Dang handy I want to keep it.  I have not looked into  naval jelly yet.

[WDH]

Navel jelly?  I have got some lint, but never any jelly  .

Holmes, it might be all that salt from trying to navigate the glaciers.

[POSTON WIDEHEAD]

Navel jelly?  I have got some lint, but never any jelly  .

How about TOE JAM?   :D :D :D :D :D

[Buck]

Go to Napa and look for a product called OSPHO. It will work for you.

[BBTom]

I bought a new 83 Isuzu P'up that lasted 7 or 8 years before the frame gave out.  I just welded some heavy angle irons on it to hold it up and ran it for 5 or 6 more years.  Loved that little truck, It didn't matter how much you loaded on it, you would get 20 MPG.  Wasn't overpowered, so I never tried to pull much with it, but it ran like a top till I got rid of it in 96 or 97.  Thanks for bringing up the memories. 

[Holmes]

Holmes, it might be all that salt from trying to navigate the glaciers.
[/quote]

We use grits on the glaciers instead of salt. The only good use we have found for grits. ;D ;D        Maybe grits slush would cure the rust.  :D

[pineywoods]

The antique car guys use some stuff called POR. It chemically reacts with rust to form a hard black coating.

[fishpharmer]

http://www.bluecreeper.com/

[Ironwood]

Ospho does work, I have some here. Got it at a blacksmithing event. Descale if you can with an air scaler, then ospho, then I would then GREASE the frame as much as you can on every surface, we use a 5 gallon bucket of RED Wolfshead grease (top of the line waterproof) then once you think you have it all covered, slather it manually by hand where you could not reach wit ha brush. THEN get a pressurized sprayer of some sort (I have used soda pressure bottles with a air valve to refill, and currently I am using a stainless steel self contained pressurized old eyewash station with an air valve to refill.) use fresh tranny fluid cut 50/50 with kero or diesel and spray it generously with some sort of spray nozzle like a weed sprayer. DRIP dry in a non critical area away from pavement and such. Now the EXCITING part, start it up, let it warm up (keep fire exstinguishers handy ;D), now drive it. I always get to thinking if something DID catch fire would it be better to drive FASTER to put it out or try to QUICKLY stop and exstinguish  : Never had it happen, but I am REAL careful around the exhaust and such ;) Try to find the dustiest dirt road and go stir up some dust to stick to the oil and grease. You can use used tranny fluid or used motor oil but the motor oil at least has ALOT of heavy metals in it and I dunno about what would be in used tranny fluid. 

I have done this over the years to numerous trucks, and a few Subaru's and it does wonders here in our salted norhtern roads. I did this to Shinnlingers old F-350 I bought and stopped the Vermont rot from ruining a great truck. The couple young guys I hired thought I was nuts, then they REALLY understood once they saw the results. The intial descale and grease is the hardest/nastiest, after that just annual touch up and more tranny/kero. 

Ironwood

[Ironwood]

Also, if you feel ambitoius I have several contacts here in Pa. with salvage yard trucks of this vintage with good frames.

Just a thought.....Ironwood

[Holmes]

  I did not know about OSPHO or POR. I have been using bluecreeper to get the rusted bolts and power steering lines apart and it works great.
Ironwood your method does sound exciting and we do have a lot of dirt roads in this town.

[Buck]

I learned about OSPHO from a ferry boat captain. It is good stuff and reacts like the POR that was mentioned.

[Ironwood]

There are many products now on the market that state they perform like Ospho even though mixed with coatings/paint. Personally, I like to see the convesion BEFORE I prime/paint it. If it is that bad (as stated) the descale, Ospho, then coating product makes sense. For me, I skip ANYTHING that can "delayer" if it doesnt stick or flakes from beneath.  I would go Ospho, then Grease, tranny fluid. I ALWAYS drive older vehicals, and trust me the grease works. The old Subies had unibody issues where the front frame was bent, NO PROBLEM for me, also Toyota 90's trucks had box frame issues behind the cab, NO PROBLEM for me. The oil/grease really is a solution for those of us who live in SALT areas.


Ironwood

[76gmc]

theres a product called evapo rust. you can buy it at harbor freight. $20 a gallon.     you should also check out a few old farm equipment or truck forums. theres always ads for rust stopping paint. i would think it works to a degree otherwise those paint companies wouldn't have their ads up for long. good luck.

[Nomad]

     If you're looking for Ospho, your best bet is a marine supply store.  Other places will probably carry it, but most marine stores certainly will.  It's not a rust desolver, as some products are.  It's a rust converter.  Makes the rust inert so it can be primed and painted.  When I lived in the Keys I knew a lot of boat guys.  It's the only converter they'd use.
     One word of advice.  If using Ospho, put it into a small container first.  DON'T put it back into the main container after using it!  It will ruin the contents of the main bottle.  (just pouring some on a rag works too.)

[tcsmpsi]

There are several of the brands of phosphoric acid for rust.   Ospho is one of them.  Most building supply stores will have some.  Presently, I have several gallons with three different brand names.  They are also used for 'priming' galvanized metal before applying any paint.  The phosphoric changes rust (iron oxide) into iron phosphate, an inert compound.  I have been using it for over 30 yrs on all sorts of things rust bound, as well as tens of thousands of sq ft of galvanized roofing, buildings, frames, etc.  Primarily, I use a sprayer to apply it.  I keep a couple of small spray bottles for tools and such. 

[Holmes]

Thanks for the replies .
       Does one need to worry about the wiring harness  and vacuum tubing with phosphoric acids?
I had a small bottle of rust-oleum rust reformer. I used it Sunday it worked well I think it is a phosphoric acid, but not much for directions or ingredients.