Rust removal sucks. Media blasting is the way to go but I am just to cheap. I may have saved a few bucks but it was a b$%ch. If your time is worth anything to you I would suggest getting your project media blasted. I estimate I spent 20-30 hours, one 4 1/2 inch harbor fail grinder, 4 knotted wire cups, 3 flapper sanding wheels, 3 large cans of WD-40, one pint of Vapo-rust, and a good deal of my sanity, getting this thing ready for primer. And as hard as I tried I could not get ALL the rust out of the nooks and crannies around the crossmember attach points. But this is not a show truck. It's going to be a daily driver.
Getting there
Starting to really shine. I put lacquer thinner in a spray bottle and wiped it all down a couple times after I thought I had all the rust off. Found a few places that needed more work. I hit them with the kniotted wire cups and wiped everything down a couple more times. It is as good as I can get it so time for primer.
I did't get any pics of it in primer but I used epoxy primer and gave it 2 coats. Then after letting it set for 60 minutes I hit it with 2 coats of chassis black. It was ready to use right out of the can and went on really smooth.
I am pretty happy with the results. I know there are a lot of opinions on how to do a project like this and I value others imput. For a first time builder I think it's going pretty well.