American in Austria 83 Build

[ACS]

Bed rails on mine are the same. Flat up to the stake pocket, then they start to drop down like your photo.

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by ACS

Bed rails on mine are the same. Flat up to the stake pocket, then they start to drop down like your photo.

good to know, thanks bud!

[44boggers]

Hi guys,

I have a quick question involving window channel rust pitting. First off should i cut out any rust pitting I see even if it is very shallow. I have attached some pictures for You to see. There are obvious holes I will be cutting out and replacing with fresh metal. So should I also cut out every area where there is rust pits?

Thanks guys

Paul

[HO455]

Originally Posted by 44boggers

Hi guys,

I have a quick question involving window channel rust pitting. First off should i cut out any rust pitting I see even if it is very shallow. I have attached some pictures for You to see. There are obvious holes I will be cutting out and replacing with fresh metal. So should I also cut out every area where there is rust pits?

Thanks guys

Paul

I wouldn't cut and replace all of the pitted areas. I would treat them with Ospho or Rust Mort. They are phosphoric acid products that will neutralize the remaining rust. Then seal the area with your epxoy primer to keep oxygen out. The back side of those areas and the back of your welds are more problematic. They are hard to see let alone treat. Any way you can apply some POR15 or other rust product will be good insurance. I used an undercoating sprayer with a flex wand to coat the void spaces on my Burban.

http://www.ospho.com

Nice work in a far away place. How did you find the truck?

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by HO455

I wouldn't cut and replace all of the pitted areas. I would treat them with Ospho or Rust Mort. They are phosphoric acid products that will neutralize the remaining rust. Then seal the area with your epxoy primer to keep oxygen out. The back side of those areas and the back of your welds are more problematic. They are hard to see let alone treat. Any way you can apply some POR15 or other rust product will be good insurance. I used an undercoating sprayer with a flex wand to coat the void spaces on my Burban.

http://www.ospho.com

Nice work in a far away place. How did you find the truck?

Thanks for the reply. So I cut out the areas that were very thin or had holes in them, as you can see in the last photos. There were a couple areas of small pits I cleaned out fully and just added a couple tacks to in order to fill up. Im not sure if the heat form those tacks would burnt he paint on the other side. I was actually surprised to see that the rust areas I cut out still had fresh paint on the back sides.
I am hoping that I might be able to get to the back side of the welds with the paint gun when i spray the epoxy. I know I cant get to it directly but maybe enough over spray to cover the new welds/metal. UNless I can get a spray can with epoxy and get a hose on it to stick in the hard to reach areas. Not sure if it would work but maybe worth trying.

Found the truck online in Germany. I payed way too much for it though. Over here these trucks are not a dime a dozen like in the US so the price goes up. But I have to say overall the truck is in good shape. The interior has perfect original paints as well as the back window. So rust or rot is not an issue. The floor pans are in perfect shape. The bed appears to be in great shape as well.

While stripping the firewall I found some original coding. I believe it says 619, not sure what that is, maybe a paint code?

Here is a pic of the back window frame paint.

I am planning on putting the cab on its back. Any advice or anything to worry about laying the cab on its back? I am going to lay it on a pallet with some cardboard and foam for padding.

Thanks again for the advice

Paul

[HO455]

Well the upside of paying too much over there is that someone may pay you way too much for it if you ever sell it. The cryptic numbers on vehicles usually have to do with what engine or accessories the vehicle gets as it travels down the assembly line. I don't have any experience with your year truck but I haven't have any issues with earlier trucks laying the cab on its back. Just have lots of help. I posted some information about how I sprayed the voids on my Burban thread. See the WMB thread below.

[44boggers]

Originally Posted by HO455

Well the upside of paying too much over there is that someone may pay you way too much for it if you ever sell it. The cryptic numbers on vehicles usually have to do with what engine or accessories the vehicle gets as it travels down the assembly line. I don't have any experience with your year truck but I haven't have any issues with earlier trucks laying the cab on its back. Just have lots of help. I posted some information about how I sprayed the voids on my Burban thread. See the WMB thread below.

Interesting info, thank you. Ill check your thread out, thanks again for the tips.

Paul