My 1994 GMC ECSB Rebuild Slow and Steady

[napoleon.hardy]

Well I joined the forum a couple weeks ago and have been reading threads like crazy. There are tons of great looking OBS trucks in here and the more I look the more I get confused on which route to take. I am creating a laundry list of repairs starting with the body rust. It has the standard cab corners, rockers, and over the wheel well rust. I plan on fixing it all and installing the fender flares and having everything painted a single color. I was thinking black but have been eying the fire engine red one and the solid white ones I have seen in the various threads... but I will figure that out after getting the rust fixed. I am thinking 3 inch body lift because I don't want to mess with cranking the T-bars and making the ride any stiffer. I have 265/16s on it currently and I would like to go to a 285/16 or 305/16's if they will fit under a 3 inch body lift. I have plenty of before pics and as I make some progress (get some cash) I will be posting pics. I am sure I will be asking you guys tons of questions so nice to meet you all and here goes the start of the rebuild!

 

[95C1500]

Welcome aboard. Looking forward to progress

 

[napoleon.hardy]

Well I have started the heavy lifting. There are 8 bolts that hold the bed on and after 19 years they were more than doing their job. It took about 10 hours to get them off even with PB Blaster and a torch, but they are off. I used a portable hoist to remove the bed and I will start getting the surface rust off tonight and hopefully have it all done by the weekend. I plan on using the spray on rust converter after I wire wheel off the big pieces. The frame is still very solid but I figure I should clean it all up since the bed is off. So I know there are many opinions about undercoating versus por15 and other products. What is the best choice if you are not taking it all the way down to shiny steel? I am going to clean it the best I can but I realize you can't get it all so is there a product that will stick even if you don't get all the rust, or does that spray on rust converter make it like being on clean steel?

 

[napoleon.hardy]

Thanks... I am moving my progress to this Thread because I had it in the wrong one

 

[napoleon.hardy]

Well I pulled the bumper off today only had to cut two bolts on the receiver hitch But I am having problems getting two of the bolts out of the receiver hitch... It needs to come off to get cleaned up and it will make it easier to re-install the bed when I put on the 3" body lift.

Vacuumed up the loose flaking and undercoating...

 

[napoleon.hardy]

Well I finally got the receiver hitch off with a chisel torch and dremmel tool... Those last two bolts were a b%#@h but stuff happens. I will take it apart clean it up and repaint it.

Tomorrow the fun part starts. I will take the wire wheel and and another drill attachment to start stripping the rust off. I am probably gonna replace the cross supports if they are weak.

Plus I will remove the tire carrier. Not sure what everyone else does for a spare tire once you go with larger tires, will a 33 or 35 inch tire fit up under the frame with a receiver hitch?

Well I am looking forward to having a nice clean frame, I hope to have everything behind the cab done this weekend. I do have a question... after stripping the rust and coating it with the spray on rust converter what is the best thing to paint the frame in. I have heard everything from brush on oil based paint, rustoleum, bed liner, or just undercoating. I have heard if you use bed liner it is hard to keep clean if you throw a lot of mud and salt up under the truck. Also heard undercoating will work but it is not as durable as some of the other options, and finally that the oil based stands up to salt better and the smooth texture makes it easier to clean with a high pressure washer?

 

[napoleon.hardy]

Well I have the old shocks and spare tire ***** removed. It occurred to me that shouldn't all fasteners be stainless steel. The bolts holding on the shocks at the top were so corroded and rusted it took several squirts of PB blaster to free them up.

I started using the wire wheel attachment on the 4 1/2 inch grinder and it does a pretty good job of getting off the rust. I also bought the wire cup hoping that will work on the inside of the frame.

Also the brake lines are looking pretty bad, time for a stainless steel upgrade.

 

[smurfcivic]

Nice progress. Can't wait to see the frame cleaned up!

 

[napoleon.hardy]

Well some more progress on the frame. Yesterday I finished up the frame with 2 bottles of vinegar, putty knife, and a 2800 PSI power washer. Vinegar is an amazing acid I had no idea it would work so well.

I am using Rustoleum Rusty Metal Primer, I will used a Satin finish black oil base after the primer dries.

I am excited about this project nothing like bringing a 20 year old truck back from extinction!

 

[94Sierra4x4]

Awesome work man, I love seeing this things get stripped down and cleaned up.
Funny you mention the vinegar, it works awesome! I couldn't believe it when my buddy had a spray bottle of vinegar out cleaning his frame up.

Vinegar & Tin-foil, also works really good for cleaning up chrome, the tin-foil will deteriorate before the chrome finish ofcourse, leaving it nice and clean