Old paint on an old truck

[Ausfahrt]

I've got a '63 Chevy C10 pickup truck that I bought earlier this year. It was restored about 20 years ago but it was an amateur job and there are obvious flaws but it looks good from 20 feet away and is a good driver and great for exploring Vermont's back roads in the summer.

I believe that it has a lacquer paint job. The truck is relatively rust free but has a couple of areas that are becoming problematic. I'm half way decent with a wrench but I'm definitely not a paint & body guy and the pics below show the worst spots. I will probably have the body work addressed and have the truck repainted in 3-4 years which brings me to my question.

The truck is garaged but the garage is not heated or climate controlled and I want to minimize the spread of rust and care for the paint as best I can. I will be prepping the truck for winter storage next month and my plan is to wash & wax and then spray some fluid film on the exposed rust areas. Is that a good strategy? I'm all ears and open to suggestions.

 

[RooflessVW]

At a minimum that window needs to come out before the whole thing rots.

I'd get the rest while they're still small. It's only going to get worse. Fix them now and it's small touch-ups. Wait and they could be holes.

 

[Wrenchturner44]

The rust perforation that you see is happening from the inside out. The Fluid Film will need to be put on the inside surface of those areas if you want to have a hope of slowing down the rust that is already present. From the outside, I would treat the rust with some kind of rust converter for now. That will help seal the existing corrosion from further oxygen exposure. For the smaller areas you can use a touch up brush with some converter, but be prepared as the rust will turn black once the process is complete.....and should be touched up with the color paint that is on the truck now.

This is why some auto body people refer to rust as "Cancer". Once it starts the only real way to cure it in most instances is to cut it out and splice in new metal or replace the affected panel entirely.

Rest assured that no matter how well your restoration was executed, the OEMs of this era did not dip or seal the body panels like that of many of today's vehicles. They never designed or intended these vehicles to last 50 plus years, and thus provided only the amount of coating and protection needed to get the expected life out of the vehicle that they needed for the market that was relevant at the time.

 

[JHZR2]

Rust at those old slip on glass seals is common. There are a lot of threads on the Mercedes’ forums about how folks have permanently fixed it, sometimes with cutout and welding in…

The others need to be dealt with too, but I think you need to determine the “why” first. What is the root cause of the inside out rust forming, and how bad is it?

 

[PimTac]

Rust at those old slip on glass seals is common. There are a lot of threads on the Mercedes’ forums about how folks have permanently fixed it, sometimes with cutout and welding in…

The others need to be dealt with too, but I think you need to determine the “why” first. What is the root cause of the inside out rust forming, and how bad is it?

Picture #4 is very telling.


That is a nice looking step side you have there @Ausfahrt

 

[Ausfahrt]

Rust at those old slip on glass seals is common. There are a lot of threads on the Mercedes’ forums about how folks have permanently fixed it, sometimes with cutout and welding in…

The others need to be dealt with too, but I think you need to determine the “why” first. What is the root cause of the inside out rust forming, and how bad is it?

The previous owner kept the truck in a garage for a few years but had a problem with a field mouse infestation and so even though the truck was not driven in the winter it sat outside covered with snow for the past few winters. I think that was the cause of most of the rust.

 

[Owen Lucas]

Park it in one of those car storage bubbles with damp-rid buckets to absorb water and inflate it with nitrogen.....this might be a bit extreme though.

 

[nthach]

once a car body rusts, it’ll spread. Just like cancer cells metastasize in our bodies. The best you can do is slow the rust before you invest in a total paint removal and targeted repairs.

Fluid Film or wax the backside of the metal. If possible, a bit of Ospho or similar to turn the rust into black oxide but the damage is done.

When you do the repaint, I would target corrosion protection - epoxy primer per the manufacturer’s spec sheet. Cavity wax whenever you can reach the backside.

 

[#18FAN]

Not much to do keep it clan and dry if you are hav it restored in few years. You mentioned it was previously restored have you ever run a magnet on the panels to see what you really have?

 

[Fabulous50s]

Keep it clean and dry. Fluid film as many areas as you can.....but it makes a mess for the poor soul who has to deal with it.

I've owned many 20 year old vehicles here in Maine, 6 months of winter and salt. I'm a big fan of blasting, and immediately following up with rust converter or epoxy primer, and sealer. Then after all the work is done, then use your favorite long term rust preventive. Never ever use rubberized undercoating! It makes it 1000% worse.

I use CRC Marine Rust preventive, basically a cosmolene product.