Art & Inspiration so, I found some paint.

I know there must be a million threads here about different approaches to paint.
This is my first "real" try at bringing something back from the dead, been sitting in a field for several years.

You can see the first photos of when it was brought home, all the surface rust on it.
I went straight out to Ace hardware, bought a gallon of rusty metal primer and a gallon of gloss black farm equipment paint.
I used a wire wheel on a grinder to remove the heavy rust, I was real careful with it, as I quickly learned there was original paint under it.
Last photos show where I stopped and where it is now.

My question here is, how would I remove the rest of the rust without damaging the little paint that is there.
Will be much manual labor I am sure, is there any hope that it might be saved and maybe color match some touch up paint?

Would be much easier to do a scrub and squirt for a daily driver.

I would love to keep the original paint and color match it if someone with experience in this, thought it would be something to save.

 

There ain't any paint left. Your best bet it to get it down to bare metal, prep and paint it.

 

Appreciate the answers, I am thinking the same thing myself, but because it needs to be done and not because I was to lazy to scrub it.
I would scrub it, afraid will be hours of life wasted and in the end paint it anyway.

 

Chris is right, if you had a small spot of rust to blend in some paint but it looks like there is not much left.
if you want the same look and color, i have spot sprayed model A engine paint to blend into that old truck green.

 

Go with the guys are telling you. Paint it, tinker with it and drive it. This patina, rusty look BS is over rated in my book.

 

that truck looks cool as is
I would give it a CLR scrubbing and wipe it down with Gibs oil or linseed oil
or a clean and scuff and spray with rustoleum

 

I tend to either leave them alone, completely, or redo them, completely. This is one that I'd probably leave alone, until I got ready to completely redo it. And it's not really a truck that I'd be inclined to put much effort into making it look good, becuase, well....it's not a good looking truck.

 

I agree with Squirrel, either do it right or leave it alone. However I like those trucks..... I have some issues though....

 

I'd take off all the chrome trim and moldings first, then pound on all the sheetmetal with 80 grit DA pads until the whole thing is bare. If you've got pitted areas, sandblasting would be the next logical step. The cleaner it is before the primer goes on, the longer it will last. Blackened areas are just rust spots that got burnished by your wire wheel setup, that's where blasting is needed if the sandpaper doesn't touch it.

Your wire wheel method is a good way to get the loose shit off first, so it's not like any of your efforts have been in vain yet.

 

thats was the reasoning for my comment
either clean and preserve whats there are do a full paint job

 

I disagree with the "clean and preserve" concept, though...I just leave them alone. Looks like lipstick on a pig when you do all that oil/clear/comet/whatever stuff to a dead paint job.

 

Drive it as is, In a few weeks the "cleaning" look will start to age/weather.. Just for the love of God/Budda an all others... No clear

Really Clean looking truck! Paint would be easy... I also live in the rustern part of the country!

 

I love all the advice, I have my own idea of patina .... I want it cleaned and waxed, if I fix and fade in some new paint to try and match old paint, does not need to match perfectly, 5 years from now will all look fine.
This may be a better photo of where it is right now. I removed much of the heavy rust, while there is still a layer of light rust on it.
Again, afraid any more mechanical rust removal will also remove all paint. But if the majority agrees there is not enough paint to save, then may as well get on with the removal of the rust ... it is not staying.

 

we cleaned one with CLR, it removed the rust STAINS and exposed a lot of unseen original paint
looked much better
the linseed oils just added a little preservative to it
not a big fan on clearing "patina"
Painting an old car properly is a huge undertaking, it takes a ton of cash/commitment to pull it off
so thats why sometimes I recommend to just keep on enjoying it.

 

Wrap it.

 

We Scotch-Brited & shot the fairly clean metal with bomb can primer when these were $100 trucks. We thought we were doing good.

 

Maybe it's my eyesight but I don't see any paint worth savin!

 

I'm in Squirrel's camp... I would leave it alone completely or fix it completely. On this particular flavor of truck, I think they are cool with all good mechanics, lowered, and body untouched from years of use other than fixing stuff that is flopping around/cracked/rusted in two/etc. I like them better than fresh painted ones.

Of course, this is all subjective and based on personal taste. Do what you want!

 

Looks like you have gone too far to preserve the paint. I once "cleaned" a rusty car with 600 grit and water.

Ben

 

I just wanted to revisit this thread and thank everyone for suggestions.
I did try some clr and had not enough sucess to say it worked.
I also liked the idea of 600 grit paper with a wet sand, I worked one area of the hood for about 45 min, then came back to look at it the next day .... I did nothing.

I then decided to go ahead and start sanding, I am a carpenter and use a random orbital sander with 80 grit paper, not a DA ... I think they are close to same except one is air and other is electric.
There are spots on the hood that I believe the rust is burnished? ... is that correct? The 80 grit paper is doing nothing.
Now I am looking for a sandblaster in the area, found a few stray sheep and dogs ... no blasters

But thank you to all that replied and I will keep working at it.

 

I always winced at the bed, rear fenders, and rear and quarter windows in these mighty old Dodges.
Nothing looked like it came off the same guy's drawing board. Looked like a bunch of unrelated parts all thrown together for a 'temporary beast of burden', by a farmer with a sense of humor.
But they ARE recognizable, can't deny that.

There was one that was entered in some indoor car shows, around 1960. Paint and chrome galore, had American Torque Thrusts and U.S. Royal Masters on it. Think it had an early Hemi...Dodge, or DeSoto.
It won its class in 3 shows that I know of, (I was cheering inside) Best efforts paid off in spades here!
Sacramento show, I told some pals: "Watch this Dodge truck...It'll take first in class..."
Naysayers were surprised.

 

The following is a true story or this is what I was told....

 

F-ONE, that was a pretty cool story. I would have loved to have been the guy that found that barn find!

To the OP, What color do you think that truck originally was? The box and rear fenders would have been black unless the original owner forked over the option to paint it body color. I don't see enough paint there to try to save. Sand it off and paint it. Gene

 

This is what I would do....
Whats the status of the wiring, engine, steering and brakes?
Body.....
Wire wheel it as best I could....then Rustoleum Rusty metal Red Oxide Primer. I would probably rattle can it...
Body, Red Oxide...Running boards and Bumpers....gloss black over Red Oxide.
Then I would do and find an engine.....
Then the brakes....
Then the wiring.....
Then I would drive it.....

 

It was originally black and never repainted, as far as I can tell. I do know they rattle canned the dash at some point and left a few runs.
I rattle canned the wheels, before I had the new tires put on it.

The wiring is shot, but also is very basic and I have most of a new wiring harness, assembly required. Also still 6 volt positive ground.

Steering seems to be serviceable, very surprised I can get no play from the king pins, but the wheel bearings are loose and need grease. I need to clean all the old grease from the tie rod ends etc, and re-grease.

Brakes will be next, as it is the hydraulics are not working and expect to replace the lines.
I have a rustyhope disk brake kit I bought for another 49 dodge truck sitting on the shelf.
Just to keep things simple I would like to first fix whats here, before modifications.

The engine runs, in my avatar is the truck sitting in my driveway as it was unloaded from the trailer.
Arse end facing the garage, in the photo above it is turned around and front facing the garage .... I started it and drove it in that way.
I also have a rebuilt flathead 6 and a new gas tank, and another 49 dodge flatbed sitting 1800 miles away. Next spring I can drive over and pick up what I can. I also had a 1952 dodge truck for parts, fellow Hamber Scotts52, has been helping me out here and taking it off my hands

This engine runs but it has a fair amount of blowby, puffs blue smoke when you goose the throttle.
The truck sat for some time and not ran much since I got it running. The compression is all over the place, one cyl is 115, next one is 60, then a couple 75, 85, 95. I may need to pull the head and the pan and try to freshen it up. It is the original engine and the title matches the engine numbers. Would be nice to keep this engine in it. It is sitting with marvel mystery oil in the cyl for the past week.

I do have another project 49 dodge truck in Washington state, then I bought a house in Texas and moved. Honestly the truck is not worth the cost of gas to haul a trailer 4k miles to pick it up.
And I also would have to purchase the said trailer.
I plan to make a list, then next spring drive the empty pickup over and visit with family, load the truck up with parts and be satisfied with what I can haul home in the bed.

 

Ok, one more question. Here is what I found, nothing to save.
I ended up using murriatic acid to remove the rust ... was a lot of rust and I needed to hose it off to neutralize, then it flash rusted and then a second light coat of acid and then wipe it dry.
Now I have the doghouse dissembled, cleaned up and stored in my office until paint.

My question I have, I bought enamel primer and industrial equipment enamel paint (gloss black).
I think the paint will work great for the frame, firewall, axle's etc ....

For the body I think I want lacquer, but wondering if it has any advantage over the enamel?

As a guy with a NFC degree, I want a single stage paint, this will be painted outside hanging from the wife's clothes line. I need the option to wet sand the bugs and runs out, and apply additional coats.
I only say lacquer because it is what the factory used, I love the old original paint cars and the look.
The Lasalle that squirrel drove in the rally, to me that paint was perfect, I would choose his old paint on my truck, over a new imron paint job any day of the week.

Can I use the enamel primer now, then still have option to apply lacquer over it later?
Am I going to notice any difference between lacquer and enamel?

Obvious I am not building a show car, just a driver. I expect to have it on the road this spring, 1 or 2 years probably need to pull the engine for a rebuild, somewhere along the way install a modern rear end over the weekend .... I do not need a pristine paint job, when I am dead the next owner can do what they want.

 

I would disassemble whole truck and take my handy dandy laser rust removal to the truck.

 

Most primers don't seal the sheet metal from the elements. I would stick with the enamel if you want it to last a couple of years. Its much cheaper then lacquer and would hold up better, in my opinion. Gene

 

in the vintage bicycle world you would not believe the color that is brought back from totally rusted bicycles from a variety different techniques. I tried 00 steel wool and WD 40 on an old rusty fender I had and low and behold, it was blue.
original paint is King, as long as you can get a little color out of it. many times even a quality repaint lowers the value. people go so far as to carefully remove repaints to expose original underneath.