I am starting to attack the rusty spots on my truck, which began life on the east coast. I am about to do all-new brakes and braided stainless lines, and had ordered some red POR-15 caliper paint. So I tried it on the tow hook, which is basically pitted out rusty iron:





I am going back and forth on POR-15 or G2 for the brake calipers when they arrive...I ordered both. And the big push here will be my frame hitch and rear frame rails around the spare tire, there is a *lot* of rust back there. Going to remove the frame hitch so I can try to give it a really complete job, and attack the frame with more space.

Later this summer, if/when I get to new LCAs and UCAs, POR-15 around all of the suspension mounting points. And of course the dreaded rear heat lines!

My frame coul use some TLC too.
Hired a guy to do it but he left some spots out.
But my frame is actually not all that bad in the big scheme of things, no real damage anywhere and in the past 2 years, perhaps aided by the job I had hired and my regular applications of fluid film (every 6 months drenching trouble spots) there seems to be little or no worsensing of the rust.
I figure if I get near zero worsening in 2 years I should be fine for at least ten.

Reality is modern HSLA steels are very resistant to rust-through. That helps a *lot* more than people realize. I have lots of surface rust but very little that looks like the textbook case of rust on other steels (referred to here as "steel") which is linear penetration over time.

Frame and body vs control arms and any stamped, replaceable pieces on the truck are examples. They may be HSLA but sure do like to flake off and rust through in comparison.

Anyway, another reason why I dont worry about my truck lasting even though its "rusty."

Update us on which you ended up using for calipers. I'll be painting my new calipers some time this spring as well.

silverarrow27 wrote: ↑

Sun Mar 26, 2023 11:55 pm

Update us on which you ended up using for calipers. I'll be painting my new calipers some time this spring as well.

Leaning towards POR-15, just because I could do successive coats over time without the limits of a can of activated epoxy like G2. But...going to do a brake fluid test at some point first. I dont mind having to touch it up if the brake fluid crazes it a little bit. But if its total failure or something then I may use the red G2 on the calipers themselves and POR-15 on the brackets.

Meanwhile...



Used two new Nissan bolts here, with lots of anti-seize including the non-threaded parts of the shaft for longevity. Frame threads were in great shape, I just had to put a little POR-15 down on the frame underside where it had been in contact with the hooks. But the original bolts had sections of thread rusted away.

Got distracted replacing a disposal. But, here is a zinc coated, reman caliper bracket on the left, and one I have stripped of zinc with my Dremel and a wire brush on the right.



I am not sure I needed to add these extra steps But I figured I want the zinc coating in the bores and threads while also getting everything else painted. So extra steps it is! Tried sand paper and acid, but the Dremel wire brush is by far the fastest and easiest.

ShipFixer wrote: ↑

Wed Mar 29, 2023 8:47 pm

Got distracted replacing a disposal. But, here is a zinc coated, reman caliper bracket on the left, and one I have stripped of zinc with my Dremel and a wire brush on the right.



I am not sure I needed to add these extra steps But I figured I want the zinc coating in the bores and threads while also getting everything else painted. So extra steps it is! Tried sand paper and acid, but the Dremel wire brush is by far the fastest and easiest.

Beautiful!

For brackets (rear sway), I've had tremendous results with Krud Cutter Rust Remover.

Not sure what this stuff is made from, but you can soak small pieces in it for a couple of days, cleans down to the pores without raising a finger, and leaves a Superman rust preventative coating on it that looks pretty much impregnable.

TooMuchControl wrote: ↑

Sat Apr 08, 2023 4:55 pm

For brackets (rear sway), I've had tremendous results with Krud Cutter Rust Remover.

Not sure what this stuff is made from, but you can soak small pieces in it for a couple of days, cleans down to the pores without raising a finger, and leaves a Superman rust preventative coating on it that looks pretty much impregnable.

Yeah - I've got a couple things also from Rustoleum that are very similar. And for a specific purpose, just straight phosphoric acid

Here's how I refurbished my motorcycle fork upper tubes:



Wet sand and polish the rust off the outer chrome. Then leave wet with phosphoric acid for a long while, until it turns black (iron phosphate). Then, I put two part epoxy (JB Weld five minute whatever) over it...wiped it off after 45 seconds or so, till I built up a layer over all of the pits:



Repeat until feels smooth / can't feel the edge of the pits with my fingernail, and voila:



That was a couple winters ago and the old pits are still black and not growing. Several people suggested different methods of doing these steps, this is just how I kludged it together in the end and it seems to be doing fine. Cheaper than new fork tubes or re-chroming for relatively minor rust spots!

Here come the brakes! Still have some zinc-stripping to go on the rear calipers but the fronts are almost ready. I did some touch ups past this photo but they are mostly red. Not sure I would go the zinc-stripping route again...there were some spots that seemed to want to reject the paint badly even though I sanded very deeply. But, the paint seems very solid now.

POR-15 is super goopy, and it takes at least a couple coats to get to solid red over black. But once dry it is crazy hard stuff.

Zinc stripped with a Dremel and 80 grit:



Two coats of POR-15 rust preventer :



I overlapped the zinc pretty close to the rubber seals by hand. Two coats of red, which was a bit hard to keep even no matter what I did. And I do not suck at painting:







Will be a day or two before I put these on. But I am installing them with new Z1 stainless braided lines, Speed Bleeders, and using a brand new suction hose to try to prevent any or much brake fluid from getting on them. Some of the complaints about POR-15 include a low resistance to brake fluid. Going to try to sidestep that issue as much as possible!

Good job!
Rock on!

Fronts are loaded and ready to go, I have just been super lazy about this with travel and other projects. Going to try to install these with the stainless braided hoses in the next few days.