Undercoating Process of Southern Truck

[Bgrogan17]

So I’m starting a thread to show the process of trying to fight back the Southern Texas Coast. My truck is a 2014 Silverado Z71 with the 5.3. I’ve owned it about 4 years. I have done absolutely everything to this truck myself. It is not a daily driver for me. But because I live about 300 yards from the water, the humidity and salt air has taken a extreme toll on it. And I now have a boat barn and it’s time for me to fight back and try to undercoat it with something that will last. This is my process of how I do this and the progress as I go. I will add to this post as I work on it. Any questions just ask. I will post pictures of my truck what it normally looks like then the steps will follow. This will be an ongoing after work and weekend project and as I can do it type job. 

[Bgrogan17]

Here is when I started. Gonna start from the front work my way back as I can. Here’s me removing the grille, headlights, and bumper. Doing all of this myself. Getting help with lifting stuff as I can. I will try to keep things as going as the progress comes. Pictures will be a few at a time depending on the progress.

[Bgrogan17]

[Bgrogan17]

[Bgrogan17]

[CamGTP]

Looks like a Minnesota truck after 5 years.

[Bgrogan17]

[Bgrogan17]

@CamGTP yeah it looks rough but it seems to be mostly surface but this coating just comes off in flakes. Especially the front crossmember that takes all the rain, sand, dirt, etc. But this is just South Texas Coastal Humidity for ya. 

[CamGTP]

We would call that "normal" around here for a GM truck. It's all surface rust here too. I could take the time to scrape the stuff of my frame, wizz wheel it and redo to make it look good but just never done it yet.

 

The only truck frames that still look good after that amount of time are the Dodge frames because they are E-coated. Maybe Ford does the E-coat stuff too. Don't see enough Nissan/Toyota stuff to comment.

[Bgrogan17]

So here’s my progress for tonight 4/13/21. Went a little further back on the frame. I’m gonna call this my first section. I went ahead and did the 1st and second step of POR15. Did wax remover and degreaser. Rinsed it, then did the acid phosphate part. Rinsed it. Letting it sit over tonight then tomorrow night I plan to do the 2 base coats. Planning to be able to scuff and do top coats this weekend. 

[Bgrogan17]

This is pretty much doing it to the crossmember welds. I wanted to test this section first before I tear out the rest of the suspension since this is the roughest area due to the bumper being so high. And getting the most weathering

[Bgrogan17]

So here is the only picture I took of the “metal etching” part I took. I let it sit for 2 days after I did the metal prep step and it didn’t really flash rust. Which was very surprising considering the humidity and salt air where I am at. 

[Bgrogan17]

This is the POR15 coating. I did two coats as best as I could. It’s hard doing this much working around all the parts and lines still on the truck. With the humidity at 95% around me made this cure super fast. I wasn’t even halfway to the other side by the time one side had gotten tacky. Came out pretty good. It does seem to leave drip marks as it dries. I used both a brush and a foam brush. Results were the same with both. Did self level for the most part. It was dry to the touch within about 2 hours.