Rust Protection

[EightTrackHits]

Last June I bought a 2005 Silverado in NM and brought it to the Midwest.  The climate and the weather here are very hard on this vintage of truck so I thought that I would take some measures to protect it.  I elected to treat it with the Fluid Film product.  One reason I chose this stuff is that I’ve had good luck with it on a smaller scale.  Also the prep for a good frame painting would be very labor intensive.  

I bought two gallon cans of the treatment, one with no color, and the other was Fluid Film Black, which has a pigment added.  I also bought Fluid Film’s spray gun which came with some hoses for spraying in voids.  I cleaned the underside, pulled off the inspection caps, and blew everything out with an air compressor.  Also vacuumed out the channels that I could get to.

When I opened up the can of treatment, I saw that it was pretty thick, so I heated it some on my wood stove.  It may have worked anyway.  I then shot every void I could get to on the body by inserting the hose and drawing it out while spraying.  If I couldn’t get the hose in the void, I used an airisol can.  I noticed that I missed getting some dirt out of the voids.  So I tried again, but some of the voids now have oily dirt in them.  After the voids, I sprayed the regular fluid film on all of the sheet metal under the truck.  I then cleaned up, cleaned the gear, and switched to the black.

[EightTrackHits]

The voids and channels of the frame were then sprayed, along with the surfaces of the frame.  The application took about four hours including the cleaning.  I used one half gallon of both formulas and I elected not to do the inside of the door panels; I’m going to get another airosol can and hit those through their drains.  It may look like paint, but it’s not!  This stuff will make working on the underside of the vehicle a nasty job.

 

The second component of the protection was adding WeatherTech mud flaps (front and back) and Husky wheel well liners.

 

 

The third will be keeping it clean (to include the bottom of the doors and door jams), re-treatment before salt season, and keeping the weep holes clear with a pipe cleaner.  I’ll also touch it up as I notice spots that I’ve missed.  I did my best to get in every void, including the passages in the hood and tail gate.  Up under all four fenders as well.

 

There are likely better methods, but something decent is better than nothing at all, and if the truck rusts away too fast, it won’t be do to me not trying to prevent it.

 

On a related note, I’ve read that fluid film is not compatible with the waxy coating that GM used on some frames.  Whatever coating I had was already worn away so I wasn’t concerned.

 

 If any one has any questions, please chime in.  
 

Thanks!

[CamGTP]

Those frames didn't have a wax coating on them yet.

[Brenden Burnham]

Looks good.  Thanks for sharing

[KevinRC]

Hey 8 Track,

 

Your truck looks like I want mine to be but, as Clint Eastwood said, "A man's got to know is limitations"

 

Today is a very nice day in CT and I got the broken Cab Mount bolt out with the help of a local welder yesterday.

 

So today is Cab Mount day, Hey, they have a day for EVERYTHING now a days, why not?

 

I will be hitting this forum up with Rocker Panel issues..and while the right way is to cut out the old and weld in the new, I do not have the equipment, nor expertise.

 

More later,

Have a good day!