31 AA rescue

[trevorsworth]

One thing I need to do sooner than later is some conservation work. Like I said, I think it's fair to call this truck a survivor in its current state and I don't want to take that away from it. The chassis is in good shape but the paint is flaking off here and there leaving bare metal to rust, and there are a couple of rust spots in the cab - not severe enough that I want to strip it and repaint it, but I need to deal with them somehow, especially at the bottom of the cab back. The running boards have a couple of spots too but again nothing serious.

I am thinking I am going to leave the cab bolted to the frame while I work through the wood, then once it's square and tight, pull it so I can get the fenders and running boards off. I bought some Eastwood rust encapsulator primer that I will brush paint the chassis with after powerwashing and sanding to remove the loose paint and rust scale. (I also need to do this to get the serial number off the frame because the truck did not come with a title and the engine is a replacement with no number to use.)

For the body, I am thinking a CLR treatment on the outside to remove rust stains from the paint and to neutralize what active rust there is in three spots, after which I will use the wipe-on clearcoat product Poppy's Patina on all the external painted surfaces to hopefully restore some depth and lustre to the faded paint. The inside subframe, insides of hidden body panels (cowl and door skins) and structural elements that will be hidden behind interior panels will get the chassis black rust encapsulator treatment. All of this interior conservation will have to be done before the body wood goes in, of course.

I think this is the best route to keep the truck looking like an honest, well-kept blue-collar hauler that I can still put to work and not have to worry about scratching expensive paint.