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My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

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Rembrant

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Pressed the dimples out of my rear bumper this morning, and it seems to have worked pretty well. Might squeeze another summer or two out of it.

I'm talking about how the bumper gets dimpled around the bolts as you can see below. As the rust builds up between the inside of the bumper and the brackets, it pushes the brackets away from the bumper which of course pulls the bolts in.

I got it flat enough again that I'll be re-using it for the 2019 season at least.

1994 F150 4x2 Flareside. 5.0 w/MAF, 4R70W, stock.
1984 F150 4X2 Flareside. Mild 302 w/ 5spd. Sold.
1980 F150 4X4 Flareside. 300i6 w/ 5spd. Sold in 2021.
1980 F100 4X2 Flareside. 351w/2bbl w/NP435. Sold in 1995

Gary Lewis

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Administrator

Paint the inside of the bumper to keep it from rusting? POR15 or Master Series would kill the rust.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Dad's: '81 F150 Ranger XLT 4x4: Down for restomod: Full-roller "stroked 351M" w/Trick Flow heads & intake, EEC-V SEFI/E4OD/3.50 gears w/Kevlar clutches
Blue: 2015 F150 Platinum 4x4 SuperCrew wearing Blue Jeans & sporting a 3.5L EB & Max Tow
Big Blue: 1985 F250HD 4x4: 460/ZF5/3.55's, D60 w/Ox locker & 10.25 Sterling/Trutrac, Blue Top & Borgeson, & EEC-V MAF/SEFI

Rembrant

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Gary Lewis wrote

Paint the inside of the bumper to keep it from rusting? POR15 or Master Series would kill the rust.

I have a gallon of Ospho so I have been using that on the larger pieces. I have a can of the Rust Check converter (aerosol) I have been using on little parts, both with good results. I will do the bumper with that, and squeeze a little more time out of it. The bumper is showing it's age and starting to peel on the bottom, but it's not terrible...not yet at least. I'll probably throw it on the 4x4 when it get that far, and buy a new one for the 84.

Did my drums in Ospho today and will paint them tomorrow. They're barely worn at all, so they'll do just fine.

Ha

Took a bit of a break from welding my side panels to clean up the garage and make some room. I was getting tired of looking at the rusty drums on the floor, so they became parts of the garage clean up.

Mrs. Rembrant and I went hiking along the ocean today (5 miles of rocks) so I've lost some of my garage enthusiasm...lol.

Gary Lewis

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Administrator

I'm glad you and Mrs. Rembrant got out today. That sounds like a lovely hike.

The brake drums look good, but will the Ospho or Rust Check do much on the bumper? It didn't seem to have a lot of rust.

As for cleaning, I need to take a page from your book and clean before the shop gets into the I-can't-stand-it mess. I really DO need to do that.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

1986F150Six

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Administrator

Gary Lewis wrote

As for cleaning, I need to take a page from your book and clean before the shop gets into the I-can't-stand-it mess. I really DO need to do that.

Clean enough so you and your brother can get to work on Dad's Truck!!!

Ford F834

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Administrator

In reply to this post by Rembrant

Did you blast or wire wheel the drums before the ospho? They look clean! I bought a spray gel rust remover/neutralizer and it does nothing but make a mess. I need to try something else, sounds like ospho is the one.

SHORT BED 4-DOOR DIESEL: 1986 F350 4x4 under construction-- 7.3 IDIT ZF5+GVOD

STRAIGHT SIX 4X4: 1981 F150 2wd to 4x4-- 300 I6 close ratio diesel T19, hydroboost brakes, Saginaw steering

BIG F: 1995 F-Superduty under construction— converting to 6.9L IDI diesel ZF5+DNE2

Rembrant

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Ford F834 wrote

Did you blast or wire wheel the drums before the ospho? They look clean! I bought a spray gel rust remover/neutralizer and it does nothing but make a mess. I need to try something else, sounds like ospho is the one.

Jon,

I went over the drums very quickly with a wire cup wheel on my angle grinder. Same as this guy:

https://www.amazon.com/Wire-Wheel-Brush-Cup-Corrosion/dp/B01FWRIBTM

That just gets the heavy and loose stuff off so that all I was really left with was a rusty brown finish. Then I applied the Ospho with a paint brush. The stuff turns the rust black and then leaves a shiny finish. I will paint them now with black engine paint that I have.

I am pleased with the Ospho results so far. For the smaller items I just use an aerosol can of Rust Check:

https://www.rustcheck.com/product/rust-converter/

I haven't examined the spec sheets on these products, but they both seem to work exactly the same and leave the same finish. I then just paint over them once they're dry.

I've tried a few different rust converter products, and I've kinda settled on these two as my go-to solutions.

I needed a quick and dirty solution for my day to day stuff, and for everything else, I can sand blast or have save blasted. Of course sand blasting and paint and primer is always going to be a better solution, but sometimes you have stuff that just isn't worth the effort, ya know? Like old brake drums...lol.

I have a little sand blaster...one of those 5 gallon jobbies that I drag outside for doing little items. For bigger stuff I send it out to a friend that does it commercially, and he does a wonderful job, but I just can't do it with everything.

I've tried POR-15, and to be honest I wasn't all that happy with it. Most people seem to be really pleased with the stuff, so perhaps I just had a bad experience, I dunno. I'm going to stick with the rust converters for now, and then just paint them as needed.

Ford F834

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Administrator

Thanks! I’ll give that stuff a try. I’ve actually heard a lot of not-so-favorable things about POR15. Things about it chipping, not holding up to sunlight unless perfectly top coated, messy, poor coverage etc., etc., Pete on here says Master series silver is better. Since I don’t fight rust much here in AZ I may just try the neutralizer and regular paint. I’ve already done a lot of my frame in Rustoleum black right on the wire wheeled metal. I’m okay with that on the underside, but my roof has badly pitted “patina” and stuff like brake drums are pretty crusty and need more help than the rest to make them decent.

Rembrant

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Happy Easter Weekend folks. My wife gave me the weekend off from kitchen reno work so I could dive into the garage and get back to work on the new bedsides. Right hand front stake pocket and extension panel is now on. Just have to weld the extension panel on the left front stake pocket shortly and then start prepping to weld on the rear stake pockets. Quite a bit more work to do the rears with all of the holes/nuts in them.

Hopefully I can start dry-fitting the bed together by Monday and pick up some new plywood for the floor.

grumpin

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Looking good! Nice job!

Dane
1986 F250HD SC XLT Lariat 4x4 460 C6-Sold
1992 Bronco XLT 4x4 351W E4OD
1998 GMC Sierra SLE K1500 350 4L60E
Arizona

Gary Lewis

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Administrator

In reply to this post by Rembrant

Wow! That looks GREAT! I thought it was a stainless counter top to start with.

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

FuzzFace2

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Gary Lewis wrote

Wow! That looks GREAT! I thought it was a stainless counter top to start with.

I was thinking the same thing when he said about the room redo.
Looking good keep it up.
Dave ----

Dave G.
81 F100 flare side 300 six / AA OD / NP435 / 2.75 gear
http://cars.grantskingdom1.com/index.php/1980-Ford-F100?page=1
81 F100 style side 300 six/SROD parts truck -RIP
http://cars.grantskingdom1.com/index.php/1981-Ford-F100

Rembrant

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Thanks Gents!

Front stake pockets and extension panels are finished on both sides now. I spent quite a bit of time working on the left rear to get everything fitted and ready to weld. I have to drill some plug weld holes in the am, but within an hour or so the whole left side panel will be complete.

Fitting the left rear extension panel to the new rear sill. The extension panels have a little notch cut out at the top and bottom so that it doesn't interfere with the rear sill. It's all going great so far. I'm measuring everything like crazy because I don't want to find a mistake after it's all welded together...lol.

Snapped this pic just to show how the tail light brackets will mount. From the factory there are little flat and wide hex nuts spot welded to the rear stakes. I made little 1/4" plates 1" x 1" and then welded them in place inside the stake pocket. Going to drill and tap them before I weld the pocket on in the morning.

By mid-morning tomorrow I'll be 3/4 finished the new bedsides. If all goes well I will have them completed by the end of the day and can start test fitting/assembling on Sunday.

Steve83

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Banned User

Rembrant wrote

Going to drill and tap them before I weld the pocket on in the morning.

Many Ford body bolts will self-tap the factory unthreaded "nuts", with just a little oil.

Gary Lewis

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Administrator

In reply to this post by Rembrant

Wow! Took the night off to watch a movie and you are almost done! You are truckin'!

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Rembrant

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Boy has the novelty of building my own bedsides ever worn off...lol. Oh well...150 or so plug welds later, they are now built. I still need to drill some more holes and then spend a couple hours with flap disks smoothing out my welds. I am far from finished, but it feels good to finally be THIS far!

FuzzFace2

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Man do they look good ...... no make that GREAT!
Job well done

After you are done working them it would be nice to dip them to get any rust that is on them off then dip to coat them so they will not rust again in our life time.
Dave ----

Gary Lewis

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Administrator

In reply to this post by Rembrant

Wow! Such a beautiful job!

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

Rembrant

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Thank you gentlemen! They ended up being way more work that I thought...lol. Oh well, we're on the road to recovery now!

Gary Lewis

Re: My 1984 F150 2wd Flareside Project "Blue Mule"

Administrator

I just have to ask - how many of our projects turn out to be way easier than we thought?

Gary, AKA "Gary fellow": Profile

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