PSA- Easy free rust prevention

[PrairieDrifter]

I'm sure many are aware of this, but for those who aren't. It's basically a "preventative maintenance" type of thing. If the rust is already there, keeping up with this will help slow the rusting, but this won't "cure" rust lol.

These are just some of the spots on the front. If this is "sticky" worthy, other people can chime in with pics, and I can definitely get more pictures of problem areas that don't take much, other than cleaning them out. Other areas are more labor intensive, but could also be included. Like the cowl and kick panel pockets. I also don't know every single spot.

We could also continue with rocker panel drainage holes, and other things of nature, but that will vary by platform somewhat. Probably won't get into the rabbit hole of removing fenderwells and related, as that's not "easy".

Most city guys or the guys with the clean, nice weather only trucks, won't really benefit from this. But it also wouldn't hurt for you guys to check as well.

For everyone else that daily drives, drive or park in high vegetation areas, gravel roads, muddy roads, muddin, maybe even sand, etc. etc. These are areas that will affect every square, on the front end, no matter pickup, suburban, or blazer. Each platform has its own special areas that you can help prevent rust from happening by removing the mud, dirt, and vegetation.

I'll get some more pics of the weird triangularish piece on the inner fenderwell.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Front fender areas and spots to clean. The pile from both front fenders, the floor was clean before lol.

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[PrairieDrifter]

This next area is the little pocket in the core support, where the radiator sits. As you can clearly see this is an accumulation area, not a fun time having that getting rusted out. Will get some better pics, but the area where the inner fenderwell meets the core support should also be kept clean, this spot likes to collect vegetation and fine dirt and sand, also water.

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[89Suburban]

Very good posts and info. Do not forget the rear wheel well seams and quarter panels. I've found up to 4" of **** slung into those areas on the inside. You can pull the interior trim panels to access these areas and inspect. Here is some pics:

https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/rust-attack-part-i.480/page-2#post-11360

 

[PrairieDrifter]

Very good posts and info. Do not forget the rear wheel well seams and quarter panels. I've found up to 4" of **** slung into those areas on the inside. You can pull the interior trim panels to access these areas and inspect. Here is some pics:

https://www.gmsquarebody.com/threads/rust-attack-part-i.480/page-2#post-11360

Thank you! My main goal was to get the front end mostly covered, I'll add to this once I get some more pictures, I can get some of a suburban and pickup, so those two will be covered.

 

[80BrownK10]

I'm going to get some of that lanolin or rust prevention stuff. Eastwood or fluid film makes it and has a straw with what looks like a cellar nozzel as we call it in the fire department. The type head that you have a plumber use that sprays water on those things they will run through a pipe to jet it out. It has holes in it that spray all directions. And you can run that scary up into the doors. The fender drains. Side cowls, rockers etc

 

[Grit dog]

2 more places.
My rust free happy Oregon truck, 1 fuel tank rusted out. Other in basically perfect shape. 1 fuel tank guard packed full of who knows how many years of dirt/mud.
1 totally clean.

windshield frame. Idk how good it looks. Unless you know for sure, I’d pop the windshield out and check, fix any rust here.

 

[PrairieDrifter]

2 more places.
My rust free happy Oregon truck, 1 fuel tank rusted out. Other in basically perfect shape. 1 fuel tank guard packed full of who knows how many years of dirt/mud.
1 totally clean.

windshield frame. Idk how good it looks. Unless you know for sure, I’d pop the windshield out and check, fix any rust here.

Yes for sure, the rock guards are always an issue for rusting out fuel tanks. My windshield frame looks decent other than the p.o. bashed a piece of equipment or something into the a-pillar, but I've got that in the works.

But I'm not trying to make this thread about my trucks specifically, I'm just using mine as examples because I can get pics easily. This is basically for the community here, and anyone else, for those that want to keep rust at bay on your daily's or even asphalt queens.

 

[sirweesarunch]

The cowl , #1 area the achilles heel of all squarebodies. The cowl sealant fails , water runs in and rusts the firewall allowing water to enter the cab running down behind the dash under the carpet . It eventually settles under the vent and kicks and just wreaks havoc in worst place possible. Everything converges right there like the layers of an onion. I’ve done extensive repairs on my truck there its a total PIA. #2. If you have cab lights or screw in drip rails check them. Leaks here’ll rust your roof off , pillars and center floor post on a crew cab. All other areas known are much easier fixes. Roof and floor damage.

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[AKguy]

How about the battery trays and the areas around it like the inner fender and core support? Sure have seen major damage in these areas when a good wash with soda water and thorough rinse once in a while would have prevented it.

 

[AKguy]

Dupe

 

[Joshua Keith]

Not really sure how you can keep these cleaned out. Rear quarter panel spot just behind the rear wheel where the 2 panels are welded together rusts often. I drilled the spot welds out and cleaning them up best I can.

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[Frankenchevy]

Rust? What’s that?

 

[Raider L]

The front lower corner where the battery is rust out due to the battery acid getting down in there. You will notice on the other side doesn't seem to rust out as bad. When I was rebuilding my truck I took the truck completely apart and replaced all but the cab and one door because of rust out sheet metal. But I did a scientific study of what caused it and looking at the following years body parts, what did GM do to stop the rust in those places that were the worse.

My truck is a 1974 C10. That year and the '75 if I'm remembering well had the sever problem of rusting out over the rear bed fender wheel well on the outside. Mine was no exception. It was real bad. So what was the cause? The cause was when they welded the inner fender panel to the outer panel of the wheel well opening, it was nearly closed up with little to no way for air to get between the panels. Dirt, water, and debris would wash up in there from driving through rain on the road way. After some time the whole wheel well rusted out.

The engineers cut open two openings, one in the front of the inner panel and one in the back of the inner panel over the wheel wells. Now You could almost stick your whole hand behind that inner panel, and I did it to see just how much room there was and you could go all the way to mid wheel well opening from each side. No more rust.

The next bad place was the front and rear lower door corners, and on my truck were gone, rusted off and spreading up into the door out from the corner. This was a problem with earlier trucks as well but in '75 the engineers redesigned the inner panel of the lower doors to stop the rust. Firstly there is no drain hole down at the corner of the inside of the door in my year truck. But there are two little "vent" openings underneath the door on the inside to let water out that gets down in there from rain coming in past the window seal where the window rolls down, those seals. Well those two little vents weren't enough to let water out and it would collect along the lower edge of the inner panel where it's welded to the outer panel and in those corners.

The engineers in '75 "puffed" the inner panel out away from the outer panel down there about 3/8" and put holes right in the corner of the inner panel where it's welded to the outer panel and then sealed it up with seam sealer along the flap that's folded over the inner panel. And along with a change the way the inside of the door looked added two more of those little vents at the bottom of the door skins adding more places for water and whatever else to get out. No more rust. When we rebuilt the doors of my truck we removed the seam sealer and poured sealer down into the lower doors until it was running out of every opening there was. Well, that wasn't good enough because it rusted, even though very slowly, anyway and the corners are rusted again. Unless I change to the '75 doors that will be the only way to stop the rust for good.

The lower front fenders at the back of the wheel well openings rust out due to leaves and twigs, acorns, pine needles, and bark, bugs, and whatever else gets in through those little square holes in that plastic cover over the valance, the lower windshield space where the windshield wiper arms are, into the inner fender panel. Leaves and sticks and everything falls into those openings and that adds to the battery acid on the right front fender. And rain and water from snow melt, ice, and whatever rusts the front fenders out at both front and rear of the wheel openings but it all comes from the valance. About all you could do is to screw or epoxy screen over all those openings to stop the leaves and whatnot from getting down in there. Underneath you can see there are some openings in the middle of the inner panel of the rear of the wheel opening and in the middle of the front wheel opening for stuff to fall out but it's nowhere near enough to let leaves, sticks, acorns, pine needles, tree bark, and whatever to fall out. So it sits in there and builds dirt until with water it starts causing rust.

I have several more but I think I've hijacked @PrairieDrifter's thread more than enough. We all are driving potential rust buckets and you'd have to cut every spot weld apart and seal up every single seam and close every single opening with metal or screen. I took that piece of plastic off the valance where the wipers are and duplicated that in stainless steel screen, made a aluminum frame, so to speak, around the screen and used sealer between the two pieces of aluminum, a sandwich more or less, let it dry and then replaced that plastic over the lower windshield openings to keep leaves, sticks, and pieces of everything out of that cavity where water and all that dirt falls. And now it's still clean down there under the windshield.

I don't have my truck right now or I would take pics of it all. So when I get it back I'll show you all what I am talking about, but I think you get the picture of what I'm talking about.

 

[Rudy Mienert]

Just now attacking the rust in my 79 Blazer project,....not too clear in the pics, but DEF look into the drain slots from the cowl, that dump behind the rear edge of the front fenders,...it builds up real quick and does some damage..just my 2 cents...