Metal prep for frame

Don’t worry about a little surface rust. Whatever you can get off reasonably will be fine and paint adheres to light rust.
And you went through the work of stripping the truck down to bare frame and blasting it. No need to fuss with rust reformer and all that. You don’t have rust…
Do it the right and easy way.
Prep it (wipe down).
1 coat of etching or epoxy primer.
Paint it.
Done.

Glad I saw this topic!

My 1985 GMC is now as nekkid as it was on the assembly line, and I'm ready to deal with the rust and paint/coat it for preventing it to return in the future -- it will get a lot of use in all seasons. The one area I am the most concerned about cleaning/painting/coating is the inside of the front crossmember (even removed that sucker!)

Pressure-washed the parts, but not everything came off of the transmission mount and front crossmember. I think the frame is pretty good (blaster-ready) but those other pieces still need more attention -- my little pressure washer did OK, but needed more pressure than it has.

So glad to see this progress! It means that I'm that much closer to the start of reassembly.

Take Care,
Ken Snyder
Kansas City, Kansas

So, ended up getting a different frame as the one with the surface rust issue was bent. I had the repalcement blasted and just finished painting it. Blew all the left over sand residue off, degreased with brake clean, blew off again, primed and two top coats with Endura products.

Blasted my frame to bare metal, blew it down with compressed air, wiped entire chassis with acetone realllly good and applied POR-15 using a foam brush. Shines like glass and was under a tarp outside for a year and still looks like the day I applied it. The product on its own is not UV stable and must be top coated. It will lose its shine if directly exposed to constant sun exposure.