[sixball]

Thanks guys. Headed to town this morning to get sand and try to get back at it.
 The frame is a '25 Chevrolet with a '26 front crossmember. We were quoted $500 to have a mobile blaster do it. I could haul to to a friends shop and do it for free, but I hate suiting up to blast that way. I had started to build a tank to dip it using citric acid but it would have taken more than $100 if acid. I could have de-rusted a couple more frames and other stuff and the liquid could just be dumped. I'll use that method for smaller parts it works well. This is Nevada in the summer sun it dries almost as soon as I turn the water off. Any flash rust will just wipe off now but may build with time.
This so far seems like the best way for me. The water runs out of springs so it costs nothing. The drive way is dirt so sand is not a bad thing. Nothing leaves the property and the closest house is 4 miles away. My power system struggles to run a compressor big enough to blast with.
I don't know what to put on it until I'm ready to paint. There is quite a bit of cutting and welding to do and it may take a while. Probably just keep it inside. When the frame is clean I'll move it inside and get back on the wood. Start with the main sills and go from there building off the frame until I have a solid base.

[madmike3435]

too bad you did not have an ENVIRO TECH metal stripper close by.  Frame probably $150--200 and it comes back clean right down into the rust pock marks.

There is a product called "one step" in spray bombs,  which is a "rust converter".  Its a primer that seals the rust and converts it.

I see that on BITCHIN RIDES tv show, UTAH ? that they have been sending bodies out to get dipped / stripped.
Maybe there is something close enough to make a drive.  The enviro tech here uses ammonia heated to 180 degrees in tanks and then an acid bath to super clean it

mike-------------HAIRBALL

[sixball]

Thanks mike. I was just looking at it in the morning sun and it is very clean with a nice paintable surface. I may use some kind of liquid product to get into the cracks where the cross members rivet to the rails. There are only two installed. Rust Mort is good for that and Rust Doctor. They both convert what rust is left and seal with a paintable primer. I have a few cans of Rust Fix by Duplacolor I think that is a one step. It's good to be back on it. I think I have my rust removal under control now, my control at my shop. That's a good thing. 

[chopper526]

Sounds like you have all your bases covered. You picked the best, least expensive solution and you're on it!

[madmike3435]

Too get around the frame rails being riveted together and rust still behind them, I took all 186 rivets out of my 35 chevrolet chassis on both the coupe and the Shazzbott the roadster.

I used 3/8 button head allen heads  1 1/4" long, with steel washers and locknuts.  I made holes in cardboard using a tapered drift, primed the heads and then painted them.

putting the chassis back together after being painted is simply using 2......1/2" tapered steel drifts and tapping down and inserting the 3/8 bolts and snugging in an area between the drifts.     Do this all around the chassis.  Pick 2 diagonally opposite bolts and measure for square.......I think you will find as I did, its perfect.

[sixball]

You're a better man than I am Mike and there are only 48 rivets left in my frame. I'm not a perfectionist as you have probably already noticed. I try to stay just a step ahead of "good enough".  There are 4 I may replace.

[chopper526]

186? That's all? No, no, no. Grind, wire brush, rust treatment, prime, paint. Done!

[RoarsRods]

I’m with Chopper on this! All those factory installed RIVETS are installed with a special almost a red hot ingot and then peaned over on each side with the end results for the most part makes that connection like one piece! Plus the frame is on a jig table in the factory! By removing all the rivets and replaced with bolts you loose the structural integrity of the frame! For the record my back ground is Mechanical Machine Design Engineering!  RoarsRods

[madmike3435]

The grade 8 button head allen heads and washers I use are superior in strength to factory rivets. The rivet hole in frame is slightly smaller than a 3/8 allen head.  The allen head virtually threads itself into the frame holes.  The square on frame was measured and 1/16----1/8" square was final measurement

My 35 chev standard series coupe frame containing 186 bolts was done that way in order to have the inside of the frame painted as nicely as the outside.  Front kugel IFS cross member was welded in and the jag rear was cross member also was welded in.

New frame that was originally under the coupe is now being used for the roadster SHAZZBOTT.

Note from posted picture of my frame.   that there are 12 button head allen heads on the top of the X member plate and same amount on the bottom.  The front of the X member has a transmission mount using 6 more bolts that ties the front frame rails together.  Also the front running board brackets tie into the trans mount, making for a very strong total connection.

This 1935 design is so superior to a 34 Chevrolet standard frame as to relegate the 34 frame to a willow branch

You do your builds exactly as you see fit, I employ my own methods.

mike ..............HAIRBALL

[sixball]

The thing I enjoy the most about this site is the many different right ways to do things. Often it is a question of haw far do you want to go to get the results you want. People with knowledge and experience freely share when someone is working on issues with their project. We get the benefits of a consulting team for free! If the answer isn't found among us we are steered to other places where it might be. Then we are left to choose what works for for us and is within our budget, skill set and time line. We get encouragement. I thank all of you for the help. The excellence of some of the builds here is very impressive. 

I hope to finish blasting the frame today and maybe some other pieces too if I don't fold. 

[chopper526]

The grade 8 button head allen heads and washers I use are superior in strength to factory rivets. The rivet hole in frame is slightly smaller than a 3/8 allen head.  The allen head virtually threads itself into the frame holes.  The square on frame was measured and 1/16----1/8" square was final measurement

My 35 chev standard series coupe frame containing 186 bolts was done that way in order to have the inside of the frame painted as nicely as the outside.  Front kugel IFS cross member was welded in and the jag rear was cross member also was welded in.

New frame that was originally under the coupe is now being used for the roadster SHAZZBOTT.

Note from posted picture of my frame.   that there are 12 button head allen heads on the top of the X member plate and same amount on the bottom.  The front of the X member has a transmission mount using 6 more bolts that ties the front frame rails together.  Also the front running board brackets tie into the trans mount, making for a very strong total connection.

This 1935 design is so superior to a 34 Chevrolet standard frame as to relegate the 34 frame to a willow branch

You do your builds exactly as you see fit, I employ my own methods.

mike ..............HAIRBALL

I admire your tenacity Mike, I wasn't criticizing you, I was just busting on you a little

[madmike3435]

was replying to rorys post.

It made no sense to me originally to paint a double U channel X member frame that was riveted together by factory and still have all that raw metal rusting away.  Paint does not get in between the outside and inside frame, it just continues to rust away there.

By totally disassembling the frame to the 18 parts that make up the frame and making side motor mounts and trans mounts and painting all the components on all sides of the parts means they should not ever rust again.

I used 1/32 thick Teflon sheeting between the inner and outer frame pieces when slipping them back together before inserting the painted bolts after removing the Teflon.  Its fun getting your hands inside the frame holes and holding a nut and washer in position while you tighten them

Think about this.......your standard model a or 32 or 34 ford frame is boxed using plate........whats to stop it rusting inside the box, you cannot paint in there. Alternative is to take it in and have the frame inside sprayed with rust preventive coating.....oil based every year.

I am one of those that always thinks I can do a better job preserving than what the factory does in trying to INSURE YOUR CAR RUSTS OUT .

Example.....1991 cutlass supreme INTL, I had that car sprayed with crown rust control every year, but there was places designed into that car frame to hold water and cause it to rust out.
Example #2.....1996 Pontiac Bonnevile SSEI, same drill as cutlass except the front frame assembly rotted out internally to make it unsafe.
Example #3......2014 Chrysler 300 SRT, its in storage oct --may, but when parked in my sloping driveway , front of car facing garage, doors fill with rain water, and as soon as you open the door water rushes to the only drain hole in the doors, at the front.. Will have to drill 1/4" hole at rear of doors so water never gets trapped.

THEY car makers design these flaws into the cars to make them FAIL. New point while I am ranting.....I like that ....why cannot cars be ordered with complete stainless steel exhaust, end to end.  BECAUSE there is huge money in replacing them.   Same with brakes, why aren't they also stainless steel..calipers and the lines.
The brake industry is massive, keeps probably a million people employed or more .

Car companies can build a better product, its just not in there $$$ interest to do so   

mike..............HAIRBALL

[sixball]

Well I'm less enthusiastic about the blaster. It was just too good to be true. I spent about 3 hours today playing with it and got a little over an hour blasting done. It's not as quick on the rust and it is on paint. My frame isn't pitted but has an even solid surface rust coat. I used 3 bags of sand and got about 1/2 done. The sand suction line had melted to the air cleaner cover on the pressure washer. Heat from the sun, spilled fuel? I had to cut several inches off. The sand line kept clogging. The slightest dampness makes clogs. If you stop and the line is not just right water runs into the sand line. Once there was a small rock in the nozzle. I figured a way to clear the clogs pretty quickly. It's not getting it as clean as it did the crossmember and there is more flash rust than I thought. Tomorrow I'll finish what I can and flip it over to get the rest. Then I can asses what I've got.

[madmike3435]

yes your blasting media has to be dry dry dry.  compressor needs enough power and gallonage to work properly.  that also applies to hose size, need a 3/8 or larger hose supplied air line.

I was using a 1/4" air line and blast cabinet was not working like I thought.  After talking to people it was determined hose too small.  Have to upgrade for next time I dig it out.

Dirty job but somebody has to do it?

mike...............HAIRBALL

[chopper526]

Well I'm less enthusiastic about the blaster. It was just too good to be true. I spent about 3 hours today playing with it and got a little over an hour blasting done. It's not as quick on the rust and it is on paint. My frame isn't pitted but has an even solid surface rust coat. I used 3 bags of sand and got about 1/2 done. The sand suction line had melted to the air cleaner cover on the pressure washer. Heat from the sun, spilled fuel? I had to cut several inches off. The sand line kept clogging. The slightest dampness makes clogs. If you stop and the line is not just right water runs into the sand line. Once there was a small rock in the nozzle. I figured a way to clear the clogs pretty quickly. It's not getting it as clean as it did the crossmember and there is more flash rust than I thought. Tomorrow I'll finish what I can and flip it over to get the rest. Then I can asses what I've got.

Sorry about that Sixball, although you did get some good results.....Back to the drawingboard?