A wire wheel is a start, but you'll probably have better luck using a grinder. Most drills don't have the rpm to do the job quickly enough (for my taste). Just brush it real clean, then get some Rust-off (i think thats what its called) - they have a few colors - or any anti-rust sealer - and you'll be set to go. Use a Dremmel tool if there are spots of rust you can't get to with the wire wheel.

 

Different kinds of paints need different kind of prep work. If it doesn't tell you what kind of basecoat to use on the paint can then go to the manufacturers website and try to find it on there. If not let us know what kind of paint it is (acrylic enamel, lacquer, urethane, whatever) and we can probably tell you what kind of prep to do. Just make sure the primer and paint are compatible and you should be fine. I'd be more likely to use regular etching primer over barbeque paint as a basecoat. Naval Jelly works good to strip the rust and you can get a metal etching solution to use after that to make sure the paint sticks right. Aircraft remover (I know, it removes paint, not aircrat, I have no idea why it's called aircraft remover) works wonders to strip off the paint that's still on there.

 

When my tailight guards started to rust, i sanded both of them down to bare metal, or until all the rust "flakes" are off. I then added a coat of auto primer spray paint to both of them. I let them dry for a day. I then added Gloss Black Spray paint, and they turned out nicer than the day they originally came to me.

 

My vote is POR15 and then paint over that. That stuff is expensive but it rocks. They aint ****ting when they say if you get it on you you will have to wear it off. Nothing takes that stuff off(but it is rummored that some carb cleaner will remove it, the kind with ether maybe?) I couldnt find anything to take it off though

 

Hit them with a DA sander and some 120 grit sandpaper. They'll be pretty in no time.

 

I hope you mean the bars and not his hands if he gets por15 on em

I always had problems keeping the stick paper pads sticking on the sander if I wasnt on something pretty flat.(3M paper so it aint exactly the cheap stuff) Them lil bastids really fly too when they come off their pad

I would go with a wire brush on a 4 1/2" grinder and a dremel or hand sanding when you get close to the body work unless you dont care about your sheetmetal or really have some big.....maybe I should stop now

 

haha

i buy the cheap kind that is about $35 for a roll of 100. the expensive stuff i like better because it is some weird reddish oxide stuff that lasts forever but it's like $65/100. i don't usually have a problem with them sticking. usually, if anything, they'll wrinkle because i get them too hot.

i, myself, would probably take them off the truck, sandblast them until they're shiny or have a hole in them and then sand them with a DA sander. then i'd spraybomb the crap out of them. then i'd call up westin and tell them that their paint blows and DutchBoy paint looks better than their [censored].

 

Thanks all,

I'm at work now, but I'll check the paint tomorrow to find out exactly what kind it is. Never heard of "aircraft remover", where can I pick it up? Paint supply store?

I don't have a grinder, but I might be able to borrow one if it will make it easier.

I thought of using POR-15, but I'm cheap.

I have already taken the grill guard back once because the paint was peeling off. I never bothered to return any of the other parts because it was pretty obvious that the finish just wasn't going to last. Last time I ever buy any Westin accessories

 

You could always herculine them, should make them look pretty cool. Just be careful not to get any on your hootus.

 

Lol shaggy, I plan on herculining my cut out flares and my bumpers, I did my bed and bed rails about 2 months ago and it's holding up great except for when I brought the dana 60 home, put a small scratch in the bed floor, but hey, it weighs like 800 pounds

.

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Probably not as bad as what I did to the tailgate of my S10 when I got my D60. Let's just say that S10 taigates are not up to the task of holding up half of a D60...

 

Hehe, I watched a buddy of mine like 2 weeks ago trying to cut some 2x4's on his tailgate with a circ. saw. I was in the house working and heard him cussing up a storm and came out expecting to see a thumb in the gutter, but instead I saw a nice clean cut from the lip of the tail gate all the way to the bed, right down the middle

. Always set the depth of your saw to the depth of the material

.

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After a little thinking, I decided that if I am going to do all this work anyway, I might as well POR-15 them. Do it once and forget it.

So tonight I ordered 2 of the starter kits that come with all their prep stuff (Marine Clean and Metal-Ready) along with gloves, brushes and a pint of POR-15. I also ordered a pint of Chassis Black topcoat.

Wonder if I'll get it by the weekend (UPS ground from NJ to Cincy)

 

Go to http://www.ups.com and click on transit time adn then put in the origin address and destination address and it will tell you how many days.

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But they won't tell me when it will get shipped.

I usually get stuff from the east coast in 2-3 days, so if it goes out Wed morning, I might have it Friday, Monday or Tuesday is probably a better guess