Rust Prevention?

[AnlaufJohn]

Lucy is concerned for my well-being. She soaks up the sun (when it doesn't rain) while I work on the '66.
She knows that as wet as Oregon is, and the rusty bolts and such on the '66 won't ever get any less new. So, she has nuzzled me to ask these two, or three questions.
1: Are stainless nuts and bolts worth it in the long run? I don't plan on stripping this down and rebuilding it. I am trying to get it to look better than the rust bucket it is.
2: My 1988 Dodge Dakota and my wife's 2003 Mazda 6i have Fiberglas or plastic inner fender liners. Is there a vendor who is selling this type of product, or are we all facing the same issue of water getting into areas that don't need to be wet? If these trucks had an inner liner, then we wouldn't be facing the replacing of floorboards, in my opinion.
3: My fuse box has been wet for oh, so many years, and I purchase items from WaytekWire.com. On page 77 or so, item #46050 is described as a lightweight rugged fuse panel for RVs, buses and motor homes. Would you describe our vintage trucks worthy of a newer style fuse box? Should I upgrade to a 10 fuse capacity? There are 6, 8, 10 and 12 fuse panels, and they use the ATO/ATC blade fuses.

That enough for now, as it looks like we may have some sun tomorrow.

John in rainy Eugene, Oregon

[Scooter3]

As far as nuts and bolts you are kind of limited as to what you can do. You can replace all of the bolts with stainless or Grade 8 hardware but as you know a whole lot of the nuts are made onto panels. If it was something that wasnt bearing a lot of a load and you can see it, I would use stainless. At least it will look good and if you ever have to take it back apart rust shouldnt be any issue. It it was something bearing a large load or a support of some sorts I would use some Grade 8 nuts and bolts and shoot some paint over them or something like that. Some of your bolts may not be as rusty as you think. Try takin a steel brush to them and see how bad they are. You might can salvage alot of them.

As far as plastic liners, I don't think so. Most of the problems with rust occur with the lack of drainage that these trucks have. They have factory water drains made into them but 90% of them are so small they are easily plugged up with debris. Then areas like the cab supports have holes in the tops and bottoms of them that will let moisture and debris into them and then cant get out. There are alot of areas on these trucks that are like this. Most of them are where they rust at, no brainer. About all you can do is unplug the drains, try to eliminate the moisture that maybe hung up in the areas, and then put some kind of rust converter or sealer like POR15 over it. Thats if you are not planning on replacing the sections.

Well if your old fuse box was getting wet, I would fix the getting wet part of it before putting then new box in and letting it get wet. If you want to put a newer style fuse box in it thats all up to you. I think the new wiring harness like painless has have the newer style fuses in them.

[AnlaufJohn]

Thanks, Scooter3 for your info. Yes, I can salvage many of the washered bolts. So far, I have 2 of the welded nuts come loose, so the Vise-Grips get a workout holding it while the bolt is loosened.
One of the local fabricators said he has a bunch of cheap/frugal/poor owners like me ask him about this same issue and what he recommends is removing the bolts from the panels and use a wire brush (like a bottle brush, only skinny) and clean out the panel nut threads and wire brush the bolts and then put anti-seize on and reassemble.

The anti-seize prevents rusting up, and allows the panels to be removed when we become rich and can do the job properly.

As far as the fuse box, I looked at the windshield gasket and it is toast. A new one will be installed in June. Any tips on how that is done by a junior ham-fisted Neanderthal?

John in Eugene, Oregon