Rust removal on 1987 4x4 PU

You can fix this yourself, but you'll need to spend some serious money to get the right tools and supplies to do it - almost as much as a body shop would charge to fix it the first time or two, but after you get past the initial investment the repairs get really cheap.

I have most all this stuff already, but don't need to use it for that. (Rust? On cars? In Los Angeles? Vas is das 'rust' stoof?) ;-P

Basic stuff you need - A small wire-feed MIG welder. Proper sheet-metal shears (hand or power) and a cutoff wheel & discs (so you can cut out the bad spots and the patch from a repair panel without distorting them too much). Flanging tool to bend a "step" in the old metal to weld the patch into and have the finished patch level. A starter set of body hammers, blocks and dollies to get everything flat. A can of body filler and tube of catalyst hardener. Spot putty to fill the little scratches while doing the primer phase. Grinder/Sander and the right grinding and sanding wheels and wire wheels to get it all flat after each step. Good HVLP paint gun/blower system for spraying the primer and paint.

If you want to get fancy (and blow several hundred bucks in the process), you can buy the portable sandblaster with the vacuum media recovery system, to clean the little spots that aren't too rusty - blast them to clean out the rot, coat bare metal with rust converter, prime and fill the divots with spot putty, then final prime and paint.

Another trick is to use a "Roper-Whitney Junior" style hole punch ('paper punch' for steel) on the patch panel, and then make 'puddle welds' through the holes to tack the patch down flat (like spot welds) in several places, before running a bead around the edges. And don't do the edges in one long bead, you'll heat and warp the panel. Do an inch at a time, and then skip to the other side of the patch.

Go to a good auto parts store with a paint-mixing counter that knows their stuff, and bring the car with you (clean!). They can modify the paint color mix to match how faded the car is now. Don't be afraid to ask questions, they should know about the paint they sell...

The paint, primer, thinners and prep materials (like bare metal prep etch, glazing and spot putties, etc.) need to be bought as a complete system from one shop (or following a statement from the paint makers that these prep materials are satisfactory) and you have to follow the label directions exactly. This way you don't have to worry as much about a bad reaction and the primer not sticking to the metal, or the paint falling off the primer. If everything used is from Glasurit or PPG (or whoever), there's less potential for problems, and the inevitable "Not Me!" blame deflecting finger-pointing.

And laying down the color coat to the point where the repair is invisible takes a lot of practice and good techniques (which I haven't gotten anywhere close to yet) - practice on a beater car first, or get an old car door for practice. Or do all the prep and priming work yourself, and take it to a local body shop to let their expert shoot the final color coat.

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Check the frame for rust before you put too much into it. Squeeze the beams with your fingers and hope you don't feel any give. I had one go and know of a couple of others.

Good advice - I had an 80 4wd and kept hearing a tapping sound when I went over bumps. Turned out the frame had cracked on both sides and the tapping was the bed bouncing against the cab - when stopped they were touching. I thought about keeping it in 4wd all the time so when the back end finally broke away I could still downshift to a stop...just kidding. My frame was trashed - I could push my finger through it, but it had very little body rust.