Random 98.5 Questions.

I'm not sure what it would cost to repaint. I do have an idea for you though that would run you under $100 if it's something you would like the look of.

Sand down the surface rust and coat it all down with Duplicolor bedliner from Walmart. Run it all the way down the rocker panels and on the inside along the bottom of the door. Mine isnt rusting but I'm going to do this very soon. I'm putting in the bed liner from walmart in the bed right now and going to use the same stuff for the rockers. Looks great on the rockers imo, and definitely cheaper than paint if you like the look.

I was skeptical about this Walmart stuff at first but I'm really glad I bought it versus $700 for a linex bed liner. Wish I had tried it before getting Linex in my 07. For the whole bed on my 98 cost me $95 and I'm really happy with it so far.

Anyway I'm rambling. Just an idea if you like the look. Some do and some don't.

I like the bedliner idea. I would do that, but wouldn't try to match the color. Just go with grey or black.

As to the oil, I think the conventional stuff is just fine, and you shouldn't be able to take advantage of the longevity as your oil will get too dirty. The 15-40 stuff is supposed to be getting reformulated to take out the ash/phosphate (yay!) since the new ulsd fuel is not as acid, but also taking out the zinc which is a SIGNIFICANT wear inhibitor (boo!) due to incompatibility with common rail catalytic converters.

I will probably be switching to straight 40 wt to keep the zinc. I have rebuilt a significant number of engines, and have seen pre zinc engines and post zinc engines, and have yet to see a post zinc engine with a cylinder ridge (even one that smoked a crank/rod from NO OIL till it siezed). 'Course it wouldn't be the first time I was called a crackpot, but you can verify this information fairly easily.