Grit dog
Full Access Member
- Joined
- May 18, 2020
- Posts
- 5,985
- Reaction score
- 9,933
- Location
- Washington
- First Name
- Todd
- Truck Year
- 1986
- Truck Model
- K20
- Engine Size
- 454
Re-looking at @TheRustMan pictures, it appears that the rust is from the outside -in. Which is good news.
Only say this because our truck had similar rust around the windshield and back window. And I was pleasantly surprised when the corrosion was limited to basically the area immediately surrounding the holes in the metal.
Literally 1/8” or 1/4” away from the very rust hole was good metal and not degraded at all.
Easy to test. Take a screwdriver or a punch and hit the areas around the rust holes. You’ll be able to chase the extent of the rot pretty easily before even digging into it.
Done properly, you could likely make it last a long time with your plan, I think.
I woulda never thought so until I saw a truck we had at work (a long time ago). It was a 70s Ramcharger around 1990, in Chicago, so it should have been a pile of ferric oxide by then, but it was extremely clean (with new paint as well). It wasn’t until someone crunched a quarter panel that I (and my boss) realized that most of the entire truck had anywhere from a skim to 1/2” thick of bondo.
Someone was an auto body artist with a lot of skill (and sandpaper!) to make the whole truck smooth.
Point was this thing probably had 5 years of being daily driven and winter snowplow duty.
Compared to @TheRustMan truck which the rusted out areas are pretty protected from paint chips and road damage and flexing (since structural cab metal is behind all those areas). And it’s easy to finish since it doesn’t need to be “perfect” to look good in the door jambs and under the window seals if there’s rust there too.
So similar to that old Ramcharger, bondo is cheap and if your time is free, you can do a lot of manual labor (sanding) for far less $, time and skill than replacing the whole cab or doing proper metal patch repairs.
That little stuff is time consuming. I had an easy 2 full days into metal patching around the windshield and back window. And it was only a half dozen actual patch pieces and maybe 10 spots that I could just booger weld up small pin holes.
Only say this because our truck had similar rust around the windshield and back window. And I was pleasantly surprised when the corrosion was limited to basically the area immediately surrounding the holes in the metal.
Literally 1/8” or 1/4” away from the very rust hole was good metal and not degraded at all.
Easy to test. Take a screwdriver or a punch and hit the areas around the rust holes. You’ll be able to chase the extent of the rot pretty easily before even digging into it.
Done properly, you could likely make it last a long time with your plan, I think.
I woulda never thought so until I saw a truck we had at work (a long time ago). It was a 70s Ramcharger around 1990, in Chicago, so it should have been a pile of ferric oxide by then, but it was extremely clean (with new paint as well). It wasn’t until someone crunched a quarter panel that I (and my boss) realized that most of the entire truck had anywhere from a skim to 1/2” thick of bondo.
Someone was an auto body artist with a lot of skill (and sandpaper!) to make the whole truck smooth.
Point was this thing probably had 5 years of being daily driven and winter snowplow duty.
Compared to @TheRustMan truck which the rusted out areas are pretty protected from paint chips and road damage and flexing (since structural cab metal is behind all those areas). And it’s easy to finish since it doesn’t need to be “perfect” to look good in the door jambs and under the window seals if there’s rust there too.
So similar to that old Ramcharger, bondo is cheap and if your time is free, you can do a lot of manual labor (sanding) for far less $, time and skill than replacing the whole cab or doing proper metal patch repairs.
That little stuff is time consuming. I had an easy 2 full days into metal patching around the windshield and back window. And it was only a half dozen actual patch pieces and maybe 10 spots that I could just booger weld up small pin holes.
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