Rust inside

[cunk]

I have a 65 short bed fleet that was my first vehicle. I tore it apart about ten years ago to restore and got side tracked. I am now back on the project but cancer has attacked the cab in a major way.

My theory is to separate the inner steel sheet metal from the cab at the pinch welds , repair both the inner sheet metal and the outer stuff, then epoxy prime everything inside and out, dynamat between them and then weld the inner back in at the pinch welds.

Has anyone tried to remove these before.?

For clarification, I am referring to the panels that make up the "headliner" and the back of the cab above the fuel tank.

I'm hoping the epoxy will seal everything up,and keep the rust from making a reunion tour. I may even spray some single stage paint to seal it good. I want the dynamat to kill all the reverb in that cab. I remember it being loud as heck.

My hope is that by welding back in at the pinch weld, I an keep the heat affect area very small. May even borrow a spot welder to boot.
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[1963c-10]

Might be easier, cheaper and far less time consuming to just get another cab. I haven't tackled any fixes like that, but the couple of reroofing jobs I heard about were nightmares and had some damn goof fabricaters and welders involved. Im sure some others will pipe in and offer their opinions. Maybe some pics of the problem areas will help too?

[Clyde65]

Definitely get another cab, unless you are a seasoned re builder with years of experience in that kind of work. There are plenty out there.

[cunk]

I have worked in multiple body shops and attended a high dollar technical school to learn how to do body work. the sheetmetal work doesn't bother me really. i have been trying to find a decent cab and all i see locally are thousand doller hunks of rust that are in equal shape or worse. i am in the houstin-galveston area of Texas.

ill get some pics tonight to illustrate what im wanting to repair.
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[cunk]

If you guys know of anyone in coastal Texas with a decent cab, i interested.
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[oem4me]

Roof rust? Ha! I keep hearing about how you guys are going to handle different rotted out portions of your cabs. I swear, that from my panty-waist spoiled viewpoint, I think I'd pack up and move west or just quit the old car thing altogether before tackling some of the projects you guys readily jump into. Hats off to middle American stick-to-it-ness.! I love it!

[cunk]

Please excuse my ignorance but are you being sarcastic or sincere. i am in an honest attempt to rebuild my first truck. the one that i met my wife in. the one that i learned to drive in. i assumed this would be not only a good place to catalog my build as well as seek wisdom from people who may have been in similar situations and experiences. i apologize if my desire to reclaim a rusted piece of my personal history has offended.

as well Mr oem4me im sure that the discussions soon to come on the big block, z'd frame, rear notch, air bagged, 22 inch beauty that this will become will surely not fit your fancy either.
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[Clyde65]

Settle down all, OEM was being sarcastic ( I hope), you can build yours however you wish, we here applaud that wheather it is our personal taste or not. all we are trying to say is maybe a different cab would be a better fix for your rust issues on yours. depending on how bad it is. If the rust is real bad especially above the WS, then a cab is your fastest and cheapest alternative.

Those that are in Cali and the far southwest dont have the issues we all have on the Eastern 4/5ths of the nation.

Here is one, kind of far but I would ask if cab only is available...

http://dallas.craigslist.org/dal/pts/2717224146.html

[cunk]

Thank you for the lead. i will look at it. for the record, i have looked at five or six trucks in the last few weeks and they have all had extensive rust issues. even after repeatedly asking for more pictures and asking " are you sure there's no rust holes" i drive two plus hours just to find a cab in worse shape than mine.
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[Clyde65]

I have a cab. it does have rust issues, floors, toe boards, rockers, cab corners and a few bubbles above the WS. you can have it if you want to come get it, I also have a title for it too.

[jhrusk]

I think you should try it if it means something to you.I am restoring a truck my grandfather gave me,I sold it when I was 18 and 14 years later I bought it back and in all honesty it was'nt worth fixing except for one thing,and that is that my grandfather gave it to me and that cant be replaced.I had a similar problem with the roof skin area on my truck so after thinking about it I decided to replace the roof skin from a donor truck.I cleaned the gutter out with a screwdriver and then used a wire wheel on a drill and cleaned it very well.I found all the spot welds and marked it with a sharpie(some of them I had to locate from the underside and transfer a mark to the top)and drilled the spot welds all the way around and used a small flathead screwdriver to wiggle the panel as I went to make sure it was loose and then moved to the next one.Once off I cleaned and addressed any issues that were underneath and then epoxy primed and seam sealed everything,I then installed sound deadner on the top of the inner structure and re-installed the donor roof skin,plug welded and dressed the welds and then epoxied the top side and gutter area and it is now ready for body work and seam sealer in the gutter.Sorry for being long winded I have some photos I will try to post. Jay

[oem4me]

Originally Posted by cunk

Please excuse my ignorance but are you being sarcastic or sincere. i am in an honest attempt to rebuild my first truck. the one that i met my wife in. the one that i learned to drive in. i assumed this would be not only a good place to catalog my build as well as seek wisdom from people who may have been in similar situations and experiences. i apologize if my desire to reclaim a rusted piece of my personal history has offended.

as well Mr oem4me im sure that the discussions soon to come on the big block, z'd frame, rear notch, air bagged, 22 inch beauty that this will become will surely not fit your fancy either.
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Whoa Nelly!. Easy now. To answer your question, I was being sincere, sarcastically. My sense of humor (or lack of) tends to run that way. I apologize for ANY offense, as what I was doing was sincerely applauding and admiring the tenacity with which some of you guys attack the most daunting projects. And for the record, it's not often I refer to myself as a spoiled panty-waist when I'm being serious.
You've got the truck, and it means a ton to you. It's GREAT you want to bring it back to life! GO FOR IT! And believe me, I'm all about the sentimental stuff. An old truck is not much more that a pile of metal without it.
So again, SORRY for any offense. That's not at all what I intended to convey.

[cunk]

finally got home and had a chance to really look over the cab. here are some pics. its worse than i thought.









i really apologize if i was a turd. clyde, i am thankful for your generosity, and after christmas i would love to come check out that cab youve have.

[LostMy65]

Ouch! Yes, I suggest finding another cab.
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[Clyde65]

I'll get pix for you tomorrow. I want to show you b4 you come this way
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[ChuckW]

I have to agree with LostMy65.... There's nothing to save there.... Unless you have a ton of spare time and you know a really great metal guy. Keep your search up.. There's a good body out there waiting for you to find it and bring her back
to life!!!!

[Captainfab]

From what little I can see. the floors and rockers on that cab don't look too bad. Between your cab, and Clyde's cab, you should be able to make one good cab.

[LT1 Burb]

That sucks, I just cut up a perfect roof with a BBW and took it to the scrap yard. It would have worked perfectly for you , I wouldn't touch that cab myself. You have 5000.00 worth of time and labor in it,I'd find a new one.

[cunk]

Thanks for the input guys. Im sure I'll either replace the whole top or the whole cab. I know I can do the sheet metal work. I'm just not sure I have the patience for that much of it.

Again, Clyde, thanks for the offer and I'll wait for the pics before I head to look at any others around here.
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