How Much Rust is Too Much?

[MistaGavin]

Have been looking for a Blazer for about a year up here in AK and there really aren't too many around. The few that do come up for sale have the typical rusted rockers and floors. Although this mean these trucks are fairly inexpensive, I know from restoring my 70 pickup that chasing down rust can keep you busy for a while.

This CST popped up for sale and I'm thinking about checking it out but it's 400 miles away. Looks like some pretty bad cancer on the doors and in front of the rear wheels. I know I can get patch panels, but Blazer doors are difficult to source up here. What do you guys think of the truck and the price he is asking?

http://anchorage.craigslist.org/cto/4638420468.html

[briank]

Looks decent,blazer doors are the same as truck doors,just cut . Always try to get it lower as far as price goes but if its complete and runs, not a bad price , especially considering where you're at.

[grillzy]

Body is very rusty and lots of old bondo repairs paint etc etc. I'd be checking the frame. Everything is repairable so to speak. Definitely everything below the cst trim line will need to be replaced incl all of the floor. Thats with out looking at it in person. I'd put it into the nice parts truck category.

[truckster]

How much rust is too much? How much are you willing to replace? I guess the real question is, would it be worth a trip to the lower 48 to find something relatively free of rust? Mine had one spot on the door and a small area behind the passenger door that had a small rust hole (about an inch in diameter), but it spent its entire life before I got in in the Nevada desert.

[MistaGavin]

A trip down to the states would be about $1500 just in gas to trailer one back. I have replaced floor patches and inner/outer rockers before. I'm just wondering where it becomes a basket case that isnt worth the trouble. I can get patches for the rear quarters and complete rockers inexpensively, but I assume not having enough solid materal for the floors is probably a huge headache.

[landy]

It depends on what your ultimate plan is - a restoration, a driver, or something in between, and how much time, money, and skill you have. The price seems reasonable, but as bad as the rust looks in the pics, you should assume it's far worse than just what's visible.

I think you're looking at a lot of time and money to replace all the rusty sheetmetal. As one of the previous posters said, it might make a good parts vehicle.

[Law Dog 425]

If I could get a trailer up there to pick it up, I would get that truck. I live in Dallas and a Blazer in that condition goes for about $5000 here. I say buy it.

[MistaGavin]

I think I will be contacting him and another Blazer owner to see if they can send me better pictures and I can make a decision if it is worth making the 6 hour drive and picking either up. Can any of you detectives tell if it is a double wall or single wall top? Am completely new to the Blazer side of things but from what little research I have done the singles are more desireable and easier to remove.

[rsavage]

Looks like a double wall to me. Single wall would have bolts visible as they bolt down through the rail as opposed to up through from underneath Also would have dome ights on the side but the can't be seen in the photos. IMO, that Blazer looks pretty far gone. If that much rust is showing, there will be tons more found. No underneath photos? Before I would drive six hours I would get photos of the underside, torque boxes, rear floor, rocker and floor area when the doors are open, etc. Remember, in most cases, photos make the vehicle look better than it really is. I once drove 400 miles with my trailer and cash to buy a 69 442. I had at least 40 photos sent to me and assurances that there was no rust and No bondo. In 30 seconds of in-person inspection, I knew the guy was a liar and it was not something I would buy. Bondo covering the pinch welds on the bottom of the doors and the underside of the trunk lid.

[skorpioskorpio]

If your intent is to make it right and make a clean mostly rust free tub, that $1500 drive will probably seem cheap in the long run. Personally I think that truck is pretty gone, and it'd be one thing if you had a personal sentimental attachment to it, but as a new buy, I personally would pass, actually more like run away. Looks like everything below the belt trim is gone including doors and quarters, that means you'd probably need:

Full quarters
Fenders
Front and rear wheelwells
Rockers
Torque boxes
Torque box ends
Floor (which you'll need to adapt from a pickup floor)
Kick panels
A pillar ends
B pillar ends
Doors
The specialized blazer only end plates and structure at the floor to bed transition.

...and also likely...

windshield cap kit
cowl plenum
tailgate
bed floor
under bed structure

...and after that there will probably still be patching of unavailable parts.

Most of the trim is damaged or missing as are the badges, I think you'll be $10K into that easily and that's if you do it yourself. For that you could get a decent Southwest truck and pay for the trip and probably get away with just rockers, floor ends and kicks and pay for your trip to get to the same point. MHO.

I've seen lots of rust repair threads on here and that one in low resolution, poorly lit pics looks worse than most and it's almost always worse than it looks.

[JGray]

I have a 71 K5 CST Blazer with similar rust to this one and have been asking myself the same question as to how much rust is too much. I've been trying to get to a decision to restore it, sell it or part it out. I've been told by an individual locally that I feel is pretty knowledgeable that mine is a $2000-2500 truck here in Montana (he was interested in it until he saw it...).

Personally, I wouldn't buy one needing this much work. My problem is I do have some sentimental attachment to it - it was immaculate when I bought it in 1992 and I've lived in three different States with it since then. It looks worse than what you can see in this pic, and I know will get worse if I dive in...