Another(bondo) C.L. disappointmnt....

[MotorSeven]

In my search for a decent cab for the '68, i went & looked at a truck almst 2 hrs away. They guy said it had "some bondo" on it, but the cab was in good shape. Well, after seeing this truck, maybe there should be some type of Bondo test or license.....even a 4hr certification class for god's sake! There had to be several gallons of the stuff liberally applied & smoothed out with their hands. The door handles had been removed & filled(yes you had to reach in thru the vent window to open the door), the dash pad holes were all filled in with a lumpy finish, the cargo light & all side markers filled and cracking. Underneath all that was a gaudy color of ......yes.....PURPLE!
I just had to walk away, even though the price was in my range. If anyone wants a short rolling frame with 5 lug disc near Knoxville he is asking $400 for the whole truck:http://knoxville.craigslist.org/cto/905205467.html

The owner bought it that way for the parts he was going to put on a '72, but never got around to it.

On the bright side, gas is down & i got to get rid of the flat spots on my 20' beaver tail trailer

RD

[thirdstreettito]

Whoa...

[jlaird]

This sounds like the story of my life. I looked at countless cabs that the owner described totally wrong. Either people lie, or are just idiots. One time before I drove there I asked how the cab supports were. "They're good" the guy says. I get there and they are COMPLETELY rotted out. I wanted to kill the guy. I feel your pain!

Some tips, I wouldn't look at anything that had been repainted. Also nothing that had rust around the drip rails. I also always asked about the cab supports including the outriggers and the support under the gas tank.

Good luck!

[Jtrux]

I went and looked at a blazer near me that the owner said had typical rust for a blazer. There were literally fist sized holes in the bed sides and the windshield frame was toast. Typical...I think not.

[Gregs67]

I have dedicated the last year of my life to MAJOR RUST REPAIR.......because nothing rust-free is affordable. So, Ive got 5 rusty projects ahead of me.

The REAL ballbuster, even worse than starting out with a rusty husk of a vehicle, is starting on one that someone has started the rust repair on. YOU NEVER KNOW WHAT LURKS UNDER THE CURRENT "REPAIR". Always, always always an unpleasant surprise. I come from the musclecar world, where 3 to 4 decades of beatings, youthful sins, and good-intentioned "repairs" overlap each other and rear thier ugly heads in horrible ways. (Vinyl tops removed, bondo'd up, and new vinyl re-installed, wheelwells clearanced for slicks in the 70's "repaired" with a gallon of bondo in the 80s, then a whole new 1/4 put on OVER that in the 90s, etc, etc)
Usually, If I see new cab corners, rockers, or mud I will RUN AWAY as if my butt was on fire. "Yeah, I fixed it right, cut out all the rust and welded new patch panels on" so sayeth the man, only to find that they have been POP RIVETED, SHEET METAL SCREWED, and/or has been put on RIGHT OVER THE OLD STUFF, and occasionally, simply fiberglassed onto the old panel.........in the rare case that it HAS actually been welded on, it has usually been lapped, warped, heated, bent and hammered to fit .....and it is already starting to rust again underneath. I have seen some damn funny stuff, from roofing tar and old license plates covering rust holes with paint over top of that, balloons inflated inside a rot hole then bondo'd over, all the way to a project that was actually STARTED correctly and suddenly the guy got bored or broke, and started lobbing mud in becasue he was burning out on the project.

So, gimme a virgin, original rust bucket ANYDAY, at least I know what I'm working with and what lies ahead, instead of underneath. Often people will make the damage worse in an attempt to "fix" it, ("yup, me and my son 'glassed in the new patch panels. Looks good, don't it?") and they are usually proud of the results as you stand there and silently think to yourself: Nooooooooooooooo

Usually, I check 'em with a tiny drill bit in an obscure spot for depth of mud and severity of rust. Occasionally youll get lucky with a decent repair.......but not often.