Cab Repair. Do you think its worth it?

[willett]

Hiya!

for starters here i am finally going to attempt to repair my rusty ol' cab.
the big question right now is wether or not i just replace the whole cab.

Both floor pans are showing rust on the outside near the rockers, and the passenger floor pan has a nasty rust belt over top of the cab support which has also turned to dust.

cab corners on both sides are pretty far gone, and rockers are a complete write-off.

the kick panels (i think thats what they are called) are rotten at the bottom where they meet the floor pan.


passenger-side floor pan

passenger-side rocker

Driver-side Cab corner

Kick Panel?

Driver-Side Rocker.


What do you guys think?
i have never done any body work before, but i have a few experienced buddies who are willing to help me out and I have about half of the sheet metal that i need.

Is this a worthwhile job or am i wasting my time here?

[Matt Man]

i think you should just get another one probably much less time consuming and it might just be the same in price for both. Im glad i live in california for this reason. i feel bad for people in the northeast....

[GmtGmt]

is it the lower part of the cab?
because then you can get repro parts for a decent price
thats what i was planing to do but my cab was very rust in the roof and door areas so another one was the best for me

[willett]

just rust on the floor area

[vtwinsport]

Hey- that looks just like my truck
I am cutting them out and welding in new stuff in the spring cause I don't have a life .. but still I think its worth it if you don't mind the work

[74 C-30]

huh, looks like my truck too!

[donut]

It depends on how much you want to tackle.
Believe it or not mine was worse,but trying to find a good '73 cab was harder.

[Tex_50613]

which ever way you choose to go I will suggest getting a good profesional sprayed on undercoating and rust inhibitor done so the problem doesn't re-occure.... I personally replaced the outer body pannels and re-fabrecated the floor and front cab mounts from scratch, I could have just bought repro pans and would have if I was building a show truck but I contured the new floor to drain the water out of the cab when mudding

[STOCKISH]

I would just look for another cab. If you dont mind a little drive, come on down to the states and find a good rust free one. They are cheap and plentiful down here. A buddy of mine bought one last week for $75 bucks. Not a spot of rust on it anywhere.

[SBTork]

Originally Posted by 1972SuperCheyenne

I would just look for another cab. If you dont mind a little drive, come on down to the states and find a good rust free one. They are cheap and plentiful down here. A buddy of mine bought one last week for $75 bucks. Not a spot of rust on it anywhere.

damn $75 for a rust free cab.....I'd buy a couple at that price. I don't have such luck here in WI.

[willett]

hmm i will start poking around for a new cab... though i might just end up hacking the rust off of this one

[BIG10]

It's worth it. I've seen much worse in project threads on this very board. Like Gmt said, if it's mostly in the floor, you can get the repro panels.

[xrcr]

I'll take a 76 Custom Deluxe 20 for $75.00 as well. It doesn't happen that way in MO either

[N2TRUX]

It really depends on your ability to locate a good cab. In Texas we would throw that away. Only because we can get rust free cabs at any time. Where your from, not so much.

See how far you will need to travel to get a clean cab. That should help you decide on the cost effectiveness of repairing that one.

[Damien]

That isn't that bad. My dad just spent a week on his '72 that was much much worse. The only reason he did the '72 was because his dad bought the truck new. Yours will be pretty easy. That is typical rust around here too which makes a $75 cab with a title look the same way. A clean cab will go for $300 to $800 depending on how nice it is and how complete.

[STOCKISH]

Even 300-500 for a clean cab would be a better start. For starters, if you buy good quality patch panels, you will spend 200-300 bucks. I know. And what happens when the rocker panel is removed and whats under there is severely rusted. Plus if you dont have experience replacing these kind of things theres a good chance panels could wind up mis-aligned, and/or warped. We all know aftermarket panels arent THAT great. I am not trying to discourage anyone from diving head first into a project. Lord knows I do. But, if that cab doesnt have any sentimental value to the owner, I would look for a better start. There are so many of these trucks around and most people dont look at them like the 67-72 trucks so buying one with a good cab and a blown engine is usually really cheap and easy. Either way, good luck on your build. I am sure it will be awesome either way.

[Mr.Scary]

i c both points and i would say do wutever u think is best 4 u and have at it hoss!!!

[willett]

hmm.
like i said before, i have most of the sheet and a few experienced buddies who can give me some pointers so i think i am going to dive in head first here!

when i was wire brushing the cab floor to find out how much i can salvage i found somebody elses half-assed patch job over the cab support on both sides. i will post some pictures later on...

this brought up a question though:
the passenger -side cab support was full of c**p and the floor has rotted out over top of the cab supports, so would it be logical to drill a drain hole in the replacement cab support?

[donut]

On mine I used the weld on ones, there was about a 1/2" gap on the bottom. (welded up the 2 sides).

[willett]

half-inch gap on th ecab supports?

[donut]

Originally Posted by willett

half-inch gap on th ecab supports?

Just on the bottom, (weld on pieces) iirc the slip-ons have a 1/4" hole drilled in them. You can see it in the pic in this link http://store.73-87chevytrucks.com/me...tegory_Code=C1

(Mods if link is inappropriate please remove.) I tried to snap a pic, but too much flash...

[willett]

Hey, on the very last picture there is some rust (more so on the pass side) between the rocker and there the hump is that the bench mounts on top of.

what is this peice called? i asm trying to find a patch panel for it...

[smashingchuck]

Guys-

It's not that bad. Buy the panels, weld them in and be done.

[72gmcworker]

Fix it ...thats how you learn to do... if that is all the rust then get to it and learn
Call this your build thread

[willett]

okay votes are in -- i guess i'm going to learn to do some body work.

i have access to a mig welder, will it work for sheet this thin, or am i better off to use gas??


as promised here is the crap patch - job some p.o did..