Above windshield rust

[68gmsee]

That's exactly where mine was. Drove me crazy for about 6 months. Caulked and siliconed every crack I could find and nothing would work until I checked the wiper motor seal.

Use some silicone where the antenna cable goes into the cab under the cowl (just to be safe) and then check the wiper motor seal.

[Roadkillerv8]

Thanks for the tip, i will definitly check that when i get the cowl off. Dont have much time today with it being christmas eve and having a party but ill definitly try the motor seal too.

Thanks

[ss454conv]

I think you are getting a good lesson on where these trucks can all leak from. The pic you posted of the drip rails says it all to me though. When the drip rail leaks, it basically flows to all of the pinch welds above the windshield, above the doors and down the "A" pillars. It can even run down the "B" pillar and form rust between the rear cab skin and the door pillar. IMHO roof rust is the death of these trucks. The other areas are not good but can be repaired with the reproduction parts that are available. I have some pics but I need to sort through them. You can see in the pic that I posted, where the water will go when the roof seam fails. It's not pretty.

[Roadkillerv8]

Originally Posted by ss454conv

I think you are getting a good lesson on where these trucks can all leak from. The pic you posted of the drip rails says it all to me though. When the drip rail leaks, it basically flows to all of the pinch welds above the windshield, above the doors and down the "A" pillars. It can even run down the "B" pillar and form rust between the rear cab skin and the door pillar. IMHO roof rust is the death of these trucks. The other areas are not good but can be repaired with the reproduction parts that are available. I have some pics but I need to sort through them. You can see in the pic that I posted, where the water will go when the roof seam fails. It's not pretty.

Why is there a hole in the inner roof? What good does it do? Just GM making way for rust.

So what youre saying is my truck is a pile?

[ss454conv]

I did not want to take the air out of your sails but I did want to make sure you knew what you are up against before you tore into it. I wish I had someone to let me know what I was getting into.

[swamp rat]

Originally Posted by Roadkillerv8

Why is there a hole in the inner roof? What good does it do? Just GM making way for rust.

The hole is where the visor go's

[Spartan]

I just wanted to chime in and say your truck is definately not a pile.
These trucks have no provision for corrosion control. They really weren't intended to be beat to death and last for 45 years.
Your truck is really nice and if it runs find your leak and stop the leak.
Drive it until you have time, money and a good plan of action.

I look at it this way. I will drive a rust bucket as long as the brakes and drivetrain are safe. If it goes and stops everything else can be dealt with. True the roof rust kills many of these trucks but in a way it's one of the challenges of any hobby to make better the shortfalls.

Check out velocity channel. Guys and gals are bringing vehicle back from the dead daily. Granted we don't all have the wallet or skills or sponsers or maybe any of those things but the love you develop for your ride will get you pretty far. I've seen guys work in their parking space at their apartment building in freezing weather because that's all they had.

So yeah...that's my opinion. I used to work in the dirt under a fir tree. Finally I saved enough to build a modest shop. Now things are cozy. Enjoy the truck. Enjoy the journey the truck takes you on. If its too much at this time in your life maybe it won't be later?

[Roadkillerv8]

So what im hearing is that i have a lot of work ahead of me but that shouldnt keep me from enjoying the pickup. I tarp it when it rains, with a soft rainproof tarp i got for christmas that covers the whole thing. So as long as i keep it tarped for the wet days, that should slow the rust, Obviously not stop it, but its better than leaving it out. Right?

[dubds10]

Where in WA are you? These truck are plentiful out here in the PNW and tons and tons of rust free trucks especially the eastern WA trucks. Haven't seen the rest of your truck, so how bad is it overall? Sometimes a cab swap is easier that doing all the metal work if the roof, floors, cowl etc need repair. Usually able to find a rust free cab cheap up here as well. If you're not a welder, I wouldn't try doing any major body work either, as that's usually when an OK truck turns into scrap. Anymore pics of the truck?

[69Tom]

Seeing as it's had 3 paint jobs, I wouldn't do anything to that cab until you get it down to bare metal. At that point, you can assess how much rust damage there is. It is here that you will determine whether you want to repair it yourself (buy a welder, gas, cart, helmet; watch videos on how to weld, repair sheet metal etc.), have someone else repair the rust, or look for a nice cab in a dry state and have it shipped to you.

There's no point in slapping on more paint over what's on there. You have no idea if there's filler covering stuff up, etc. I'd say if there's as much rust as there is showing, there's a bunch of stuff lurking that you don't even know about. Certainly not saying this to be discouraging, but only to be realistic and to make sure you don't waste time and money half-a$$ing it only to have more problems surface later.

You can keep driving it as it is, but there's quite a bit of moisture in the air where you live so it'll only keep getting worse after time. Or, you could just say f-it, drive it as it is until it falls apart, and then find a new cab and use that one.

If I were you, seeing as you currently driving the truck (not sure if it's your daily driver or not), I would drive the truck as is and look for a dry, rust free cab. While still driving your truck, get that new cab media blasted down to bare metal, have any minor repairs that need to be done completed, get it put into primer, and then paint. This way, it's done and out of the way. Then you just have to worry about stripping paint off your doors, fenders, and hood. Lastly, and I can speak from experience here, don't bite off more than you can chew financially. Because what happens is, you get some of the work done and then may have to wait forever to get the next stage done. At this point, you aren't driving the vehicle, it's sitting there in pieces, and you can't see the end of the tunnel. And it is here where you start to lose interest, get discouraged, and never get the vehicle back on the road. Don't fall into this trap.... It happens to A LOT of people. haha.

[Roadkillerv8]

Im in puyallup/tacoma area. Im gonna post a bunch of pics and my phone only lets me post one at a time so here we go. This is the passenger drip rail.

[Roadkillerv8]

Originally Posted by Roadkillerv8

Im in puyallup/tacoma area. Im gonna post a bunch of pics and my phone only lets me post one at a time so here we go. This is the passenger drip rail.

Posted via Mobile Device

[Roadkillerv8]

Passenger door(underneath)
Posted via Mobile Device

[Roadkillerv8]

Passenger rockers look good
Posted via Mobile Device

[Roadkillerv8]

Inside above driver door
Posted via Mobile Device

[Roadkillerv8]

Along the windshield looks good from what can be seen.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Roadkillerv8]

Driverside rocker seems good too. The whole floor is also solid from what i know.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Roadkillerv8]

Above passenger door on outside of roof
Posted via Mobile Device

[Roadkillerv8]

Roof
Posted via Mobile Device

[Roadkillerv8]

Passenger side firewall rust.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Roadkillerv8]

Drivers side firewall
Posted via Mobile Device

[Roadkillerv8]

Engine is dirty, took her off road and havent cleaned yet. Only has 10,000 on engine/tranny rebuild.
Posted via Mobile Device

[Roadkillerv8]

Above windshield. What scares me most. Along with the firewall rust.
Posted via Mobile Device

[dubds10]

Windshield and firewall rust is the worst and I stay away from any truck that has it. Looking at those pics, it looks like you have issues that were just covered up by paint and weren't fixed previously. Personally depending on the cost of the truck and what you're working with, I would just clean the truck up as best as possible and maybe lightly sand down the suspect areas and repaint them to look decent and protect the metal. At least give a good 10 foot appearance until a time comes that you can replace the cab or actually get all the rust fixed properly which wont be cheap and of course means tearing the truck apart.

The main issue is once a truck is torn apart, it rarely goes back together in the time frame you expect. Or you find another truck that's rust free, since we have a ton of these trucks here in the PNW and then sell this one unless there's sentimental value to it.

[Roadkillerv8]

While the idea of selling this truck for another has been in my head im not sure i could do that now that its carried me through me senior year of high school. I almost feel obligated to restore it haha. My idea was to buy a rust free cab, eliminating all of my rust problems and then shoving this cab into a corner in my garage to restore later in my life if i decide to do that. Kind of strange i know, but its the original cab so i think one day it should go back on. Any idea what a rust free cab will run me around here?
Posted via Mobile Device