Newbie...aka...holy... what did i get myself into!

[asizemore]

Hey guys, I was just mashing some ass at work and decided to formally introduce myself to the forum. I have been lurking around and reading all of the great material you guys post for quite a while now and I have to say, there are some VERY talented people on this forum! Anyway, im sure my story sounds familiar to most C10 owners. I have recently acquired a 69 C10 Shortbed that needs a decent amount of work. The cab, as you can probably guess, is crap (east coast). It will need inner/outer rockers, cab corners, some floor pan, and other random spots here and there. I think I can do most of the items just mentioned but there are several places that I am unsure of and that patch/repair panels are not available. But on a good note, the bed floor, one bed side, drip rails, and window channels are fairly rust free lol. I will post pics of the truck and problem areas as soon as I get home from work. I am positive you guys will steer me in the right direction on whether or not I would be wasting my time sandblasting and doing repair work to the cab or just cut my losses and attempt to find a better example. And again, thanks for all the help and I will post pics as soon as I can.

[hugger6933]

Welcome to the site your gonna find a lots of help and good advice here on this site to get your project moving farther along. It is just like eating an elephant you have to go one bite at a time. Jim

[71chevyc10hvycvy]

Wow i'm in he exact same situation. Any parts available down south by you?

[asizemore]

Originally Posted by hugger6933

Welcome to the site your gonna find a lots of help and good advice here on this site to get your project moving farther along. It is just like eating an elephant you have to go one bite at a time. Jim

In my case, a full grown adult elephant lol..But I have already found tons of build ideas and excellent rust repair threads.

[asizemore]

Originally Posted by 71chevyc10hvycvy

Wow i'm in he exact same situation. Any parts available down south by you?

Not really, people want so much for C10's in good shape these days. Ive looked around for rust free cabs but they all seem to need basically the same thing I need.

[hugger6933]

Full grown elephants indeed. If any of you ever met me you would know I've done quite a few a bite at a time ,6'3 375#. The rust parts are the common areas guys that is why you can buy them at the 7/11. No not really but they are every where. In my body shop I have tried lots of other parts the last order I got in came from Top Banana and they will have my business as long as they have what I need to fix the three trucks that are in my shop for frame offs. Jim

[asizemore]

The day I brought it home..

[asizemore]

The way she sits as of yesterday

[kcsa75]

Welcome aboard.

[hugger6933]

I had a best friend that knew nothing of the car game or how to fix them, he is dead and gone now I still miss him but he had a lot of confidence in my work and he would always say "it ain't nothing that Bondo won't fix". But towards the end just as his cancer was showing itself I and the other guys at my shop built him a wrecked current year custom van. I got him, back by saying things like "If your van were in Mexico it would be called Bondo El Grande" That last pic just triggered that memory of my lost friend. Thanks, Jim

[Tinkermc]

Welcome to the Forum and thanks for the pics

[Carl Spangler]

What's that tan stuff on the last pic? Yikes, that's some serious rust!

Best of luck and please keep posting pics of the repair.
JohnG

[asizemore]

That was one of many handfuls of filler I dug out..Its amazing what people will do with that stuff!

[asizemore]

More rust pics..

[asizemore]

More..

[truckdude239]

i would seriously find another cab they can be had that dont need any work, worst case i'd do a whole floor pan replacement on that one

[Dean'smeanmachine]

dude, the rust isent that bad. check out my thread. i think ive got more rust going on. im on the east "coast" too

[asizemore]

Yeah I just wanted to get some input on whether its worth all the work. This will be my first restoration of this magnitude but I think I can take care of the rockers, cab corners, and floor work. Im mainly worried about the cowl corners and where the wiper motor is located, as I haven't found repair/patch panels for those.

[oldschool18]

Your cab is bad but not that bad, it can be fixed and your not going to find patch panels for everything. Like the whole around your wiper motor is bad but the whole around mine is about 3x as big, I went and cut out a good patch panel from another truck. If I could of found a nicer cab here in PA I would of got one.
And welcome to the board.......you will find a lot of help here

[Carl Spangler]

Originally Posted by truckdude239

i would seriously find another cab they can be had that dont need any work, worst case i'd do a whole floor pan replacement on that one

^^^^^

I agree, it's just NOT worth the time/money to fix that cab. Chances are real good that the roof skin/edge is also toast. JMO

cheers
JohnG

[asizemore]

Thanks for the help guys, I think im going try and find a more rust free cab. If anyone is close to Charleston SC and could use this cab and some other body panels, you are more than welcome to come pick it up on the cheap.