Body Rot Help '72 K20

[JohnHavla]

I recently bought this K20 and got a great deal. It does need some help in a number of areas but I've got two items I consider outside of my area of expertise and would appreciate some help.

Here are some key considerations:

1. This will be a working truck not a garage queen or full restoration.

2. I do plan on doing paint and body work but I'm not going to worry if it gets "used" as originally intended.

3. I do want to either stop the existing body rot or substantially retard its progress for as long a period as possible. I figure I'll live another 20 years.

4. I'm prepared to spend a couple of thousand (or so) getting the body right in accordance with the above standards.

Here are my main issues:

Interior: Do I go to a firm such as LMC to get replacement left side floor panels or another route (Remember, not a show truck but the fix should last about 10 years minimum). I can see daylight through the rot.



Exterior: I'll begin with sand blasting to at least understand what is beneath the rot, but given the photo what are opinions on the LMC approach. Or do I just try to find a replacement bed in better condition. At this time I've not found any "daylight". I also do not mind a spray on bed liner after repairs as the truck will be used for ranch activities.

Other than these two areas the body is in excellent condition, sans the paint of course.

My sincerest thanks to all.

John

[70LonghornCST]

Hello John, and welcome to the forums! As far as your concern about if you should try to repair the rust or try to find an inexpensive replacement, I would go with fixing it yourself. If you already have basic welding skills, you should be able to fix it realitively easy. If you have never welded before, I would see about borrowing someone's welder (if that's an option for) and mess around with tacking sheet metal. Basically practice with some spare metal and see how it works for you. Youtube has many basic turorials on this, not to mention the vast bit of information found on this site. My last reason is, there is nothing like the feeling of learning something new...especially when it comes to our hobby: trucks! I'm not saying that there is not a learning curve, it's just that the rewards are worth the time learning.

Good luck!
Richard

[JohnHavla]

Richard,

Excellent advice! My step dad "Dad" just gave me a Miller 200 MIG welder. I'm still getting lessons at my parents house and my welds look like garbage, but I like the idea!

John

[JohnHavla]

I changed the title to be more descriptive.

[68shortwide]

There are many companies selling replacement body metal though I don't prefer lmc that's just my opinion. Gmcpauls, brothers, classic industries, classic parts etc. Are some others. I'm in a similar situation with my 68, rusty and crusty! (gotta love Missouri winters!) I'm prolly gonna go to gmcpauls or sokyclassics for my stuff just cause id rather support board vendors. Good luck with the welding its certainly a learning experience!

[my67c20]

First off welcome to the board. Without seeing more detail, and really understanding the rusted areas, i would say that it is hard to say how much work you are in for. What you need to be concerned with is the rot that you do not see. Not trying to scare you, but things in Cali tend to rust on the inside first. That salt air gets into all those nice body panel seams, and does a wonderful job of creeping out on you. I would suggest taking an ice pick and poking around in the areas that you think might need work, such as, rockers, door bottoms, drip rails, window edges, etc. Also spray the windshield with some water and see if you get water inside on the floor. All these things will help you to determine the extent of the repair work. Personally, i probably repaired more than i should have vs buying a donor cab, but i was up for the challenge, and learned allot, plus i enjoyed the satisfaction of knowing what was done. This is just a little flavor of what i did, and yes my truck came from Cali. Fortunately, now that i am in the Midwest i have 9 months of good garage time. Overall this work took 6 months a few hours per day.