Above windshield rust

[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?

[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.

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[Roadkillerv8]

Passenger door(underneath)
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[Roadkillerv8]

Passenger rockers look good
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[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.

[stsalvage]

Originally Posted by 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.

.

Boy you took the words out of my mouth there is a GMC cab here in Calif s
complete AC cab for 1000.00 its Green Inland Empire

[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?
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[dubds10]

Originally Posted by 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?
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Out here since there's so many trucks you can often find rust free stuff from $100-500. If you're looking at anything higher, it's often worth it to buy a second truck and just part it out to make some money back and offset the costs for the other truck. That's what I've always done so my projects end up being close to free in the end.

[Roadkillerv8]

Originally Posted by dubds10

Out here since there's so many trucks you can often find rust free stuff from $100-500. If you're looking at anything higher, it's often worth it to buy a second truck and just part it out to make some money back and offset the costs for the other truck. That's what I've always done so my projects end up being close to free in the end.

$500 for a good cab? That almost sounds to good to be true.
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[dubds10]

Originally Posted by Roadkillerv8

$500 for a good cab? That almost sounds to good to be true.
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Last one I sold was a solid rust free 1967 Cali cab with doors and all good glass, just no seat $600. Last time I saw a rust free bare cab was a month or two ago in Seattle for $150. There are lots of guys in the hobby locally who part them out and don't try to rape the next guy on the prices lol Go on FB and look up the NorthwestC10 group.

[Roadkillerv8]

Well i apperciate all the input fellas. I think im going to end up getting a good can and probably using that to patch up mine. That plan has been put on hold as of today because while going about 50 she wasnt shifting right and i heard some strange noises amd upon driving it later in the day it picks its own time to shift which usually isnt the right time and makes an almost grinding noise. I have a reciept for a rebuild in 2011 of the tanny and motor, so i dont know whats up. The truck had a broken bearing that was found in the transmission when i had someone looking into my leaky rear main so maybe that happened again though it never made and noises or deove differently then. Or maybe its the bands, thats my fathers guess, but he hasnt gotten to hear it yet. Just problems one faces with old cars/trucks i guess...