Rusty interior advice needed!

[jbobzien]

1978 Chevy C-10 1/2 ton Scottsdale
*Disclaimer* I did not make these fixes these are ones I'm finding as I trace rust lol!
I noticed my rocker panel was rusted away to nothing the other day, and then pulled the duct tape off that was the "temporary" rocker panel painted black of course to match lol. Anyways the rust went up further so i pulled out the seat and rubber mats to see how bad it was. I found that it's apparently been patched 3 times and is looking fairly rusty. I haven't done a lot of automotive work myself, so i am looking for advice on what you guys would do in this situation. More patching? new panels? I also discovered looking at the underneath is only getting rust problems behind where the front tires would fling water up onto the underside of the body from the frame out. Between the frame pieces under neath there's no rust problem! I will eventually put a flap there to stop this problem! But if you guys could give me some advice I'd appreciate it. Pictures are below of all the major areas of rust.

Rocker Panel gone!



"Temporary" rocker panel made of duct tape lol



Forward angle on rusted away rocker panel into cab frame



The only rust on the panel that comes up inside and the seats mount on. This piece actually looks brand new everywhere but here



View of the entire floor board. You can see the blue painted plate that looks to have been riveted in place, and next to that it looks as if another panel was placed there and you can see a substance that looks an awful lot like roof tar all around it =( you can also see the rust on the passenger side of the floor board and it also has one small patch.



Here is the passenger side floor board you can see the patch and the crack which you can see through to the ground.



This is the underside of the drivers side



Underside of the drivers side



Different angle of previous



So what do you guys think?

[enaberif]

Get a new cab!

Be cheaper than all the time, work, and cost to fix that one.

[1984 swb chevy]

Originally Posted by enaberif

Get a new cab!

Be cheaper than all the time, work, and cost to fix that one.

That would be the best thing to do.

[oldgmc]

Here in the north east that looks like typical rust for a old truck
On my 79 I had to replace both rockers ,cab corners one floor brace and both front fenders,floor was patched by previous owner . I got the rockers and braces from jcw see link

http://www.jcwhitney.com/5-PC-ROCKER...1014_10101.jcw

[billnorman]

I thought mine was bad! I'd be looking for a new cab. Nice pictures. There are good replacement rocker panels made inexpensively that go part way up the door frame. I see a lot of moisture on the floor and a patch where the trannie may have had a floorshift? I have patched my '85 a lot, but somewhere along the line you need something to weld patches to. I don't see much. Maybe I'm being too critical, but it looks grim. You must have a MIG welder to repair something like this, and I think you have to take the cab off, as a minimum, to fix something this severe. With pictures this good, you could do a nice documentary for the website. Let us know how it turns out.

[rod86]

ooh thats scary, glad mine isnt that bad....

[bigarmzz]

i'd either part that bad boy out, or get a new cab man..thats worse than most up this way, and around here there's lots of salt on the roads

[old Rusty C10]

the parts are cheap enough but the labor is what kills.. in all honesty id look for a new cab as ive been there and tried all that and the next go round its gonna be as easy on me as possible and that is swapping the cab

[80stepsideguy]

Question,
how is the other side as far as rust? If its the same i would reccomend just replacing the cab.By the time you get all the parts needed and the time you got invested trying to get ALL the rust removed and then your bodywork it be easier to find a better shape cab.I went thru the same cenario with my trucks 1st cab..The floors were once replaced as well as the rockers but i had to put another set of rockers on it as well as inner rockers, inner cab corners, cab corners and also a set of patch panels right where the seat hmp is on both sides.Eventually i ended up replacing cabs cause the rot was bad, the back part of the floors by the seat bolts was rotting there and the p/o mustve had a windshield replaced as under the windshield that entire channel was rotted.Once i had some money saved up i found a pretty solid cab from a 85.So think of what is best for you.Invest into parts and making sure you got it all out(the rust and rot) or look for a solid cab and be that much ahead of the game and keep the old cab if you want to practice on replacing the rot.Or do what i did, gut the cab take a sawzaw and chop it up and scrap it.
Just my .02

thanks
pat