Common rust areas and whether to bail on a resto

[i82much]

I am kind of in a long-running debate with myself over whether to keep my truck or sell it and buy a nicer truck. A few pics of the truck are shown below.

Truck is a 72 K10 longbed, converted to a 396. I bought it from a farmer in Dusty, WA, which is on the east side (drier side) of WA. Engine runs great, transmission is great, etc. Bought it for 4k-ish and probably have a total of 10 in it between 2.5" lift, new tires and wheels, new intake, carb, front axle joints/bearings, and front end work.

So my real question is about rust. I have a 2" hole in my driver's front fender, and some bubbling in the front of one of the door panels. Also, underneath the molding looks bad and the bed is shot thanks to a slide-in plastic bedliner.

On the other hand, everything else is really pretty good in terms of rust. Is there a particular reason a truck would rust in the fender but not the cab corners or rockers? I kind of figured those would be shot too but they really feel pretty solid.

I guess I am just thinking maybe I would be better off selling and investing more $ in a rust free truck, but I wanted to see what thoughts some of you have before deciding.

[davepl]

You might want to post some pics of the problem areas, but from your description, it sounds like par for the course on these trucks except the bed. If you need a new bed floor, that's not that serious but it's a fair bit of work I imagine.

My WA truck was rust-free but came out of California. Unless you're getting a southwest dry truck, you're going to have some rust to contend with.

I'd do a thorough inspection if you haven't already, checking the cab corners and other common trouble spots, and if there are no more big surprises, I'd go ahead. But it helps if you can do some of the work yourself, as rust repair does get expensive.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Sounds negligible to me. The cab on my 72 has rust punched through along the windshield, gutter, firewall and all four corners of the floor. Some tell me that's nothing..............Ha. Not sure I agree, but I'm no expert.

[dfwright]

I agree it would be easier to consider if we had some pictures of the extent of the rust damage, and also and idea of your comfort level with metalworking / welding.

[El Dorado Jim]

I think you have an awesome truck, not that much rust,the bed floor isn't that hard to change, get one from a donor truck

[i82much]

Ok, thanks guys. I will try to get some better pictures of the rust and post up. I do have a welder but I can't weld my way out of a paper bag. Hoping to get a house with a shop here soon. I think the bed sounds like the most doable thing for me because I would just bedline over it so cosmetically I don't have to do a fantastic job.

[i82much]

Originally Posted by davepl

You might want to post some pics of the problem areas, but from your description, it sounds like par for the course on these trucks except the bed.

That's really the main question I was asking. I mean, if it sounds more or less like a problem that just about any truck is going to have, I may as well stick with what I've got.

Another reason to keep it is that I've had it basically since my son was born. That's only 3 years, but we've spent a lot of quality time in that truck, I've got some great pictures and video of him laughing hysterically when he was 2 and I was driving about 1 mph in the snow with him on my lap. He thought that was the greatest thing ever.

[LongBox]

Not exactly sure where Dusty is, but it is common for cars and trucks from the Moses Lake area in Washington (east of the Cascades) to have rusted out floors, because of the snow and salt that came into the cab on the boots of the drivers.

[i82much]

Originally Posted by LongBox

Not exactly sure where Dusty is, but it is common for cars and trucks from the Moses Lake area in Washington (east of the Cascades) to have rusted out floors, because of the snow and salt that came into the cab on the boots of the drivers.

Thank you. Yeah, my floor feels solid but who knows what is hiding under the vinyl. From what I understand, floor pan patches aren't such a big deal because you can't see them. I think the most important thing is to have fairly straight original sheet metal?

I really need to post some good pics, I have a lot of little things I wonder about.

[DarkFlounder]

Fender, door and bed can be easily replaced. Cab rust is a lot harder to repair.

Now, stop bragging about your mostly rust-free truck!

[i82much]

Originally Posted by DarkFlounder

Fender, door and bed can be easily replaced. Cab rust is a lot harder to repair.

Now, stop bragging about your mostly rust-free truck!

Ah, those pics are pretty optimistic. It's not bad, I've had worse, but eventually I will get some more pics up and you can tell me what you really think!

[James the III]

Somme don't know what rusted is...
Nice truck I'd say keep it.. Fix what needs to be as you can.. and you'll know the history of the truck..
You can buy another truck that looks better, but is full of bigger issue than the one you got..

[palallin]

I'm sorry, but your truck is hopelessly rusted out. Stop throwing good money after bad. I feel so sorry for you that I will take it off you hands if you will simply leave it in my driveway. You need not even pay my anything for it. You won't even have to fill the gas tank.

[doc74021]

Unless you find a truck in Arizona rust is just part of it. On my 69 c10 on the passenger side the inner cowl was rusted completely out along with the piece under the cowl, the rocker panels, cab corners, inner rockers, floor pans. I bought a donor cab at a salvage for $120 and started taking off what I needed. Just a lot of labor but I got $1500 worth of replacement parts for $120 and they were original rather than reproduction.

[i82much]

here are a few

[i82much]

two more

[i82much]

we have a foot of snow or i would crawl under it and take some more!!

[custom10nut]

OH my god! How can you drive a rust heap like that? You need to give me your address, so I can fly out and remove it from your property.
Seriously. If your son is now three, he will spend hours "helping" you under the hood, and he will remember you driving him to sports practice, going to McDs, to school,and will be dumbfounded the first time that you tell him you want him to drive.
I've had my "Mistress" (as my bride calls her) since my son was six weeks old,(he's 24 now) and he almost had heart failure when I told him I was thinking of selling the truck.
Those little bits of rust are easy to fix or repair, and if you can't afford it right now, expose it, treat it with a rust inhibitor, and prime it to stop it from getting worse. As luck would have it, you have a white truck, and there's white primer available. You could do this and most people would never notice.

[i82much]

Ok, I hear ya! I will keep her. Good. I like that idea better anyway. I really can't wait to get that bed fixed so I can bedline it and get some more use out of the truck.

Really, I just got freaked out because I kept reading on the internet about how you can only see 10% of the rust and if you start doing some work the next thing you know you are doing a frame-off and replacing all of the sheet metal. Hopefully the little man can get handy with a welder and we can make some progress.

I had figured on age 8 or so for learning how to weld, about the same age as his first centerfire rifle. Sound about right?

[Overdriven]

The "internet" is half right, rust can creep up on you and reveal more of itself the deeper you dive into a vehicle. The biggest reason for that "internet warning" is "restored" vehicles with rust hidden by bondo and shiny paint. If the cab corners and rockers are as good as you say you have a fairly easy job ahead of you. As was mentioned you can just treat the fenders and doors, prime them and enjoy the truck. If it was me I'd probably just replace the entire fender when you're ready but fix the doors or find good donor doors. Same with the bed.

If you want practice welding, go to an auto body shop and ask them for a hood or whatever out of the scrap pile. Practice cutting it up and welding on it. I'm lucky enough to be able to pick through scraps from a sheetmetal shop (no paint on them) but it's the same thing when practicing. When I started out I only knew the basics from tv shows, learned the rest by practicing on my scraps and amusing myself by making them into sort of sculptures.

[raggedjim]

Your "rusty" parts look exactly like the "rustfree" parts I used to replace my "rusty(er)" parts!

Nice truck, Rg