How much of a turn off is a rusty cab vs. a rust free cab

[texanidiot25]

trying to convince my dad into the idea that swapping cabs on the CST10 is a good idea, because mine is so rust damaged it's beyond our skills to repair. His idea is "Bondo the rust and drive it til you sell it"...

The rust on my cab is rockers (They were bondo'd too, and are now falling apart), under the cowl at the seams, the kick panel vents, the kickpanel-floor joint, rust threw along the windshield (passenger bottom corner is getting finger sized), the pass. A-pillar is rusting threw at the roof, enough to the point where I have little faith in it's structure. Drip rail is rusting out slowly too.



Not to mention, it's got a leaking cheap ass sun roof that someone threw on.

How much work is that to you, not to mention, if it was bondo'd up (again, not my idea)...


VS.

A rust free, even if it's in primer, cab:


On a truck that's a 1969 CST10 with a fresh 350/350, 6-lug D60, 73-87 disk brakes, late model silverado buckets and center jump seat, AC cab (what little is left), with lots of new wiring work and lowered 3" all around. Only other rust is the passenger fender bottoms, a banana sized area in one of the bed floor corners. Solid truck and excellent running gear otherwise.

What sort of price would you give it
A) With super rusty cab
B) With super rust free cab

[mclairmo]

I would not buy anything with a rusty cab at all but I haaaaate rust. If you can do it, replace the cab and maybe paint it yourself best you can to match the rest of the truck with rattle cans, roll on boat paint, Rustoleum, Duplicolor, whatever. However, if the truck will merely sit in pieces for many years because you got too busy to finish the cab swap, then just leave it be and sell it with the rust showing. Putting Bondo over the rust won't really hide the rust and will just make it harder for the new owner to fix it. Plus, it's not right to hide that level of rust under Bondo. Maybe just spray POR15 on the rust to at least stop it from spreading.

[Sinister]

I would run away from anything with a rusty cab.

[texanidiot25]

It's my daily driver, there is no "take apart and sit" option for me. I can take a week or so to work on it. Paint is optional for me, I don't mind running it in primer for awhile, but with the cab being as cheap as it is, I can afford a quicky color match while it's bare.

[Jim_PA]

Thanks, that makes me feel a lot better about my cabs

I would buy one and swap if I were you.

[cdowns]

unless loaded with quite a few rare options to make it woth parting out i give no consideration to rust buckets

[71 super]

Swap cabs! The cab you have now is gone. It can be fixed but you will be in the hole for alot of time and money. If you buy the primer cab, seal it epoxy prime it etc. to keep out the elements to prevent similar problems and swap it in a weekend. These trucks are simple and the swap is not difficult as long as you have some help lifting and moving things around. Basic steps- Unhook radiator, steering column, brake m/c and heater hoses ( basically remove everything from the firewall) unbolt and remove cowl and wipers exposing the upper fender bolts. Remove the upper fender bolts, lower fender bolts, hood and core support mounting bolts. The entire dog house can now be set off (don't forget to remove bumper first). Unhook gas lines and trans linkage and e-brake) Unbolt the four bolts holding the cab in place and lift cab from the frame. Set it to the side replace with new cab and begin by pulling a measurement by "X" ing the cab the opposite front frame horn to keep square. Bolt the cab back down and begin swapping parts from original cab. 1 day to pull old cab, 1 day to replace with new cab driving truck again by the afternoon.

[texanidiot25]

Thanks for the break down! I'm glad these trucks are dirt simple..

Originally Posted by cdowns

unless loaded with quite a few rare options to make it woth parting out i give no consideration to rust buckets

It was once a highly optioned '69 CST with AC and the rare 6-lug D60. Now it's a relatively stripped down CST with rust, and the rare 6-lug D60... It's been threw a lot before I got it.

A lot of the CST trim was removed when the truck was painted long ago. Really, the only thing I need to do is add the bed light, and make new holes for the AC components to convert this cab to what I have now.

The truck was a bit rusty around the windshield when we got it.. But it sat for 2 years being slowly worked on as my teen age budget could afford. The floor pan rust is minor, but already there and gets worse as it rains and leaks water in the cab...

Now that it's a driver, it's started to fall apart at the rust from the forces of driving I suppose... Not fun to hit big bumps and have bits of rust rain down on your passenger.

[sjarrett71]

That type of rust is why I bought a new cab.

[leddzepp]

I need a tetanus shot after just looking at that. Swap the cabs.

[danw210]

It would take you longer to fix that cab than to swap it. That is some serious rust there. Tell your Dad that he is just a slacker!

IF IT'S WORTH DOING...IT'S WORTH DOING RIGHT!

[Bert W]

It is hard to find a cab without rust here in Mississippi. With that level of rust in the A pillar, I would swap the cab.

[texanidiot25]

Originally Posted by danw210

It would take you longer to fix that cab than to swap it. That is some serious rust there. Tell your Dad that he is just a slacker!

IF IT'S WORTH DOING...IT'S WORTH DOING RIGHT!

He doesn't see it as worth doing, that's the deal: Has a rusty fender here, rust in the bed... Should just buy another and swap the drivetrain in it... cab paint won't match... electrical gremlims when putting in the harness... glass... that sort of idea.

On the topic of glass, what's the easiest way to pull the glass with out breaking?

[tim21391]

buy the cab do it yourself and dont tell you dad.. get some buddys to do it.. ask them to spot you some money to help then u pay them back.. i told my dad when i started doing my rust repair.. i just started repairing my rust because only matter of time and it will get worse and someday your windshield might be in your lap later on down the road

[texanidiot25]

I've got the money for the cab, he's got the tools and the knowledge (not that this is particularly hard). But, needed to back up my argument that the truck is worth much more to a buyer with a rust free cab.

[Longhorn Man]

even in ohio, i would not buy that truck for anything more than parts.
it is that bad. In my own opinion, it is worth the sum of it's parts.
Tell your dad it is only worth 700 bucks as it sits.

[Longhorn Man]

here's a question for you, and I understand not all families work the same way...
is it your truck?
is it your time?
is it your money?

Honestly, I always did whatever I wanted on my cars when i was a teen. He gave me his opinion, and he was right from time to time.
But, like I said, I know not all families do things like we did. Hell, i bought my dad a car my sophomore year in highschool.

[texanidiot25]

Originally Posted by Longhorn Man

here's a question for you, and I understand not all families work the same way...
is it your truck?
is it your time?
is it your money?

Honestly, I always did whatever I wanted on my cars when i was a teen. He gave me his opinion, and he was right from time to time.
But, like I said, I know not all families do things like we did. Hell, i bought my dad a car my sophomore year in highschool.

Yes yes and yes. Just needed some solid opinions backing what I thought with the value of the truck with or with out rust. We built the truck together too, but this has been one of the only disagreements.

On the matter of value, the drivetrain and suspension are fresh, that's what I spent all my money on getting it on the road. The biggest let down is this cab. If I had to sell it now, I don't think it would bring in much over 2 grand, though 3.5 grand was put into it...

[Twisted78SS]

I agree,
Not only is the rust a turn off for many, the sunroof it too. Well at least for me, does not seem to fit the era for them. IMHO.

As for the value difference, that depends on the prospective buyer I guess, I can almost see someone asking how much less would you take due to the rust repair needed...

[mclairmo]

You will certainly lose money if you sell it with that rust. With the better cab, you never know, someone may be willing to pay you what you put into it.

[BP68]

100% for cab swap. Also, this mention of selling, are you planning to sell it in the foreseeable future? If you sell it with the new cab, it will be worth more. If you keep it with new cab, you will have a nice solid truck. And if that new cab is "cheap" then you definately need to jump on it.
And I am another who wouldn't even consider it unless it was dirt cheap due to the rust and sunroof.
I hate sunroofs, manily because I work on them from time to time at work. They are great till they break or leak.

[unclewatts]

Originally Posted by texanidiot25

On the topic of glass, what's the easiest way to pull the glass with out breaking?

The easiest way is to take a razor knife or box cutting knife and slit the inside rubber flange going around the windshield and lift it out. Of course you lose the windshield gasket but they are readily available and should be replaced anyway.

[N2TRUX]

What makes this situation even worse is it's in Texas. Trying to sell your truck with that rust here in Texas isn't going to be easy.

You northern guys see really rusted trucks as fixable. Us guys in the South don't see it that way.

What I really think you should do is look around for a complete truck. I see plenty of bodies that all your parts would swap to.

[tim21391]

cab swaps are really easy tho.. at work at the body shop this guy swapped a frame in less then a week.. that was on an 07 f150 so theres nothing like that in our trucks so im thinking a cab swap on your truck will be easy.. if i lived closer id love to lend a hand i love working on these kinda trucks

[texanidiot25]

I hate the sun roof too, doesn't even cool the truck that much when parked...

N2Trux- The whole personal attachment to this truck, is one reason why I'm not looking for a whole new truck. It's my 1st truck, and 1st project. Got my dad back in to building cars too.

I've got to talk to some people, but N2Trux, would you be interested in helping with the swap if I end up doing it in Cypress?

Plus, I love the look and color of this one. But, even if I did strip the running gear out, as mentioned the body with this rust wouldn't be worth much anyways.

Originally Posted by BP68

100% for cab swap. Also, this mention of selling, are you planning to sell it in the foreseeable future?

Not anytime soon, but you never know how things pan out. But, the fact that I'm tired of it raining rust on friends over a heavy bump (pot holes, and 2 girls, well, at least they share my love for old rust buckets and don't mind haha), and the water leakage is utterly annoying when it rains.

I'm working out a plan to get up to Dallas to get it. I say cheap, I mean, cheap. The one I pictured above is it. I've got a good friend who's dad owns a body shop so chances are I can get paint squirted cheap too.