How do y'all handle rust while still using your truck

[dhughins]

Alright I'm putting myself out there. I've found rust on my 69 that I didn't notice before. I now believe my truck was probably painted shortly before I bought it to hide stuff. I never know what I'm doing when buying old vehicles and just get snowed over by its coolness. So after owning it a bout a year and a half I'm starting to see bubbling in the common spots. Bottom of front fenders. I think drivers cab corner and drip rail. My delimea is it has a shiny paint job that looks cool at 20 feet and 20 mph. So do I start grinding and sanding to see how bad it is or just drive it till all the paint comes off? Have any of y'all had this?i know the floors are fine I took everything out and coated them with rust bullit last year before putting some dynamat down, but the very bottoms of kick panels are rusted it was hidden by carpet.

I've never welded or own welding equipment or a shop or shed. I do all my work in the yard.
http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/a...1&d=1373840085
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[mgchevyparts]

I wouldn't touch it until I was ready to repaint/repair the entire truck. Drive it and enjoy until then.

[slikside]

I guess it depends on what your expectations were and are for this truck, and how/what you intended it to use it and wanted it to be.

It looks decent, and drives....if that's good enough for you, then you could be happy with it the way it is...while knowing things will get worse with time. If you thought you were buying a rust-free truck and that is what you still aim to have...then there's a bit of work and expense ahead.

Only you can answer how important the latter is to you and if you have the desire, will, and $$$ to bring it to a standard acceptable to you.

I've owned my truck for 30 years. There is plenty of rust that, one day, I think I might fix. But I have other priorities now, and I still like driving it, and working on it. There is a lot to be said for having a drivable truck while you work on it. And it sounds like most of what you need done you could still drive it.

Anyhow, good luck!

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by mgchevyparts

I wouldn't touch it until I was ready to repaint/repair the entire truck. Drive it and enjoy until then.

Either that, or sell it and get a patina truck and stop worrying about it
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[dhughins]

Thanks y'all. Feeling better already. I would like a vehicle nice enough to go to local cruise ins and drive daily. I can pretty much do that now but I might just have to park in the back corner of the cruise ins. I wouldn't mind the patina look for now, but that just doesn't go with the style of this truck I think.
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[68gmsee]

Nothing uncool about an old truck with primer paint from sanding and repairing rust or dents. My old 69 had plenty of those. It's something we all fight with these old trucks.

If it bothers you and you want to stop it from spreading, go ahead and sand and prime it. You can find a spray can paint that's close to your paint to use or even go to an auto paint store and see if they can match the paint. In some cases, I've heard some paint shops can put the paint in spray cans.

[Mister-B]

Originally Posted by dhughins;6173123 I would like a vehicle nice enough to go to local cruise ins and drive daily. I can pretty much do that now but I might just have to park in the back corner of the cruise ins. I wouldn't mind the patina look for now, but that just doesn't go with the style of this truck I think.
[size=1

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There's your problem. It's kind of hard to have a daily driver that's nice enough to park wherever you want at cruise ins, unless you embrace the patina thing with a totally different truck. Most painted trucks I've seen at those events basically get driven to those events, and that's about it. They fret over scratches and bird droppings, and put on slippers to get up in the bed of the truck.
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[Spartan]

I would attack the worst rust first if your worried. Fix, prime, color match. Take small bites.

Or... Wait till you can tackle it all at some point in the future. Like was mentioned, rust is common. You have a nice truck. Enjoy it.

Being that it runs and looks good from the outside maybe even hit the interior stuff?

I have a different color fender right now and people still enjoy what era the truck represents.
Just imho
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[slow-1]

Sounds just like my truck...I am just driving it until I can afford to redo it again....right this time.

[big bad orange]

i am glad that my truck is rusted so bad in places like the doors, the bed ,rocker ect that i just have to replace the doors, bed ect. My plan: drive it till my inspector wont pass it and then put all the nice new parts on it and paint .

[In The Ten Ring]

My truck is exactly the same way man. My dad allowed it to rust when he was using it to drive to work for 20 years and never thought to replace any body parts. He had it bondo'ed and painted in 1991 but it is bubbling in the usual places: cab corners, drip rail, lower doors, fenders, etc.

I would suggest saving up a lot of money and then doing/having a frame off restoration done. I've been saving up body parts for some time and I'm still doing that.

Right now, I just want to get it back on the road and I'll worry about the other later. If I can replace the front inner fenders myself here in the next year or so, I'll be very happy.

Good luck, don't worry, and we'll be here for you.

ITTR

[Coley]

super simple....already done....'rust checked' it!! No worries anymore.
All good
Coley

[67ctener]

Looks good from here. Drive it till the wheels fall off
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[tmc1986]

I was able to bust the rust on the inside of the panels and paint them so it at least wouldn't make the paint worse. A few spots I couldn't reach. If you can stop it from getting worse than you should be able to drive it for a long time without grinding on that nice paint. Good luck
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[burnin oil]

Like said before. Check the local paint shops till you find one that can color match and put the paint in a spray can. I have used it before and it worked fine and matched perfectly. I have been daily driving mine and fighting the rust battle myself. Finally finished replacing the cab corners, floor pans, and one rocker. Driving around with a missing rocker on the drivers side and basically no weather stripping. Still get alot of comments from people. Probably helps that it says fire dept across the doors. I bought replacement doors at the bone yard to work in my free time and everything else can basically be done piece meal on the weekend. Can't wait till I can throw a good coat of paint on the old girl.

[my67c20]

Personally when i go to car shows i prefer to look at the vehicle people are working on. Too many car shows i go to the people who are showing the car never even put a wrench on the car. So park it up front next to the nicest Camaro, Chevelle, Mustang, etc.

[kaynnon]

i dont mind the rust, more air flow thru the cab for me

[truckster]

I would recommend you try to evaluate the rust and determine what is likely to happen with it in the future. If you've got minimal rust-through, but you've got an area that's starting to go, you might want to attack that first, as it will likely go much faster if you just let it go. If it's already rusted through and you're going to have to replace a panel anyway, there's no reason to hurry.

[dhughins]

Thanks for all the advice. I'm thinking I can always find patch panels or new complete aftermarket body panels, up until this country goes communist. The 1 place that really concerns me are the bottom of kick panels. Those look difficult to repair and all that needs to be removed to get to it. I'll post pics when I can. I always have problems trying to post pics from iPhone.
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[70c10stepside]

Im driving mine till it rots apart or vibrates apart lol Then frame off time
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[special-K]

If it's not parked inside and kept dry,I'd attack it now before it gets worse. If it doesn't set outside you can buy some time. I'd cut out and repair,hit with primer,and spot paint with match-up paint. Even if it's rattle can. That,or use epoxy primer that can take weather for a while. Nothing wrong with a work in progress. If it's young rust the repair will be minimal. If it's bondoed up holes,they are only getting bigger and spreading to other panels. You're looking at the tip of the iceberg and the longer you wait...