I've been putting these off for years and I think it's time to take care of them before they get bad.


https://flic.kr/p/Wum5ch

https://flic.kr/p/VRBKWn


Ok, there might be a chance I've waited too long.

I've called several body shops and they either don't want to do it or want $1k for the pair. Since I want to weld up my new exhaust anyway, I figured I'd learn to weld and do the corners as well. I've read they can be a bitch because of the thin sheet metal. Also I'll probably have to slide the bed back to give me room.

The inner skin is gone, not sure how to fix that. I figured this would be a good excuse to dip the interior out of the truck, replace seals, shift boot and Dynamat the floor.
The other side isn't as bad but it's getting there.

What do you guys think? Learn to weld on my exhaust then try to corners?

Welding thin sheet is effectively just all a series of tacks. Eventually you get comfortable to lay down very short beads, but it's tedious as all hell. Exhaust is infinitely easier.

My friend wants me to do the ones on his (the "worst case" truck I mention). One secret is a pneumatic flanging tool from Harbor freight. It will form a "step" into the existing metal to let you lay the new cab corner in place (cut it out leaving about 3/8" of material on the inside...give or take). Once you flange it, you can drop the cab corner in place and weld with metal behind the weld. That's far easier than edge welding panels together. Also, use .023 wire in the mig welder. You'll have better control and better results. Beads are hard to grind off, don't weld them too tall, you'll destroy the metal trying to grind the weld down. You're better to add some bondo and smooth it instead of welding it too tall and trying to grind it smooth.

How are the rockers, cab mounts, and floor panels?

There's always more damage than you can see, and once you start digging you'll likely find it's a bigger project than what you first thought. My '68 C-10 project spent many a day in body shop jail getting that hidden rot fixed.

I'm sure there's more. But it all seems decent. The bottom of the doors have a little rot along with the rear fenders are bubbling. I'm thinking of just wire wheeling the bubbles and adding bolt on fender flares to cover the primed areas. There are a couple of spots on the rockers that are bubbling. I was going to do the same but paint below the trim piece bed liner.

Ooooooorrrrrrr

I start looking for a clean cab to buy and swap them out.

If it's enough to see through paint, chances are the other side of the panel is a horrible mess and not worth saving. Either that or the patch you will be welding in is about 5 times the size of what you originally thought.

When we still had our dealership, we replaced these often. But usually we also had to replace the rocker panels as they rot just as fast. Either way, it is very time consuming. Take it slowly. Weld cold and slow. As said above, it's all a series of small tacks, we usually had a wet rag on hand to cool down the tacks after a couple tacks were welded. There will be lots of "fitting" to get them on properly.

It might be better to just start looking for a clean cab. I want to redo the interior anyway. I have a buddy with a lift, it'll probably be quicker and cheaper to just swap out the cabs.