Hey guys,

It's finally nice here, so I'm starting to do the body work on my truck. I'm starting with getting the bed sides nice, and am currently working on taking care of the rest of the rust. I got to the rear lower corner near the bumper, and have a few holes that I'm not really sure what to do with. I fiberglassed them last summer (in a hurry to get some sort of paint on it before winter), but wasn't happy with how it came out.

Has anyone dealt with rust in this area before? What did you do for it? I'm still learning body work, but I can weld alright. I'm just worried about getting it all to look good and match the contours if I patch in new metal. Or should I just clean it up and fiberglass it again?



Thanks

 

How much time do you have for this project?
I would try and cut a good panel from a boneyard bed and cut/patch it in. Or you could patch the holes with new metal and finish the contour with fiberglass/bondo...to hone your skills. Either way, you'll have to use a little bondo.

 

I have as long as I need, but I would like to have it all done and painted by the end of this summer. I doubt I'll find any good panels in the junkyard here, there's rarely a dentside and they're always rusted out. I guess I could patch in new metal and do the contour like you said. Bondo is probably unavoidable with something like this

 

Even the best bodywork men, with a perfect patch panel in hand, will use some bondo to clean it up. Don't be discouraged if you have to use it!

 

Yeah, I've rarely seen any patches without ANY bondo used. I'm just trying to avoid it as much as possible, I took a lot out of the bed already so I don't want to load it up again. It also sucks that I don't have an inside place to work on it, so if I'm working with bare metal, I have to do it all at once and cover it up somehow so it won't rust.

 

Bah! Rust won't set in so fast as to render your work un-acceptable. I don't have an enclosed space for anything...so welding/working on my truck is always outside. Use a good DA and some 80 grit to sand off what little rust that might accumulate, and continue. You're going to have to grind down the area with some 36 grit for bondo, anyway.....No?

If you're going to be away from the bare metal for quite a while, WD-40 wiped on the metal works well for moisture protection. Just remember it's there! Or, some weldable primer is available at some stores.

Good luck!

 

No doubt you're going to have to cut that out. It's amazing how good you can make patch panels with a little ingenuity. I've made body lines using pipe or shaped wood to form the metal around. Worst part I see is if you're able to cut out the bad metal without getting into the rear where it curves around making for compound curves. Not that familiar with which patch panels are available.

 

Cut it out and get a patch panel and weld it in, use a skim coat of bondo to cover up the grinder marks cleaning up your weld job.

I have cut out and mailed patch panels like that before.....just saying.

 

I would get a rear lower patch panel from a place like Mill supply. They are about 10 inches high and if it does cover it all than patch in the rest. Otherwise, you could get an entire rear section and cut out what you need, but those sections are about $175

 

Thanks for all the advice guys. As everyone has suggested, I started by cutting out the rusted section.



It's not exactly pretty inside, but it's not terrible either. For now, I just sprayed it with rust reformer until I decide what I should do with the inside. I think it will be structurally fine as is, but I don't want it to start rusting again from around that hole inside where it's rusted out.

I have a patch panel cut out and am working on shaping it, so we'll see how it turns out.

Also... That bumper was a SOB to get off! Those sideways facing bolts were pretty much frozen, lots of pb blaster and a big breaker bar did it but man that was some work.

Thank you, I might take you up on that if the patch panel I'm making doesn't turn out well.

 

Here is what I have gotten from my local JY and shipped to a fellow FTE member in the past.

 

Thanks for the pictures and measurements, I'll let you know if I end up wanting to go that route. I appreciate it very much

 

The smaller the better when it comes to shipping.....

 

I would rep ya, but can't. That's awesome that you cut panels for people and ship them out.

 

If you cant find a patch panel then sheet metal will do pretty good as well. I would patch that section with 3 or 4 individual pieces. Get the sheet metal as close as you can and use skim coats of bondo to make it look right. There is nothing wrong with bondo to smooth metal as long as it stays thinner than 1/4".