I need some suggestions to help me in fixing up my 89.

I have some good rust/rot spots that I need to fix in order to sell the truck. I'm not looking for the best repair, just something that will somewhat functionally repair the area and look 1/2 way decent.

Tailgate - The whole bottom of my tailgate is rotted off. I think I am going to cut the sheet metal just below that chrome trim piece that goes across the tailgate. Then, also cut it on the other side of the tailgate. Make a squared U out of sheet metal and form/fit it into place. The little mounting tabs that the tailgate hindges on are in good shape. I'd like to grind those down to bare metal, and weld them onto the new sheet metal. I'd also weld the squared U onto whats left of the tailgate. It wouldn't look original, but I think with some effort it will work out. I couldn't find a tailgate worth using at the local junkyards. What do you think of this idea? I have a mig welder, no tig. What gauge sheet metal should I use?

Lower rear edges of cab - I have pretty thorough rust on the bottom corners of the cab. One side is pretty much rusted through. I bet if I tried to grind it down to bare metal it would all end up coming off. Do you think I could smooth it down a little and use body filler on the semi-rusted areas to build the surface back up, then paint over it?

Couple areas have minor surface rust I'd like to sand down and use body filler.

One problem is that I do not wish to paint the truck, but I was thinking I could get away with some good primer/spray paint and add a coat or two of clearcoat and try to just match it as best as possible. The paint on the truck already doesn't match, some parts are faded differently than others. So the body is going to look a little rough anyway, but my concern is that spray painting next to regular painted surfaces is going to clash and just make it worse.

Not much body work experience here, but any tips to share?

 

The best way to cure cancer (rust) is to cut it out totally and weld or glue in new metal. Bondoing over rust, isnt going to stop or even slow it down. You just wont See what its doing till the bondo bubbles up from trapped moisture. Tailgates are cheap, if your not worried about parts matching.. goto salvage yard, or ebay and find ya one. Clear over primer. It will stick. For awhile Anyway. I did it to a junk hood I had on my 75 when I sprayed the interior just for giggles. Been over a month, still hangin on w/o any signs of peeling or flaking yet.

 

Well, your right, that would be the "best" way to do it. But I'm not looking for the best way, I'm looking for a cheap temp fix so I can sell the truck. The new owner can deal with it, I'll tell them what I did but I'm not gonna go through all that work when I'm not going to keep the truck. So I'm looking to just simply make it better then it is for as easy/cheap as possible.

I've checked a few junkyards for tailgates, not much luck. Plus I don't want to spend money on a tailgate...I won't get that money back when trying to sell it...so I wanted to do some metal work to fix it and save the money. I understand that getting another one would be easier/better...but that's not necessarily what I'm lookin' for...ya know?

Is body filler going to work on a semi rusted surface? Or does it need to be bare clean metal for it to adhere?

 

Why not just fix the cab corners and leave it at that. If the guy knows what to look for he may not like the tailgate bit and offer you less for it or opper you the same as if you had fixed the tailgate. I sey fix the corners so its inspectable and let the new owner deal with the tailgate unless ou want the practace for welding. What is your time worth? It will take you a couple hours (if not more - I've never welded) to fix the tailgate and it may be cheaper just to leave it or find a better one. The truck is old and someone buying it needs to understand that. I went and put tuns of time and money into a cab swap and rust repair on me 83 just to end up selling it. I wasn't planning on selling it but gas prices forced me into it. I wanted less than I had into it and ended up with $1000 less than that.

Just fix the corners and let it go.

 

I didn't really think of that. I wanted to do it for practice more than anything, that and it seemed like a fun little project. I think I will reconsider and may just leave it alone. It's quite obvious why it rusted out so bad, it has a drop in plastic bed liner that holds water, and when you drive away, all the water pours out underneath the tailgate...over the years that rotted it right out.

So I think I'll just fix the cab corners and other minor rust spots. I plan on telling the person that they are a problem area that should be fixed, but my thinking is that it'll atleast delay the time in which they need to fix it, and that'll help the sale.

My uncle is a body guy and I'm going to ask his advice as well.

 

It probably rusted out so badly cause the drains in the bottom of the tailgate got cloggged/blocked and forced the tailgate to hold water. Which, as you pointed out, is introduced each time the bed accumulates water.

 

If you want to fix the tailgate for practice than go ahead and do it. Worst case is you chuck it and tell the prospective buyer it was rotted at the hinges and you tossed it months ago, or somthing to that affect. Just bon't forget to put new drain holes in it and some kkind of stop so the littel things dont slide under the gate and onto the guys hood that is behind you.

I was lucky and picked up a tailgate for $25 to replaced my bent one and for practice I fixed the rust in the corners and filled in the "FORD" letters on the back. It didn't come out to bad. I used fiberglass and there was only a few high spots but not bad for a beginner.