My current '66 is a dry desert unit with no rust. I thought I'd paint the vent doors so removed them and found the area behind them was full of leaves and the decomposed remains of whatever had fallen into the cowl grille over the last 56 years. I removed the beautiful compost, spread it around my tomato seedlings, and hosed the crap out of the area behind the vent doors. I hope you all do this - rust repair there is complicated.
Eric

 

I spent about an hour getting rust out of my radiator yesterday. The water was brown, so I decided to flush it, only to discover it was brown from rust. I flushed it until it was clear, but I know I didn't get all of it out.

 

I got a lot of rust in my cooling system from intsalling a used set of heads. After flushing with water until it ran clear, I then used about 3/4 cup of Cascade dishwashing powder in the radiator. I'd drive for an hour and flush with water... and drive again. I was flushing brown water everyday for a week. When the water finally stayed clear for a couple of days, I went back with anti-freeze. Two years later, it's still rust free.

 

That's the only spot on my truck that has rust. It's a bugger.

 

Just had to replace that entire section inside and out and the rocker panel on the driver side of my truck. Gonna have to do that to the passenger side too. Then gotta fix the driprails and roof line. Hopefully no one elses trucks are rotted in there as bad as mine was

 

Thanks Dave. I thought I was the only one bummed about the rust on the roof by the drip rails. I got it on both sides. Not sure how to fix it. What did you do?

 

Ive been asking around at a couple of body shops in Ventura. On my truck the drip rails themselves are rusted plus parts of the roof. Its coming out to about $2000 to have the roof and drip rails repaired and about $1200 to have the drip rails shaved and the roof repaired. I personally dont have the experience to do that sort of body work and I'm on a budget so I'm gonna go the cheaper route and get them shaved.

If you are very good at body work you can probably do it yourself, one of by neighbors just shaved the drip rails on his 50s Chevy pickup by himself using a TIG welder and sand bags to hold everything in place. But he has way more skill and experience than I do when it comes to body work.

 

I never thought about having the drip rails shaved. I wonder how that would look. I got a buddy who works for an auto body place in my area its just been difficult getting him to do work when he's not busy. Would shaving the drip rails cause any issues? My rust is just about a quarter inch above thedrip rails. On both sides.

 

The guy who will be shaving them on my truck showed me a chevy he was working on where he did the same thing. looks pretty good. Hes also going to weld up the seam on the back of the cab in the process which should just make the whole cab look cleaner. The only issue i can think of would be water getting into the gap in between the top of the door and the cab which if you have good weather stripping shouldnt be a problem.

Mine has rust a good half an inch to an inch up in spots. My truck has had the rails repaired before, theres a spot where an old lead repair is bubbling and you can see patches on the inside of the cab.

I will be having mine done in the next month or so so ill be sure to post pics when its done

 

Sounds good. I can't wait to see the final results

 

I have a bad case of the rusts on my drip rail and had considered having it shaved. If you do have it done, or if there's anyone out there who has done this, please share some pics. I'd really appreciate it.

I just finished the hood, I had it dipped and e-coated. There went my budget.

 

Just dropped the truck off at a local shop to get the drip rails shaved. Theyre also going to weld up the seam along the back of the cab and fix a silver dollar sized rust spot in the passenger door skin. All in all should be about $1300. Theyre just going to spot paint it, hes done that in the past and matched the colors pretty well. I cant afford to have the truck repainted so it was either that or just straight primer.

Heres the before pics:

 

Thanks for posting the "before" pics. I can't wait to see the finished job.
Sounds like a fair price. Good luck! My drip rails are dripping rust, so its save or shave.

 

Heres a couple pics of how bad my cowl was. Let me tell ya that was not a happy sight to see.





But now both sides are much better

 

The drip rail rust is an issue thats a pain to deal with...but shaving them off...you are losing a built in cab stiffener...
As to the water...when it rains...or you open the door after giving it a bath, there will be water sitting on the top of the door in the weatherstrip area...thus when you open the door water will drop inside a bit...
The cowl vent crap collectors...the number one rust out spot on these cabs...followed by the rear cab corners...theres a stiffener where the inner hinge bolts which walls off the hinge pockets from the cowl vent area...plus if crap gets in the lower hinge pocket...rust and so forth...there no drain area from that area...the round hole allows access to most..but not all of it and the lower curved area where it meets the rocker rusts away...

- cs65