Okay, so this will be a bit of a long read and i'll get pictures up probably this weekend when i go to work on the truck again.
I've had this truck for a few months now, and i knew it would have an ungodly amount of problems inside and out. But i wanted it to fix her up.
So, the truck was previously used as a snow plow, meaning yes, it has a LOT of rust.
The majority of the surface rust is on the hood, and roof.
There is some spots of rust here and there but not any other widespread areas.
The wheel arches are rusted through on both sides.
The left rear corner of the bed is very much so rusted through.
The right side rear corner of the cab has the paint bubbling out where it is rusted through but i haven't tried to pick through it to see if it completely is but i'm guessing it is.
There's a small spot on the rear of the cab right above where it meets the bed where the paint has bubbled up in a small area which i also assume is rusted through.
And last but not least underneath the truck, on both sides in the corners of the rear of the cab where there are some welds, there are rusted through places, nothing really structural, and i'm assuming i could just cut the metal back to clean metal, treat the area and prime it and leave it, that or i would have to weld a small plate over both areas.
I don't want to profesionally restore this truck. I'm going to get the engine and tranny going perfect and it wil be a toy, but i just can't deal with just leaving the rust.
So! My question is!
What steps should i take? I know i can buy each individual piece of the body that is rusted except behind the cab, from LMC truck and weld them on and repalce them, though i have never done it.
The surface rust, will be time consuming. The roof and hood both have been pitted, what should i do to try and fix that, sand all the rusted spots down to bare metal? use an epoxy primer? or would i have to bondo the pitted areas and sand it smooth for the rust not to come back? like i said i almsot plan to rattle can primer it all black and leaev it until i want to do anything different.
I'll give yall a few weeks to read over all this and give me somewhat of a response to what you can comprehend haha, sorry for the length.
Any questions ask so i don't keep adding onto this thread and i'll tell you anything else in a nother post when i see that someone is interested

I'd really love any help, first truck to try and do this with.
THANKS!

 

No advice at all?????

 

The best way to get rid of rust is to cut it out and weld in new metal. If the bed is that far gone, I would suggest finding a donor bed and replace it. Things like cab corners aren't that bad to do and much easier with the bed off. I would never tell ssomeone they can't do it, just prepare for a bit of work and keep the questions coming. It's why we're here, to answer those tough questions.

 

Well i love to hear that. I've always told myself i can do anything i can imagine with the right time and effort. And money to buy the right tools of course :P but thats why we work!
Yeah my dad did suggest just buying a new bed, ugh, i prematurely assumed it would be extremely hard to find an 86 model bed in DECENT condition, without a lot of dents and rust, color i could care less about. We'll just have to actually look when it comes down to it and see what we find, i gotta take the bed off anyways to fix a fuel tank leak, and see if i can clean or replace the rear sending unit. as well as wire wheel down the frame and rustoleum it.

On areas like the door right under the window on the outside, mine is rusted, surface rust, but the rust goes from about 2 inches under, spreads about for about 5 inches or so, and goes clean up to the stripping for the window seal, would i have to take that stripping off and take care of rust under there or would yall suggest that the rust hasn't gotten under there really?

 

The seal is part of the reason the rust is there. Definitely take it off and clean up behind it too.

 

Okay, i've never taken door seals and all that kind of intricate body work off. There's a possible rusted through area on the back window right under the window sealing, i'm not sure how to remove a window seal like that and then put it back on and have it seal, that should be something i have professionally done?

 

They're not that bad to do. A professional would probably do it pretty cheap and no worries of damage to the glass. Order a new seal when you put it back in and it will save some headache too.

 

Okay that sounds like a plan, i may plan on buying a welder and trying to do all the panels myself. maybe not.
Another question i have is about painting. i'm not gonna try to do a PROFESSIONAL paint job myself, i just need to get all the rust off, and put some primer over it so it doesn't rust back up, what's the process for that? sand it down to bare metal and then what should i use to put over it? how many coats? etc? It's not my daily driver, it stays in the garage under cover so no worrys about rain.
Advice?

 

Any advice? i'm thinking about just buying a welder as i have a lot of other plans for exhaust