This is the only spot on Floyd that is rusty but the rust continues inside to the floor pan. The cab mount is solid. The rust through area around it is very minimal.

When the fender was on the rusted area was not visible. Viewed from underneath someone had apparently took a wad of steel wool and the aerosol foam used to seal around pipes and filled the hole that goes through to the cab.

I have no body work experience so my questions are:
1. do I need to fix this if it is not visible and doesn't bother me?
2. if it is to be fixed is it regarded as a job that an inexperienced person can or should tackle?

 

I am a complete novice at body work, and my F1 was the first BW I have done. That being said, it is all dependent on what you are comfortable doing. It is generally a patch-together job. Break it down and go piece by piece.

One thing to keep in mind is what you can see is just the beginning when it comes to rust generally.

I am sure more experienced bodymen (meaning just about everyone else) will chime in.

 

fabieber,
no sure where you live, but I'm assuming it's a drier climate if that all the rust your truck has accumulated in it's lifetime.
For my nickels worth (pennies don't exist in Canada anymore), at the very least I'd be tempted to neutralize existing rust and seal it. This can be accomplished with little body work experience and minimal cost.

First, I'd clean out whatever someone put in there to patch it, plus any dirt/debris that accumulated. Hopefully you don't find more damage than you expect.
Next, I'd treat it with something to neutralize the rust. I've used Rust Mort which is an acid based product, Eastwood makes a Rust convertor that looks like a similar product. POR-15 is my favorite as it both neutralizes and coats the rust.
Lastly, I'd seal it up. I'd suggest a piece of galvanized sheetmetal (flashing) should be riveted in place and sealed in place with a urethane adhesive/seam sealer (the kind you put on with a caulking gun and find in a tube at the autoparts place in their bodywork section. Should have tons of sealer to do both the outside and inside of the repair area
This setup will do little to strengthen anything, but should prevent further damage and weatherproof your cab again.
Outside of a drill, pop rivet gun, caulking gun and maybe some sheetmetal snips it shouldn't require any real specialized equipment or real knowledge of bodywork to do. Professionals that do siding on houses or duct/furnace work will probably have small off cuts of sheetmetal the size you need for free... helps if you know someone.

Good luck!

 

I would say any and all cancer needs to be removed and repaired... I'm not a bodyman by any means... I can't tell how much rust you have, but I think I would try to repair that myself... What year is the cab and how much more is rust?

 

That needs to be fixed properly meaning the rot has to be completely cut out and replaced with new metal. It looks like it's in an area that is structural, the very least the area affects the bottom door hinge.

Frosh, please don't take this too hard but the procedure you described isn't much better than the bad repair that is already failing. Pop rivets won't last and jamming more goop into the hole isn't going to last long either. The only way to really fix it is to weld new metal in.

My other concern is if this was a crap job of a repair, using steel wool and aerosol foam is a crap job, there may be other areas that have the same kind of repair that you haven't found yet. There are guys out there that can do some pretty bad repairs and are able to do a really good job of covering it up with filler. I know, I worked in a body shop that did body work for cut rate used car lots. We pumped out some really dicey repairs on the cheap but when they left the shop they looked really good but we knew they weren't going to last.

 

I'm with Bob. Any job worth doing is worth doing right. Especially one like this. If you don't have the talent or experience to fix it properly yourself, find help. Taking a shortcut here will come back to bite you later. Floyd deserves better.

 

Thank you guys for your quick feedback.

Floyd is a '55. Bought it from original owner/farmer from South Dakota. Body has been repainted.

This truly is the only rust on the truck. I have spent the last year with wire wheels, wire brushes and grinders removing all the dirt and surface rust from every part of the frame and drive train. The other cab corners are all very solid and no other floor pan rust through. The bottom hinge area is still very solid with this area being a few inches below the hinge.
Can you guys tell from the picture if this is an area that may have patches available?

 

Looks like Mid-Fifties has everything you need.

Home - Mid Fifty F-100 Parts

 

I made this repair to both sides of my 56 using Mid Fifty patch panels and a MIG welder. It takes some patience to make sure the original part and the patch panel are a perfect fit before welding a series of tacks along the edge of the repair panel. Use what I call a 90 degree die grinder with sanding disc's to smooth the welded edge and go back and hit with the welder again repeating this process till you are ready for a feather dusting of body filler.I always clean both sides of the metal with an acid wash and spray with weld through primer before starting the weld process. I used butt weld clamps on the repair of the driver's side, but the passenger side was a better fit and I used magnets to hold the parch panel before tack welding.

 

I agree that it should be fixed correctly for a long lasting repair. That said if you are fixing this as part of getting the truck on the road and not doing a restoration at this point then the quick screwed on and sealed patching detailed above is better than nothing (assuming the door opens and closes ok and you dont see any movement of the lower hinge). You want to seal it up well so water cannot get into the truck. If the lower hinge shows movement in the pillar area then there should be no shortcuts taken.
When I was a teenager with no money or tools I did the quick and dirty patches to repair my first car, they did work but were not permanent repairs. I am sure most of us have been in that situation before.
If you are doing a teardown and restoration, or do not plan on going back to the repaired area, grab someone with tools and some experience to lend a hand. It is not a difficult job and can be fixed with scrap pieces of sheet metal, no need to buy expensive aftermarket panels unless you want to.
Good luck!

 

I would personally build my own patch panels, I've never bought a premade panel. But, I have experience doing this kind of work, I've been building my own sheet metal panels for years. It's really not that hard, use cardboard to make templates and then transfer them to sheet metal. If you're going to get in and fix this mess do it the right way, it won't take much longer and will last a lot longer, probably way after you are no longer own the truck.

If you don't feel comfortable doing your own panels the premade patch panels are the way to go. You will also have to massage these premade pieces, I've rarely heard about these pieces fitting perfectly.

You can buy small sheets of metal at many big box stores. There are also many metal suppliers popping up who market to small quantity users, I have at least 3 such companies in my area.

 

If you want to try your hand at body work, and learn to do it right, the front cab corner is actually a good place to start, in my opinion. It's small, accessible, and not much will show.

The patch panel is only $50 from most venders, including the one Bob shows in the Mid-Fifty catalog. It looks like there may be a hole in the rocker panel behind the cab corner, but as long as the rocker is solid where it's welded to the cab it could be repaired with a piece of flat sheet metal.

While it's contour has to be pretty close, to align with the door and fender, finish wise it's actually in a pretty forgiving place. Only a couple of inches are going to show between the fender and the door. If it needs a little filler when it's installed, do your block sanding with the door in place and you can match the contour exactly. The fender welt will make up for any gap behind the fender.

If you don't weld, you might need to find someone to help with that. In my case I bought a small 110v mig welder and taught myself how to use it. (on old fenders and junk of course, not on the actual truck)

 

I did this repair on my 53 with the patch panels from mid fifty and I had to "massage" them into place but it came out great and like stated above not much of this shows after the fender is in place. If I can do this repair anyone can.

 

I am grateful to all of you for you input. I will look at this area with a keen eye and see if I feel any comfort with the repair either using available patch panels or making my own.

If you will all be patient beyond reason with me I will call on you as I begin the job.

Nothing can compare to this forum. I am glad to be a part of it.

Fred

 

Excellent thread! My '55 has some rot in the same general area. Nice to read some how to posts from people who have been there, done that.