I took my truck to the out-of-province inspection this morning. I had just replaced the rotted cab corner yesterday and I was sure it would go well. Thought at worst he'd ding me for the roof lights or a new steering shaft.

Boy was I wrong. Guy had it for 5 minutes before he came out and told me to send it back to whatever farm it came from.

Ouch.

There are some parts that should legitimately be replaced, but rust was highest on the **** list. Particularly the floorpans and the beat up wheel housings, like the one in the picture above.

I have no idea what previous owners did to make the bed look like that, it's like they were dumping coal out of a silo or something. Basically no chance of doing a convincing repair. So instead I'm thinking concealment.

Looked up the wheel housings on LMC but the coverage doesn't look complete. Afterwards it would probably look like lipstick on a pig.

So anyway, can anyone suggest appropriate products? I could maybe slap a plastic bedliner over the entire thing, but I hate plastic on classic. Something with diamond plate might be nice.

 

I guess the inspector was looking at the holes in the wheel housings not the dents. I'd suggest do a neat job cutting out the rot and weld in a patch. Then grind and prime/paint. Same on the floors. The plastic bedliners trap moisture and will rot it out pretty fast.

FWIW my dent has dented wheel housings in the bed from getting loaded with firewood which my father in law used for heat. Throw a chunk of Hickory or Oak in and it can do some damage. I could have pounded them out when I re-did the bed but I didn't. Part of the truck's history.

 

Just fix it to be structurally sound... it doesn't have to be pretty but don't be a hack about it.

And the rest of the truck, wash it, vacuum it out, and neaten it up. At least show some effort in making it presentable for inspection...