So I have a 1980 ranger I found on the east coast of Florida. Chassis is good and interior is crazy good condition, but.... The body is bad Rusty. What's getting me down is the rusted out door pillars, especially driver's side, it's literally falling apart. I'm clueless as to how I can fix this. No engine or tranny, but wood bed is still solid throughout.

 

You won't be fixing that cab. It's scrap. Problem is, it is going to be much worse than what you can see from the outside. I've seen them around here with the A-pillars rotted out like that. The windshield frame is rotted out with it, and usually the firewall and the floor too. If the truck is otherwise usable, then it's no big deal to swap a new cab on there. They're only a few hundred bucks down south aren't they? I just bought a "southern" cab for $400 up here in Canada.

 

Remove the bed and swap it onto a good truck. You can find regular cab styleside trucks easy that are in good condition.

 

nothing worse than a vehicle that's been parked under pines. rusts our rain gutter and under and then pillars, pans, etc. that truck would mostly evaporate under sandblasting. You'd be amazed how little truck would be left after blasting.

 

Grab the box and go …..

 

That is the perfect candidate for a rescue. but be aware a resto/mod wont be cheap and figure in engine rebuild. Now this brings me to another that was posted here recently https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...some-work.html between the 2 two you may get a decent flareside for rather low money. The cab as Cory said is scrap and not worth saving even guys building a truck from the late 40's would not save that cab....

 

I've looked at lots of Bullnoses around here and I've seen a few with the A-Pillars visibly rusted out. Took this picture below last year.



Once you hit 'em with the sand blaster, it's game over. I was looking at a cab from a mid-1990's F150 last year that a guy had in his shop, and the entire firewall was Swiss cheese. Forget that it had no floor, no rocker panels, and rotten cab corners...lol.

People that don't live in the rust belt may not realize...but around here, a 1980 Bullnose needed cab corners and rocker panels by 1988-1990...lol. By the mid 1990's it needed floor pans and the rockers and cab corners replaced again. You can pull a rusty cab corner off a truck around here and find another rusty cab corner under it!

And that's the easy stuff!

When the pillars are rotted out and there are holes in and around the door hinges, it's game over.

 

That's a bummer that your vehicles suffer from rust!

My 86 f250 spent its life in MO and is rust free. My 71 Olds spent its life in OK and has no rust either.

Rust belt sucks!

 

Ya this is common in many coastal areas especially one the east coast vehicles tend to rot from the top down through in a winter and they rot from the bottom and the top. In the Caribbean it;s the same they rot from the top down the roofs and rain gutters will be rotted all to hell but the floor pans and rockers etc will be perfect. Here we get rot on the bottom more specifically any where that traps holds dirt/mud as the salinity in the soil here is quite high. Some of the most rust free vehicles in Canada are from the lower mainland in B.C

 

And, from the driver's side working towards the right. Just like the picture I posted above shows...the driver's A-pillar is rotted out, and the passenger side pillar was not. Vehicles always start to rust on the left hand side first here. It's because of the salt spray from oncoming traffic, and that the salt trucks dump the salt in the middle of the road. The driver's side will always rust first, and rust faster.

Back to the little Flareside truck in the original post. If it had a decent frame, front clip, and bed...it would be well worth swapping a new cab on. That is...assuming the truck could be had cheap enough.

I just took a cab off an 1985 4x4 that was beyond repair. I found a southern cab (also a 1985) that needs some work, but was in far better condition. Oddly, the rockers and cab corners on it are like new, but it has some small holes in the floor pans that need patch work.

 

Do you by chance live in one of those places that doesn't need a title to go with the cab?

 

I didn't know places existed like that? You always need a title. Bare minimum is a bill of sale and a strong will to succeed through a bunch of paperwork.

 

Not sure about Nova Scotia where Cory is. But in Alberta we don't title nor is there any ownership documentation/registration.
We are an anomaly in North America.

The vehicle registration is not the ownership/title here it is registration for use on public roads with the assigned licence plate. The ownership/title is the bill of sale.
Mind you you can not register a vehicle without a bill of sale, if you do not have a bill of sale (IE vehicle came from a deceased party and was not listed in the will so the estate could not issue a bill of sale or has not been registered for road use in the last 20 years) you can make and submit a commissioned statutory declaration stating that the vehicle legally belongs to you and this can be done on the spot at most all registries and takes about 2 mins.. (Here the motor vehicle registries offices (DMV) are not run by the Gov't but are private businesses (run on behalf of the Gov't) usually sharing the same building as an insurance broker/agent.
Once the declaration has been made (this now become your proof of ownership) you can use this to register the vehicle for use on public roads with the assigned license plate. The penalty for making a false statutory declaration is severe and will result in criminal charges and jail time....

There is no registration, ownership or title tied to any part of a vehicle here since the ownership/title is the bill of of sale. If you purchase any part of a vehicle that has a visible vin it should be accompanied with a bill of sale as proof of ownership. Technically any item purchased that has a serial number should be accompanied by a bill of sale for proof of ownership. Under Alberta law the bill of sale is the poof ownership.

You can swap cabs body's frames but if the if the frame or passenger compartment is swapped or if any part that has a "visible" vin is replaced Door/Dash/Cab it is now considered an an amalgamated vehicle.

Amalgamated vehicles require you to apply for a new assigned VIN. Once the application has been made a VIN examiner all of whom are retired police officers ( a good gig for retired cops) will inspect the vehicle within 7 days at it's location (they come to you). It is highly recommended to have the components with the old VIN and the new VIN present with the VIN placards still attached to their respective parts.. The examiner may allow the transfer of the original VIN (in their presence) from the old component to the new component or a new VIN may be issued for the vehicle..

Technically it is illegal to remove the vin tag from any component intended to be reused (even for body work) without the the presence of a VIN examiner in Alberta. Mind you this happens all the time and no one is the wiser.. But it does cover your butt if there are ever any questions by law enforcement...
The VIN inspectors are pretty laid back and usually pretty easy going and will accommodate the particulars surrounding vehicle restorations if they do not suspect that anything illegal is going on. As a side note frames or passenger compartments from vehicles listed as salvage only/non-rebuildable can NOT be used to repair another vehicle.

The cost for getting an assigned VIN or having the VIN Examiner attend a tag swapping (if approved) is $500 for motor vehicles and $175 for trailers. The requester carries the full burden of this cost with no cost to the Gov't/taxpayer..

No fighting about ownership or if someone does not the title to a vehicle , if you have a bill of sale it is yours and you can register it for road use. If you do suspect something about a vehicle you looking to buy it;s costs like $17 to check a VIN for any liens or to see if is listed as a stolen vehicle or flagged for any other reason (salvage only/non-rebuildable).

 

yay freedom. Know anyone needing a cab? Lol

 

We have a vehicle paper title here, and it stays with us too.

No issue with swapping cabs here though. In fact, it's common...nobody knows or even checks as long as you do a good job. A cab swap gets about the same level of concern that a bed swap gets.

I'm doing a cab swap myself sometime later this year on the 1985 4x4 that I just disassembled.