So here's my delima. I have had this truck for some years. I have been looking for a replacement cab because I thought the cab was not worth saving. I found a Arizona cab for $1000.00 to my door. My friends say the cab I have is worth saving. There are no pics of the cab corners but they would have to be replaced as well. I need some advice. Take a look at these pics and let me know what yall think. Any advice is greatly appreciated.






[img]https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gallery/sizeimage.php?
&photoid=179151&.jpg[/img]

 

It gets down to how much work you want to do. Most all of those repairs require you to cut and weld in new pieces. To replace the cab, will require a lot of work too. With the electrical being the largest part to deal with. And all of the firewall penetrations.

 

I don't mind the work. I just don't wanna put a ton of time in a cab that will not be able to be fixed. For the money I could buy a nice welder I just need to know this is something that can be repaired. It would be a lot of fabricating because I haven't found any sheet metal replacements.

 

I'd say cut out the rust and replace with aftermarket panels. Even if you paid someone to do it, it would probably be cheaper than the cost of the other cab and a lot less headache and work.

 

The only place I've found aftermarket rain channels at is Dennis Carpenters, its a back order, and Macs Auto Parts. The cab corners are easy to find on the internet

 

....Not ....

If you have it PROFESIONALY repaired ,,,it will cost plenty ,(done corectly),,,use the replacement ,,,It will also last much longer...JMO....

If you replace the cab , you are in control of the cost ...

 

you wont be able to stop the rust... the heat from welding in the new pannels will cause more rust in time

 

If the cab from Az is rust free, I would swap the cab out. I chose to shave my drip rails, and fixed many of the same area's as you are mentioning.(Pics in my signature line gallery) Would I do it again ? Not if I could find a nice cab, that's for sure ! The area above the cab doors and the corners of the windshields are very thin, and hard to work. The roof can turn into a big tin can project if you are not careful.

 

Gosh I though Fords were better. That looks like my brothers old 75 chev with the factory rust.

 

The heat from the welding will cause more rust in time ? You're kidding right ? You'll want to treat the inside and the outside of the welded areas properly once you're done just as with any bare metal. Your truck can definitely be fixed and the repairs aren't so tough that you can't do it yourself with a bit of effort and time. We all have faith in you, spend the money for the cab on the tools you'll need and besides, you can use the tools again. I don't see any reason to get rid of your cab.

 

and the welding/body skills, I'd say go for it. Making things the right shape and size sucks, but if you have the right tools, you'll be fine.

I don't have the time or the shop right now to do mine ('79 F350 supercab), but when my husband comes back from Iraq, I'd love to have one sitting here for him as a welcome home gift, so if you're not going to get that Arizona cab, would you be willing to give me the info?

 

You want to replace the cab because the drip rails are rusted? I promise you, replacing drip rails is gonna be a whole lot less than replacing the cab. First of all, I'd remove the windows. Have a local glass shop do it for you, it's not that much. Then remove the headliner and seats and cover the rest with a welding blanket. Then I would buy one of those $80 Harbor Freight pressurized tank sand blasters and really clean that area out so you can see what you're up against, both inside and out. If you decide it needs to be replaced, call around and have a salvage yard clip a roof off of a similar year and model truck. Then cut your drip rails out, about an inch all the way around. Next cut your donor roof to match, being careful to get as nice a fit as possible. Next, use a wire feed loaded with .023" EG wire and tack it in place. Let the tacks cool, and tack it somewhere else. Let those cool, tack elsewhere. Repeat until all the tacks touch, adjusting with a body hammer and dolly as you go. Carefully grind it smooth with a 4" grinder with a flapper disc mounted up, being carefull to only grind the weld, not the metal. Once you get that close, clean it very, very well, apply a thin coat of filler and prime with a good epoxy primer. Epoxy seals out moisture and preps it for final paint. Then paint it, call the glass shop to reinstall your windows, reassemble the interior and enjoy. You're now a rust specialist.

 

Though I live in Utah now, I grew up in "The Rust Capital Of The Universe"; Southern Vermont. They used an incredible amount of road salt which resulted in fairly new vehicles with major rust problems.

When you see an area where there is rust perforation through the sheet metal, that indicates (to me anyway) a problem. The more you dig around, the more you find, and a fairly simple repair confined to one or two areas morphs into a major project. Lets say you do as some suggest and repair your existing cab. A few years from now other areas will show rust bubbles and you'll have more repairs to do. It's a lot like cancer, except you can't "cut it all out".

The benefit of an Arizona cab is that you should have zero rust issues and it should be rust free for quite a while, especially if you take care of the truck.

 

Rust never sleeps ....

 

I'd agree with this. If that Arizona cab is in excellent condition, buy it.