Hot Rods C10 Rust repair help needed

Hey folks I’m in need of some direction. I’ve done a ton of work to my truck to make it dependable and easy to drive(427, a/c, power steering, frame stretch,wiring harness,disc brakes,etc). But now it’s time to tackle the rust areas… and there are a lot of em. I’m wondering if there are some good links, videos, articles etc that would help me come up with a game plan. I’m a competent welder and not afraid to get into it, but seeing what other folks have done might help quite a bit. I have a couple junk cabs and doors to pull patch panels from if needed. I’m not sure if new panels would be preferred over cutting them out of another cab. The floors are solid, but the rockers not so much. Looking forward to polishing this turd!

 

Check out YouTube videos posted by Carter Auto Restyling . Very good body man and very entertaining too .

 

You want to see rust repair,check out Scott @ his youtube channel
www.youtube.com/@coldwarmotors

 

Gutter screen and chimney flashing are both traditional... got bondo?

Order up a few repro Chevy truck catalogs. I almost pulled the trigger on a '69 C10 panel truck a few years back. Most have similar stuff in patch panels. I helped someone years ago (pre internets) do cab corners on a '50 Chevy truck.

 

Think it just depends how much you want to get into it. If you have the extra parts to use and they are good, I'd go that route. But if patches or panels are there and cheap, then why not. I'd also prefer just throwing a new fender on over fixing all that if its cost effective and available.

 

If the donor panels are perfect, which they won't be, it would be a reasonable thing to do. But don't make your life harder by trying to patch with panels that also need patches.

There's a thread within the last year here about a guy working on a Suburban, doing very similar rust repair. Since that also required making modifications to patch panels, it might be helpful.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/threads/65-suburban-carryall.1279699/

 

Informative, and using basic body work tools.

 

Another vote for Carter Auto Restyling on YouTube.

He’s from Saskatchewan and is currently working on a rust bucket 66C10 that probably makes yours look like a garage queen by comparison.

I enjoy his sense of humor, too, but many probably wouldn’t understand.

 

Another vote for Carter Auto Restyling, the guy has built several of those trucks and does amazing work, and also has great commentary on what repair panels are worth buying and which ones are worth making yourself. The guy is... odd. But very entertaining once you know what to expect.

I also like Cold War Motors, especially the '60 Plymouth buildup, although not as in-depth on a lot of the panel building and welding.

I really like your truck though, post some pictures as you dig into the project. I love the old camper shell, looks like a great shop truck in the making.

 

I've enjoyed Fitzee. He uses basic tools, many he makes himself and shows how he makes jigs or he takes complex panels and re-creates them by making several smaller pieces then joining them together .... you can learn a lot from his tricks.

 

On those trucks, beware of how far eaten up the cab gets on the door hinge side. Then it becomes major surgery. I helped splice in a big chunk on a C20 panel truck my dad had. But 45 years ago good used pieces were easily found.

 

I like to add that Fitzee, Kyle, and Scott are all left handed Canadians like me. Great seeing work done by lefties.

 

The fenders, hood, and front doors are all easily swapped for better ones.

The welded-on stuff can be mostly had in repair parts. Yes, they will require some fitment, as the originals did on the ***embly line.

The rear portions of the cab (rockers/floor/posts) are made of modified versions of the same parts as the front of the cab.

Even the entire forward roof skin, and the inner structure is available, and the replacements are quite good. Both would need to be spliced in, but then again, they are now.

I grew up in New England, where they salt the roads in winter with such reckless abandon that 10-year-old cars have through-rot. I have put worse back to show quality.

Start with the rockers and floor. They are the foundation. Get the body well lined up with correct gaps with the panels that it has now.

Once the rockers and floor are done, you can take your time getting to the rest. You need to make the cab stable.

 

The bonus is that all of the panels that you need to replace to make the cab stable, save for the outer rocker skins, are not visible when done.