69 Cab Rust

[Tmac85]

So not new to trucks but new to rust. Don’t have the money for a entire new floor so I’ll be winging it. I am a welder/fabricator by trade. That’s kind of why I took on the project. Plus whole truck was 600 bucks. Anyway I’d figured I’d ask the experts and see if there is any new info because searching takes me back 10 years. Things change, people learn new ways. So after all that rambling, where and what do I start with?? I’ve got a 400 budget for repairs on the cab. And before anyone says it ..... I’m costal Virginia, not a cab in sight for 2000 miles that’s not in the same condition mine is. Thank you for your input, it’s pages like this that keeps people from quitting.

https://tmac85.imgbb.com

[dfwright]

That cab is extremely rough. You'll have to buy almost every patch panel currently made, and beyond that, you're going to need cab cuts for places no patch panel is available, or else you're going to spend a great deal of time fabricating patch panels to fix all that rust. I imagine your budget will not be enough for that work. That's just my take. I applaud you for taking on the challenge, and being a fabricator and welder by trade, you have the skills to do it. I just think you're going to need more than $400 in raw metal, cab cuts, patch panels, and welding supplies.

The pictures I see look like a great candidate for a full floor replacement.

I didn't see any pictures of the top. Is it clean, or do you have similar rust in the top of the cab around the windshield, and gutters?

[Tmac85]

I’ve got nothing but time but I do understand where you are coming from. Would something like this save money?

[Tmac85]

Everything up top is solid, even around the glass. It’s basically just firewall down.

[71CHEVYSHORTBED402]

Originally Posted by Tmac85

Everything up top is solid, even around the glass. It’s basically just firewall down.

Interesting how that worked. My 72 cab is pretty bad and yours worse, but my gutter and windshield frame were hit as well.

[Tmac85]

Picture before it was dismantled, and you can see that the top of cab is strong.

[dfwright]

The top looks good. There are a bunch of patch panels that cover most of the worst of the rust in the floor area, and they aren't terribly expensive. With fabrication skills like that, I think you could probably make a bunch of the patch panels you need from scratch. I don't know if you have access to inexpensive sheet metal, but I would think doing a full tube frame and plate like in the pictures would cost a lot in materials. You might search out the prices on some of the patch panels available, and see where you could use existing ones, and where it would be cheaper to fab panels.

By all means, please do a build thread. I'd like to watch the progress!