[54belair]

When I bought my truck I knew it needed outer rockers. A friend of mine who does resto work for a living quoted me $250 labor for outer rockers (I had the rockers).
Quickly we found out that it needed inner rockers as well---and the lower fender extensions (that you cant see until you cut off the rockers), then we found weak spots in several places in the toe board---next, we found the kick panel area on both sides was bad. Then it got worse!!! Since we were getting into a lot of time, he quoted me a reduced rate of $40. an hour. After we were into the job for over $800. labor--then we found the rust high on the cowl which had been well covered up by some previous owner-----Since I already had a bunch into the repair--we couldnt stop there, so I ended up buying a doner cab and we cut out both A posts (hinge posts) and welded them in. I ended up with 68 hours of his labor---plus some assistance from me--- So, $40. an hour for 68 hours--------a real budget buster, but it all had to be done.

The bottom line is--- Do A LOT of investigation on the cab before you start ANY repairs. In my case, I had over 3K in labor and material. I could have driven to Arizone and picked up a rust free(?) cab for around 1K--trip and all!!!
REMEMBER: rust is like an ice berg----at least 75% of it is hidden.