Hi All, It's been forever since I've logged on here much less posted (been super busy with work travel for the last several months). My C-10 has some body rust, some of it surface rust and some of it looks to be severe (above the windshield, etc). I've enjoyed driving the truck around short distances every now and then since I got it last October and am hoping to hold on to it for some time (maybe a few years) but I am not going to put much money or any body work into it and may get a nicer C-10 and sell this one as is later on instead of dumping money into this one. That being said, should I buy POR-15 (along with the degreaser and metal prep bottles) and paint it on the parts of the cab and roof where the metal is really getting eaten up? Should I leave the surface rust on the roof/hood and all those other endless places on the bed/etc alone? Or am I better off doing absolutely nothing? I don't mind applying that stuff with a paint brush to the areas that are severely getting eaten up but I don't think I'll have time to be sanding huge areas down and spraying (and I may make a huge mess and get neighbors complaining to the landlord), and certainly no body or metal work. If for some reason it does seem like it won't be too hard to sand some of the roof and hood, I'd have to do a rattle can job on everything outside. Thanks! Here are some photos:
just leave it alone. putting something on it will just be one more thing to remove whenever someone decides to fix it right.
Brushing a little Por15 on those rusty spots can't hurt and might slow the process. Get the light grey and it will blend in better (primer look) then the black will. Wire brush the loose scale/ paint off first. The damage is already done and a proper fix requires a lot of work which I understand isn't feasible for you right now. The Por15 will just be a bandaid but better a bandaid then an open wound!
Thanks. Yea I bought it with a lot of that rust but I bought the truck mainly just to have fun with it a few years knowing I would dump it as is at that point with no real need to recoup any of that money as I paid very little for the truck. Are you suggesting I put Por15 on those bad areas under the cab roof just above the windshield and along the side? I think that part of the roof is called a bonnet? The surface rust with larger areas on the roof looks like a a lot of work and will look uglier than it already is? Unless I were to paint green with a rattle can after.
park it inside, and don't worry about it. If you can't park it inside, then don't worry about it, either...it will still be rusty when you sell it, or decide to spend a bunch of effort fixing it. Painting Over Rust is not really fixing anything, it's just making more work for the future.
Thanks! I figured that would be an option as well. I got it knowing it was just to experience what it's like to have one of those C-10s and have loved it so far. I will probably unload it for really cheap, maybe $1,000 so someone else can restore it when I find another one I like better in a few years.
I have yet to see someone reproduce the roof panel. I wish someone would. It is such a common failure point. I have one that I cut off of a cab that we were scrapping. I have thought about pulling a mold, but it has not come up on the projects list.
Don't be poking around on the front corners of that roof, good chance its very thin or already been messed with [as in hastily repaired] been there.
I saw an old ford truck at mission beach on Sunday with the entire roof cut off and just the frame around the windows and windshield on there. Probably for the same reason!
Yep, there are some thin areas and probably has been messed with before from what I saw. I could almost see some patch type pieces in some areas but I vaguely remember. I will leave it entirely alone.
I'd wire brush it and paint over it with POR15, would look better that rusty boogers hanging off it. Besides, if someone was to restore it, etc, they'd probably have the truck sandblasted. PS..I'm just talking about the area above the windshield, the rest is just surface rust, just use some RustMort, etc., on them to keep it at bay.
that cab is still easily saved. If you let it rust too much longer, it will turn into major damage i.e. harder to sell.
I've basically lost the cab of my Black Dog due to rust that has been growing up where your left heel would be at the base of the door corner. I used to wash out dirt that grew upward out of the front mount, when I was 20. Now, I'm 50. 1965 Chevy 10 pickup. I do agree partly that you can hear a Chevy rust on a quiet night.. And I intend to save my truck that I've put 300k miles on, and rust.
Hmmm but I don't have the ability to do any metal work to it. I imagine if a shop did any work to that cab it would run in the couple thousand minimum and then I'm starting to put a lot of money into it when I might be better off getting something later for $10k without any rust. I was planning to just enjoy the truck a few more years and unload it for even just $1,000. It has a running SBC 350 and a th350 trans.. I imagine someone would buy it even just for the driveline. I've had fun with the truck and it was mainly just to see if I liked having an old C-10. I don't have particular attachment to this one as I've only had it since last October.
If you want it to look a little better you can wire brush and sand the rough edges where the paint is chipping smooth, Then mask off the bottom of the truck and rattle can prime the roof. Top the primer with white or cream rattle can Epoxy appliance paint. It will hold up really well outside and there are quite a few of those trucks that were green with a white top. Would be a quick weekend project, and cost less than a hundred bucks.
This is what I was thinking as I read through here just paint the roof in another color an afternoon and some rattle cans if you take your time it will look good for a driver not a lot of money and it improves the look of the truck
Thank you! That's a great suggestion and I can rattle can it after with maybe another similar green. In all honesty I get countless compliments every time I drive it to Sunset Cliffs and get out to surf or even go to the grocery store. Weird, a truck in that state gets so many compliments. I don't mind throwing $100 to get a little better look. I actually love the rest of the truck as is, and enjoy not worrying about every little paint chip or bubble and am actually using it to do functional things.
Ha, my panel had the same wheels and tires when I bought it. I found some cheap stockers and fullsize hubcaps that changed the look also.
Sand down the whole roof, use a DA not wire wheels, and brush rustoleum on it, off white, or a green thats close, theyll tint it for you. Thin it a little with acetone and read up on brush tipping, the paint should smooth out OK. It will protect it, look ok on that truck, and anyone wanting to restore it will strip it anyway.
Hah no it doesn't make that beeping noise but it does not shift as smooth despite it also being a TH350. However, the bench seat appears to squeak a lot with the engine off and a cute girl inside the cab with me
Haha. No. but. I took that truck to a drive in movie theatre with this cute blonde girl and the the battery drained after being in the truck for about 6 hours with the radio on watching the movie (and doing other stuff!) and I had to call AAA at 2 am and figure out how to get them in the drive in lot after the gates were closed. Fun times.
I happened to go surfing this morning and funny enough ran into that "convertible" truck I was talking about in my earlier post haha!
The way I see it is if you're not going to fix it right, you have two options. Leave it alone, or take it to the Hack and Pack shop. I vote for leaving it alone. Sent from my SM-G920V using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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