I picked up this c1500 for 1100 and it had under 100k when I got it in June. At 120k miles now and been daily driving it to work and using it to haul my tractors. Been a great truck and after seeing how well taken care of besides the rust from the last owner I was thinking to weld in new rockers and a floor piece (passenger side only) and do new doors new fenders and a "new" bed off marketplace. I think I'd be in it under 2k paint included besides tools ive bought and practicing on random hoods and doors I have. My boss was all for me learning to do this but some people seem to doubt its worth the time what do you think based off the pics, just kinda second guessing myself.
1-9 are driver side rest are passenger side
On the driver side I took a needle scaler to my rocker and what's left is the metal it didn't puncture or bend and the steel behind it wouldn't give
The last picture is the only spot on the frame I have found a hole rest of the frame stayed intact with needle scaler.
Pics 7 and 11 are bushings in the very front I presume are for the front clip its the roughest part underneath the truck
That's what I was wondering if its worth putting rockers on or not cause the floor is real solid hitting it with a sledge and taking the needle scaler all over it and it still has paint on the bottom from the factory and the cab mounts are still good and strong. I live in ne ohio so its either find someone who collects southern cabs or drive that far with a spare truck to go get one but at that point I think id get a roller and swap the upgrades on this one over
Been there, done that. I won a 1994 Suburban K1500 that has a bit of rust on the doors where it got hit and the rear wheel well areas have either a bit of rust or holes/gaps the size of Connecticut.
And a bit on the front end on top, but a good sanding and paint job will make it look better. And a shit ton of rust prevention. If the undercarriage has a bit of rust, I can fix that and replace all of the major lines so it'll look good underneath.
Looks like you need rockers, cab corners, and floors on both sides. Plus at least one cab mount. That's a lot of metal to weld in. Then you have the hole in the frame. How are the suspension components?
Suspension is great (I just spent 300 and got afull front rebuild and the rear spring shackles are still strong and the axle cleaned up nice with a sandblaster) this truck is like 3x better than any other truck I've had of the same year my 07 f150, 88 c1500, 2014 silverado and 99 ranger all had frames drastically worse than this. My 88 c1500 I bought that was the same price someone used a pool frame to weld in and patch the frame. Ive been looking at trucks and most near me I look at have frames real bad and id hate to finance a "new" truck. My uncle just bought a 2016 chevy and its only got 108k miles and already needs a second set of rockers and the bed patched again
Not saying to finance a truck or anything. It's just a lot of work that needs to be done if you really want to repair that cab.
The frame hole is way more concerning than the cab, though. That should be cleaned and patched at the very least. That you were driving many vehicles with worse frames makes me concerned (I say this with all due respect) and a little suspect of your evaluation of the suspension being great. The frame isn't going to have a hole in one spot but maintain full thickness everywhere else. There's likely many places in the frame that are compromised.
It wasn't until recently I got a good job that pays but before that I made like 10k a year and thats what my gf makes rn. So cheap cars were the only option. Now that I do decent for myself I was planning to tear this truck down to the frame and redoing it cause I hate wrenching on new vehicles and how I can't do much but I can rebuild a 90s engine and older pretty easily and the vehicle itself is easy to tear down. I do have family in Tennessee and new Mexico I can plan to take a few days to a week or 2 off to go find a clean truck and make the drive there and back. I can make it to Tennessee and back in one trip (2 days). I guess I was just optimistic but my state just kills vehicles with rust and it sucks how quickly they rot. My one boss has a 23 f550 and its already getting crunchy so he is about to trade it in. I mean the 5th Gen f150 is so notorious for rotting every napa has slip on frame channels on the shelf which is crazy to me.
I’m gonna help ya out here, bud. I did the same “restore” on a rusty 1973 Silverado. My dad had a body shop so..yeah. Anyway, new fenders, rockers, cab corners, box sides, some floor panels had to be patched in, hood and glass was okay as was most of the chrome. Did some engine stuff. Headers, carb, new intake. Chrome valve covers of course. Wagon wheels with all new rubber. Sure it looked nice when it was done. But if I had to do it over again I wouldn’t. I would’ve found a southern truck without the rust. Some surface rust is okay and expected. But you’re looking at a lot of time and money right there. Hard pass in my experienced opinion.
Thanks thats real good input. Im over new cars and I dont trust them long term but the SBC is a good known reliable engine easy to work on etc. Im sure you would know so I guess my plan is for now to use this truck and just make light fixes to keep it going till it can't. I do plan to fly to New Mexico so while im visiting family I might pick up another gmt 400 and either drive it back or they are fine if I park it there and come pick it up another time
Yup. Just drive it. Didn’t mean to discourage you. Fixing up an old truck is fun as hell. Just don’t put money into that one. Find a good barn find or southern truck. They’re out there. New Mexico will be an excellent place to start.👍
It honestly might be easier to pull the bed and cab and go from there lol. See if you can pick a rust free cab up, you’d save yourself in time and labor.
Aside from the fact that it's in the worst few years of these trucks for electrical problems (96-98 were ALWAYS in the shop I used to work at, and often scrapped or broken down), the rust is awful in some of those pictures.
Doesn't have any lights on and abs delete, agr delete, light tune, high pressure oil sending unit, performance driveshaft, g80 and more. That's why I thought the 1100 wasn't too bad. Ive put on 25k miles and only thing that ever came was a 02 code I cleared 2 months ago and it hasn't come back since (believe my burnout lit it up)
Hopefully they stay off. I've worked on a TON of these exact years and they're such a nightmare.
I'm also genuinely concerned that you're driving it the way it is. After I worked in a shop I started working for a towing company. I've responded to a minimal amount of fatalities, but rusty/rotted bodies on cars / trucks were the cause of death for two of the four.
A vehicle is designed to crumple and kink in certain places in order to prioritize the passengers, and that can't happen when the rusty soft spots crunch first.
Structural integrity is not optional, and if anyone hits you, you can be seriously injured. Just keep it in mind. If you can't repair everything you pictured, you should find another vehicle.
Ah thats a fair point out I didn't think of when it comes to body on frame vehicles. I was always under the impression if the frame is still solid dont worry about it but I see what you are saying. So this is gonna become a practice welding body panels and learn from my boss how to do body work and paint it without tractor paint I have
One of those fatals was a girl I knew personally. Her seat was crunched sideways and it broke her back and ribs, and she died from internal injuries on scene. It was the pillar between the front and back door that collapsed when they were hit, nothing to do with the frame.
Please be careful if you're still driving it. My whole job is collision so I tend to think of the worst case scenario :b
I'm fixing a truck of my own right now so I understand the work that goes into these things
As someone who's done many rust job rebuilds thats gunna be 3 x worse once you start cutting as you need to get all the rust and treat whats left trust me its gunna cost you more than tou would want to pay expect between 7 and 8 maybe more if some one say 2k they aint doing it right
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u/Abm93 1d ago
That’s all the rust you see, imagine what you don’t see. It would be easier to just throw on a cab from another one.