Bricknose cab floor issues....(Image HEAVY)

Cruiseomatic

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Until there is an actual body section, Here goes.
This is all the different post wrapped into one,

Rear cab floor.
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Above highbeam switch:
Got some of the cancer cut out;
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Before:
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Above drip rail:
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On my '89:

Under drip rail:
 

Cruiseomatic

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Behind LH Kickpanel:
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Under the cowl/Above firewall on '87:
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What the hell am I supposed to do with all this? Don't know how to weld and don't own one, This truck "Build" is on a realistic budget, and needs to be done on/in a timely manner. Is there any good body guys in Houston that could maybe help me tackle this? I don't do things halfway or "cheap". However, I do want to do this right and last. I have speckles of surface rust in various areas that have already been wired wheeled down, sprayed with self etching primer then 2-3 coats of sealer. Just to hopefully stop if not slow down the cancer until something better is done. I'll upload more pics tomorrow when I get more "cleaning" done.
 
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laserjock

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You live around Houston? If I were you, I'd cut my losses and go find another truck or at a minimum a clean cab. You will have more money in a welder and patch panels than you would in a clean truck with no running gear. If money is tight it's certainly going to be cheaper to find a different cab than go to a body shop.

If I lived in Texas and I had got into mine and realized how bad it was I would have scrapped it and went shopping for a cleaner one. I almost did it anyway. The thing is even a best effort on one like that (mine included) is really just buying time.

Anyway, given your situation, that's the best advice I can give you. If you want to keep pressing on, I'll offer what help I can.
 

Cruiseomatic

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Believe it or not, rust here is common. We don't have salty roads but we got tons of humidity. I have a '04 F350 CCLB with only 38K miles. Chassis is already developing surface spots and the driveshaft as well as other undercarriage parts have surface. Did I know this truck had this many secrets before I got sucked down into it? No. Do I want to keep going? Yeah. Other than the cancer, This truck is bullet proof and other ones with the same amount of damage or wear is going for WAY more than I paid for this one. Besides cab cancer though, The chassis is friggin' SOLID! Also, This truck is the HD version. Sorry if I'm coming across upset but when I came across this, its aggravating. It's one thing to have a shop, tools, and skill to either fix it or just do a cab swap. I don't have any of that. Here is a pic of my "shop". BTW, I work out of a plastic truck tool box...

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I would sincerely appreciate any and all help I can get. I've seen some of the crap people who thought they would cheap out or thought they knew what they were doing....No fiberglass or pop rivets for me.
Don't get me wrong, I've seen trucks MUCH WORSE. And that's why I want to keep going knowing that this isn't the end of the world for it. And those cabs were successfully repaired.

"People never have the time or money to do it right the first time, But have enough time and money to do it repeatedly."
 
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IDIoit

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"People never have the time or money to do it right the first time, But have enough time and money to do it repeatedly."

+1 on a different cab.
tons of these on the road, alot less time and money into a cab swap.
hell,
ive cut up damn near rust free cabs....
 

Cruiseomatic

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If I could swap, I would. I have a video processing now to show the rear floor/wall joint. But what you see in the pic is what I'm working in. Open area and working out of a tool box. I couldn't if I wanted to. Lets add the fact that, IT DOESN'T RUN either. Yeah....This **** sucks. The mounts are strong and fine. Its just where that damn sealant was I have problems. And shipping a cab from commiefornia to Houston....Good night....However, If you have the sections I need then that would work. All my rust is in places patch panels don't exist for. My cab floors are fine. My mounts, Are fine. My wheel wells are fine. The cab corners, are fine. In the video it looks rusted but thats from what I was scraping. I'll get a better one during daylight. I don't think its done processing but here it is.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XubLarLXNtA

Notice how ONE spot is not rusting but all around it is? I'll do some more wiring on it today once I get the backseat totally out and not climbing all over them. But I do need a better camera app for my phone. Using Open Camera now because of a few features it has over stock but don't like how its slow response time or the audio it produces.
 
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laserjock

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You can buy patch panels for the foot wells. Like I said before, take a real hard look at the cab mounts because from what I see, everything between the two weld on places for the cab mounts is missing. The real poor mans way of dealing with most of this is to cut out the rot in the floors and pop rivet metal in place. I don't recommend that for anything structural but just to fill holes it can be done. Anything else like the drip rails etc., you grind them out, treat them and fiberglass them. That is the cheapest easiest repair you can really do. Don't expect it to last forever but it might get you by for a while. Use good reinforced filler, not the standard parts store Bondo and it will adhere better and maybe not crack on you for a while. You can probably have a decent looking finished product that way. The floors, nobody will see anyway. You can just bend patches out of flat steel but the patch panels aren't that expensive for the front floor boards.

I look at it this way.

Cheap mig welder $200-300
Gas $300 can delete if running flux core.
Floor patches $150
other metal $100
Filler/paint supplies $150 (for rattle can quality)

Total $900+ your time to learn and figure it out and do it.

I don't know what's wrong that it won't run but as strictly a bean counting exercise, I don't know what you paid for it but you are going to have a grand maybe $1500 in it for just metal work.

If the rest of the truck is good. A couple guys and a case of beer makes a cab and bed swap doable in a day if you've done the leg work ahead of time. I have pulled beds by myself without the crane and without a running truck. You unbolt it and crib it up through the wheel wells a block at a time and roll the truck out from under it. FWIW, you are going to have to pull the bed to fix that rear wall section anyway. You have to be able to get to the outside to seal it up.

Look I'm not trying to discourage you, I just went through all this myself and I think I have a pretty good feel for what the variable space is here. Just trying to present all sides of the equation so you can decide what is better for your situation. I know myself that all the work I have in on my cab is really just a temporary fix. It will eventually rust through again. You never get it all.
 

Cruiseomatic

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Didn't get a pic but, where the floor and rear cab mount are spot welded together, The rot did NOT go all the way through the floor into the mount. But, in one place for sure it did. I'm gonna start calling body shops. This is to much after looking at it deeper. If it was just the floors pans, maybe. But in the tight space and how much structure is here, I don't want to chance it.
 

Cruiseomatic

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Heres under the truck looking up at the rear body mounts. Waiting for a body shop to call me back with an estimate on just this for now.
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Apparently, My mounts are fine. It didnt get complexly through. Once I find out about this, I'll ask about the floor and cowl area.
 

Cruiseomatic

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Just got off the phone with one. $2K to replace the whole floor + Materials. Now, a new floor would be nice, Its not needed. And they recommended an actual restoration shop or a school.
 

IDIoit

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yup. that's about par.
doing floors in these are not fun.
and the cab still needs to come off to do the work.
this is the reason were telling you to find another cab..lol
cheaper and easier.
especially for someone with no fab skills.
 

Cruiseomatic

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No shop or proper tools. Unless a trusted board member is willing to "host" it, Kind of at a loss. Trust me, I'd LOVE to have a rust and worry free cab. I'm hearing ya'll out VERY loud and clear. I'm tired of keeping this thing covered and wondering if I prepped the rust right and its gone, Etc... But I can't. Especially with the weather were having. It's bad enough the powertrain is possibly dead. I could easily slap it back together and call the boneyards to come get it and be done. But, I want to save it. Its just not looking like I can. Shame too. The chassis and undercarriage is SOLID. And its an HD model. I have at least $1K tied into it now. Including purchase price. Lets not mention, This truck is already over budget, I'm outta funds and no closer to where it needs to be. And momma aint to happy about this either. Spending more money on it is NOT going over well with her. Even though she had a '91 F150 with a 300 that got "totalled" by her ex mother in law because of a slight frame bend then sold and shipped to mexico.
 
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Shadetreemechanic

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Por 15 the rusty areas, cover it in kitty hair and put the carpet back down. That will give you a couple years to either learn to weld or find a place to do a cab swap. Should cost about $100 in materials.
 

Cruiseomatic

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Where this truck is literally stuck at, A cab swap is not possible. After some thinking, What I MIGHT do is, Cut out what rot there is, then to keep water and debris out, clean the areas real well, and put "foil tape" over the holes until this pos gets running and I can move it. Im really out of viable options. Unless someone has a better idea or suggestion. In that pic is where its stuck at. Theres maybe 1 ft. from the brick wall to the fender. The only place I can't do anything about it the cowl. Itll just have to rot.
 

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