Body damage

[WrickM]

I have some rust/body damage on my truck. I don't have a good picture, but it's the bottom corner of the cab just aft of the driver and passenger doors. It's like the corner rusted from the inside out. I was told this was common but i don't see many other idi's to know. anyone else have this issue?

I was thinking about just filling it with JB weld then a coat of bondo, using a jack to press everything into place. any other ideas on how to fix this?

Thanks

 

[cornbinder 84]

I don't have this problem on my truck, but I have fixed many Chevy trucks with this problem. I always just buy a cab corner repair panel, cut out the rust and weld on the new panel. I believe LMC has the panel for the Ford and they aren't real expensive. That is really the only way to stop the rust is to cut it out. I have seen people use screen wire and bondo or fiberlgass to fill up the hole. I try to use fiberglass to repair area like that which sees a lot of water, salt, etc. It won't bubble or fall out as bad. It only costs a bit more than bondo. You can get in a gallon or quart with the matting chopped up in it and mixed with the resin. You mix it with hardner and apply just like bondo. Hope this helps.

 

[jwalterus]

cab corners I don't even spend the $5 for fiberglass anymore

go to a sheet metal or furnace place that makes their own ducting, they normally have a big dumpster full of leftover scrap and screwups, use a ball-peen to form it along the curve of the truck where it's good (gently!) and then the only thing you are out is some welding wired of a welding rod

if you are welding it in, no matter if you buy em pre-fabbed, or make em yourself, remember to use spot welds every inch or so, and keep the spacing as you fill in the seam so it doesn't warp

if you don't have a welder:

stretch some painters plastic over the bad cab corner, make it plenty larger than you need, and tape it in place, then use playdough from the inside to get your curve right at the corner over the hole

put a single layer of fiberglass mat over top of the plastic and resin it, take off the tape and trim it all down to the size you need, and you have a basic new fiberglass cab corner

cut out the rusty area, and hold your fiberglass cab corner in place with a couple dabs of spot putty from the inside

put another layer of fiberglass mat/resin over the outside, bondo and finish on both the inside and outside and nobody will be the wiser!


I learned this way of doing it on my first vehicle, a 1982 F-100 my folks bought new

 

[WrickM]

well forthe record i patched it by digging out all the rust i could and wire brushing the heck out of it. I coated all the inside and filled crevices with JB weld (that was a pain since it take sooo long to set. filled remaining gaps with bondo (also a pain fighting gravity, but not near as bad) Sanded it to shape ,then finished with a coat of quick setting two part epoxy. the stuff is supposed to be strong and flexible so hopefully that layer will keep things together. Sanded again to smooth even finish. It probably won't last forever, but with a little paint on there it looks a hell of a lot better, and seems solid as a rock.