Floor pan majorly rusted out in my 75' Chevy Silverado.

[HAULIN IT]

Ryan, A few words on your situation. First I've mentioned before in other posts. My Dad died before I was 14, he was a good Dad & man. When I was 16 I would have been glad to spend ANY time with him. You need to have some respect for him & carefully work together with the plans of the father/son project. It needs to be a give & take deal at times. Who's money are we using to fix up the truck? That being said, Try to get him involved in checking out the options, show him this site & others (Dad won't always like what we think) but for the most part, it will be good sound advise from guys who have been there & done that. What the other guys are telling you of coarse is correct. If the floor pan is rusted out, replace it with good metal. As was already mentioned, EVERYONE who has an interest in car/truck hobbies needs a welder, Period. Forget the plasma cutter, yes they can be useful, but you need other parts & tools far more than that. Now on to the cab corners, ect. They are relatively easy to replace & should be done, however they are not a structural part, so maybe take "baby steps", get the truck "fixed up a little" & to make sure you don't lose interest or have to spend allot more money than your thinking on a radiator, transmission rebuild, ect. I agree you should start by doing it right, but once again it's a give & take. You & Dad will not always come up with the same idea. Prioritize what will make the truck safe & reliable first. Most important in all, enjoy the time with your Dad. Did you read the "Honor your Dad" post in the general Discusion section? Maybe you & Dad should read this topic & that one together.  Lorne 

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[Bitzer!]

Easy answer!!! Tell yr Dad to leave the bodywork to you while he does the engine- best of both worlds 

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[smitty77]

Welding isn't too hard, it takes a lot of practice to get a nice bead and to get intuitive with the settings, but you should be on your way to joining scrap pieces in a half hour or so.  Throw a case of beer at a guy who welds for a living and see if he'll show you some basics on a Saturday morning.

The funniest thing I've ever watched was my dad teaching himself how to weld.  He's been a welding inspector for over 25 years inspecting all kinds of metals but had never laid a bead in his life until a few years ago.  The work looked like arse on his first few attempts, and it frustrated the heck out of him because he knows what a good weld looks like and works all day with the "pros" who make it look so easy.  He eventually did get some nice work done, but he was never happy with it.  "I wouldn't 'pass' it, they'd be doing it over if I saw a weld like that." he'd say.

As for tools, get a cut off wheel, a good angle grinder to dress your cuts before welding, and maybe even an air shear to zip through thin stock.  Like parts, Craigslist is a mecca for used stuff if you're careful with what you buy.

Good luck,
Smitty

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[hotrod24]

where is the pics i what to see some pics 

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[Chevytruckfanatic2009]

Hey, sorry guys it has taken so long for me to post pics of the damage and my truck. But here they are,


The old Behemoth...

A custom grille, but I have plans of putting the original back in.

I need chrome for the whole thing! lol

66' model 396ci   550 Rochester 4-B Carb

The main part of the rust.

Where the floor pan has rusted from the rocker.

Paint is bubbling behind the cabcorner and on back. Don't know why it's doing that.

This is the really bad cab corner.

It's just rusted out of the rocker here, and a few little rust holes.

Same, pretty much.


This is pretty much all of the damage having to do with the cab. I also have a pretty rusty tailgate that has a few rust holes, but I figure I can save it. Thanks for the replies and tell me what you think exactly of the damage.

Ryan

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[HAULIN IT]

Ryan, It looks like you got a little work to do there! Not many young guys end up with a big block for their first truck, that's a plus. To be realistic, You need to order cab kits for both sides from Chris. You may not need the cab brace, but his kit is less than allot of places for just the rocker & cab corner. Get yourself a welder & the cab repair kits & we'll walk you through getting it fixed up. Lorne

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[zieg85]

Wow, a BB, cool.  The bubbling paint is a previous try to fix a problem from what I can see from the pic of the right side cab corner.  I would really look at the under-cab structures and mounts to determine if it is worth all the work.  May be easier and cheaper to find a rust free cab since your far enough south.  Just throwing my $.02 in.

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[Blazin]

Thats nothing! I have fixed allot worse than that. Thats what we call a nice start up here in the North East.

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[Chevytruckfanatic2009]

 Well it's a big deal to me! Tomorrow or the day after, we're going down south of here to look at a parts truck. The ole' guy says the floor pan is in perfect shape, even though I'm a bit skeptical. I'm gonna talk to my dad if it isn't, and probably end up ordering 2 of those repair kits. Once we get that taken care of, I'll wade in on fixing the sucker up. He has agreed with me on wanting to do it the correct way. He just says it'll take a bit more money and alot more time. But that's ok if it gets the job done correctly and permantly. I really want the truck streetable before the mid-part of the summer, if not sooner. I really do appreciate all of the great advice you guys have been providing me.

Ryan

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[frogman68]

Well it's a big deal to me! Tomorrow or the day after, we're going down south of here to look at a parts truck. The ole' guy says the floor pan is in perfect shape, even though I'm a bit skeptical. I'm gonna talk to my dad if it isn't, and probably end up ordering 2 of those repair kits. Once we get that taken care of, I'll wade in on fixing the sucker up. He has agreed with me on wanting to do it the correct way. He just says it'll take a bit more money and alot more time. But that's ok if it gets the job done correctly and permantly. I really want the truck streetable before the mid-part of the summer, if not sooner. I really do appreciate all of the great advice you guys have been providing me.

Ryan

Ryan from one newbie to another dont put a time line on it I did that and rushed a little on mine and ruined take your time and take it as father and son bonding time..  Remember the longer ya take the nicer it will be

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[Bitzer!]

If it isn't needed as a daily driver, take yr time and do it right! I've had mine in the garage now for 6 months spending evenings and the odd weekend on it. Progress is slow but it'll sure be worth it- I hope!

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[autorepr]

Hi Ryan,   Cool truck and a big block, whew baby! Is that your only source of transportation right now? My first suggestion is to have a little car or even better another truck to get you from a to b. It's real tough to do a project like that and drive it or have a date it needs to be done by. It's going to take a lot of work and experience and is way past fiberglassing. ( no offense Dad, that cab needs some structure repair) I would suggest putting a cab on it that doesn't need totally reconstructed as a first time project. If that one has sentimental value then put it off to the side and rebuild it together in steps then put it back on the frame later and sell your decent cab for what you got in it. Take time to practice with that new welder on worthless stuff, cut up your old bicycle and weld it back together, go get an old fender or door someone is throwing away and cut it up and weld it back together. Before you know it you'll be a pro! Pay attention to lining up the body lines and not wraping things, crank the heat up and burn thru your junk practice peices to find out where the line is of to much heat/ not enough. practice filling the burn thru with the welder. You'll get it!

Also one more thing, I have a 19 your old son and he's got no interest in fixing up old cars/trucks. You and your Dad obviuosly do so take your time, both of you and enjoy it. Hopefully you have another 50-100 years together to finish
it and maybe it could even become a Grandfather, Father (you when your ready in 10+ yrs from now) grandson project!!!!!!

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[Chevytruckfanatic2009]

Alright, after a year of being extremely busy and actually ordering (2) cap repair kits, I am reviving this thread. I finally have enough to time to devote to this project and have cleared out most of the other projects my dad wanted to complete first. I apologize about being inactive for a whole year, but life kind of demanded it. But for some reason, starting in March, I gain more free time. So, Hello everyone. Hope all has been well during the past year.

Ryan

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[ccz145a]

Welcome back!

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[hotrod24]

alright welcome back and lets see some progress 

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