Is the fix worth it

[blazing816]

Hey all, so I have a beater truck I bought for $600 and have put a little in the engine and trans and got it running like a top. However it is rusting out something wicked on the drivers side. Now this is kinda just a temp truck until I get my frame off resto done (which will probally take a bit since I am no master mechanic). Anyways I have come to realize after two years that the floor on the drive has been "repaired" once but someone putting a generic peice of metal down and screwing it to the floor pan. Well naturally the original floor plan has rusted more now some of the screw are not held it and after further inspection I would need a cab support, rocker inner and outer, kick pannel, driver door, and driver floor. For a guy like me that does not do alot of sheetmetal work and the time, would it be worth my time to do it (I will be trying to sell the truck once my other is done and that is why i am thinking of doing it). Also do not want it to become a flinstone truck either, epecisally with winters here, it is cold in the winter with all the air coming in. My other concern is there water coming in that would be causeing so much decade, or could it just be from not properly treadted with the original reapir. Because I also have a rust spot in the corner of the driver side windshield but it is just surface so I do not think water can go in there. And with the floor pan rotting there is a grap betwwen the floor and the door "jam" and kick pannel. Some pics below, please tell me what you think, or if there is easy somewhat cheaper option since is is not going to be a show truck. Thanks.

[Cabcorner]

 heck yeah! Easy fix .

[zieg85]

patch it together and spray foam it to seal it the best you can.  Can't replace it for what you have in it...  My $.02

[blazing816]

Okat I was really thinking about fixing it...especially the floor because no one will see it anyways. And if I really wanted I could just send it to body shop to have the outter rocker done since that is all anybody can see, if I really wanted it pretty (just hard to find body shops that do rust repair around here) most tell me they do not touch rust.

Anyways I want to do this right after winter (to cold now without a heated garage). What would be the best order of operation would you guys say:

1. Floor support and floor pan
2. Kick pannel
3. Inner Rocker
4. Outer Rocker

Would you agree?? I am also going to take the crowl off and make sure there is no rust hole in there letting water in. Thank 'cabcorner' and 'zieg85' for the good advice and it will help get me exprenice for the little of rust stuff i have to do on my other body (rust free except cab corners...but its 2wd so I need to find a 4wd hump to put it on my other frame).

And yes 'zieg85' that was kinda of my thought on it too, I would say I have about $1600 into it now, a buddy mine had a rebuilt 305 (which truck originally came with) and it had a botch 350 in it, that someone did not know what they were doing worked on. So he put in the 305 and I let him keep the 350 to rebuild and he charged me basically nothing. Most of the work of in the trans and transfer case (someone had pull the dipstick clear out when trying to check fuild and tried adjusting 4wd shiter linkage and failed).

[Blazin]

Youd be suprised at how well rivets hold if you take the time to fit the panels together tight.

[blazing816]

Wow that's a great idea....cause the welding is what I really do not know how to do well. Thanks for the great idea.

[DustyRusty]

Youd be suprised at how well rivets hold if you take the time to fit the panels together tight.

Ditto.  I did this on the floorboard of an old truck that looked like yours.  I made a cardboard template and transferred it to a piece of 18 ga. flat stock and cut and bent it to fit.  I used some seam sealer to make it waterproof and used pop rivits w/ little flat washers on the back side of the rusty panel to keep the rivits from pulling back through the rusty metal.  The patch endured for 10 years and looked as good as when I fixed it.  All I did to the new panel to keep it from rusting was to cover it w/ a good quality can of black spray paint.

[hotrod24]

I agree with Blazin and DustyRusty. I am doing the same thing with my old 80 c10 using 5/16 and 1/8 rivets repairing the floor pan and inner rocker and kick panel. But its just temporary till I get a mig in the spring...