Bedside Rust: replace or fix with fiberglass?

[BloodMoon]

My truck, like most has some rust, but I have a major concern with one location, the passenger quarter panel, right where the fiberglass shell attaches, its a pretty long hole and the rust has gone all the way through to the point that I can push on the outside skin and flex the panel inwards. The inside skin appears to be ok.

I can get a new quarter panel assembly locally for about $300, and a repair shop wants $500 to graft the new outer skin and replace the rusted one.

I don't really have a location that I can cut and weld myself, nore do I have a welder.

My questions is, if you were me would you:
1. Do it right the first time and replace it for $800
or
2. Sand down the rust and remove big/loose flakes, coat in rust bullet, apply fiberglass cloth while wet and finish off with a second coat of RB? $50 for a quart of RB + $20 for fiberglass cloth.

I like number 2 myself for a temporarily permanent fix...

What do you think?

 

[ryoken]

depends on what your long term plans for the rig are..

fiberglass does NOT stick well to metal, and even worse to rust bullet...

I would expect to be having issues with it again in a yr or 2...

 

[The Pumpkinator]

^^^agreed.

I recently pulled up the carpet in my truck to find some nasty Utah corrosion on my floor pans and cab corners. I chopped all the rot out and cleaned the effected areas with a wire wheel on an end grinder, then fabbed up some new pans out of 14 gauge plate steel, welded them in, and finally treated it with POR15.

Yes, my floor pans are hidden from view, and yes, you have stated that you don't have the place and/or equipment to do it yourself, however the conclusion that I'm getting to is you would be better off to do it right the first time, and have some peace of mind.

A buddy of mine went crazy with fiberglass and bondo on his 89 suburban that had rust holes in the outer door panels the size of golf balls, most of it fell off in a year.

Maybe you can shave a little off the labor cost if you could do some of the prep work yourself?

 

[Chief Brody]

check around some local body / fabrication shops...you might be able to get it cut out and new piece welded in for $100 or less...
it will be raw when they get done, you will have to finish it.....but it is a lot cheaper than buying a welder
I found a guy who does rat rods to cut out and weld a new piece on my original tailgate...it cost $40

 

[diesel4me]

In my opinion fiberglass and bondo are only good for finish work,not structural repair...

If you cant afford a MIG welder with gas,or know how to weld,I would rather use self drilling screws,nuts & bolts,pop rivets,braze the metal on with a torch,or get a cheap flux core mig welder and learn to use it,and use them to attach new metal patches,than use fiberglass cloth & resin or bondo to make the repair--use that to hide the crude method of attaching the metal yes,but not for the actual repair...

My first couple of K5's had no floors to speak of when I first got them,(well,if you count the previous owners lame attempts at patching them with aluminum roof flashing,screws and tarpaper & tar as "floors"),I had to cut all that stuff out and all the rotted original metal,and I hand fabricated new floor patches out of 16 gauge galvanized sheet steel,and I used 1/4" nuts and bolts,self drilling screws,pop rivets (the 3/16" wide button head ones,not the worthless 1/8" ones ) ---
---and though it may not have looked pretty,it made the trucks 100% watertight and structurally sound again,the difference in how they drove and rode was readily apparent --no more doors rattling and theatening to pop open over rough roads,and creaking and snapping noises,they "felt" like a new vehicle compared to their previous condition..since the floors are not seen and are buried under a mat or carpeting,I cared not if they were not show pieces that would lose points at a truck show...they were much stronger than the thin crappy ready made floor patches...

I eventually bought a set of torches and learned to braze,then I got an arc welder and learned how to use that to spot weld thin metal together...eventually I got pretty good at making new wheel arch panels and doing rot repairs,I never was that great at finish work,I was happy to just get the rot removed and repaired and get the truck structurally sound again..

 

[BloodMoon]

I would expect to be having issues with it again in a yr or 2...

^^^agreed.

the conclusion that I'm getting to is you would be better off to do it right the first time, and have some peace of mind.

A buddy of mine went crazy with fiberglass and bondo on his 89 suburban that had rust holes in the outer door panels the size of golf balls, most of it fell off in a year.

Maybe you can shave a little off the labor cost if you could do some of the prep work yourself?

check around some local body / fabrication shops...you might be able to get it cut out and new piece welded in for $100 or less...
it will be raw when they get done, you will have to finish it.....but it is a lot cheaper than buying a welder
I found a guy who does rat rods to cut out and weld a new piece on my original tailgate...it cost $40

In my opinion fiberglass and bondo are only good for finish work,not structural repair...

If you cant afford a MIG welder with gas,or know how to weld,I would rather use self drilling screws,nuts & bolts,pop rivets,braze the metal on with a torch,or get a cheap flux core mig welder and learn to use it,and use them to attach new metal patches,than use fiberglass cloth & resin or bondo to make the repair--use that to hide the crude method of attaching the metal yes,but not for the actual repair...

I was happy to just get the rot removed and repaired and get the truck structurally sound again..

Thanks guys!

So, based on your guys' experience alone (); I will just have to buck up and save up to do it properly- buy once and cry once right!

I did not think about a fabrication shop, I'll have to look into it!

My truck needs a lot of work, but one day it will be show and tell worthy!

(By the way ryoken, I have been admiring your truck years before I even joined the forum!)

 

[ryoken]

thanks... any help I can be, just PM me...

 

[rampage]

Personally if it was me I'd weld in a new piece, but I'll give you another idea that the masses can weigh in on (see what I did there ). If you're getting the whole quarter panel outer skin like the one that LMC carries you could use 3M's panel adhesive to attach it. This is assuming that you remove the entire existing quarter but leave the bedrail that the top rests upon. The quarter panel has a lip that wraps around the B-pilar at the door where you'd glue it. For the top of the bedside, cut the innermost lip off the new panel so it sits flat on your existing bedrail and glue those two together. For the rear where it attaches to the tailgate post I'm pretty sure there's a lip there too that you can glue. The body lines would be slightly higher but you could probably make adjustments in the door and tailgate to compensate for it. Hopefully ryoken will say why this is or isn't a good idea.

 

[BloodMoon]

thanks... any help I can be, just PM me...

Will do!

Personally if it was me I'd weld in a new piece,.... This is assuming that you remove the entire existing quarter but leave the bedrail that the top rests upon. The quarter panel has a lip that wraps around the B-pilar at the door where you'd glue it. For the top of the bedside, cut the innermost lip off the new panel so it sits flat on your existing bedrail and glue those two together. For the rear where it attaches to the tailgate post I'm pretty sure there's a lip there too that you can glue. The body lines would be slightly higher but you could probably make adjustments in the door and tailgate to compensate for it. Hopefully ryoken will say why this is or isn't a good idea.

Thank you, unfortunately; the bed rail is toast as well, I might be able to get some pictures of that side this weekend showing how bad the rust is at the rail.

 

[diesel4me]

I'd either find a friend with a MIG who can weld,or buy one and learn how to use it--or get a set of oxy-acetalyne torches,those small tanks in the carry pouch got me by many years..even a crappy flux core MIG for about 100 bucks is better than other more crude methods I mentioned to attach new metal,but anything will work...

Another thing to think about--perhaps you could take a night course at a vocational school for auto body or metal fab,they often allow you to bring your own projects in to "learn" on...also some schools will take in outside work ,you may be able to get your panels welded on by the students...I know a few people who did that when their car needed an engine swap,and there was no way they could afford to have a "real" shop do it...

 

[BloodMoon]

I'd either find a friend with a MIG who can weld,or buy one and learn how to use it--or get a set of oxy-acetalyne torches,those small tanks in the carry pouch got me by many years..even a crappy flux core MIG for about 100 bucks is better than other more crude methods I mentioned to attach new metal,but anything will work...

Another thing to think about--perhaps you could take a night course at a vocational school for auto body or metal fab,they often allow you to bring your own projects in to "learn" on...also some schools will take in outside work ,you may be able to get your panels welded on by the students...I know a few people who did that when their car needed an engine swap,and there was no way they could afford to have a "real" shop do it...

I am really contemplating buying myself a welder, Its been a number of years since I have welded; but where I live they greatly frown upon working on vehicles in the driveway...

but I am really considering it.... It's just a lot of spot welds to redo right?

 

[ryoken]

it's a lot more than spot welds...

post some pics of the problem areas...

 

[BloodMoon]

it's a lot more than spot welds...

post some pics of the problem areas...

Ok, I can get you some pictures this weekend.

 

[BloodMoon]

it's a lot more than spot welds...

post some pics of the problem areas...

Alright, So here are a few pictures, the outside skin closest to the top is basically non existent in some areas.

And you may notice some of the fine artwork that our local talent has to offer.... (I swear, If I get my hands on them... )

She may not be the pretty but she's mine.












And Yes, on this last one; that is daylight that you see between the top and body.


.

 

[Chief Brody]

Anybody ever use Rust Bullet?


just kidding....I had too


I'm not exactly sure what Ryoken is going to tell you...but wait till you get the top off and see how bad it really is...it's much worse than mine was...so I replaced the quarter panels.

Once you remove all the rust on that, there isn't going to be anything left of the top of the rails....I've never seen a skin of just that upper part...

 

[ryoken]

Alright, So here are a few pictures, the outside skin closest to the top is basically non existent in some areas.

And you may notice some of the fine artwork that our local talent has to offer.... (I swear, If I get my hands on them... )

She may not be the pretty but she's mine.


And Yes, on this last one; that is daylight that you see between the top and body.


.

eesh, that's freakin ugly..


I'd qrter it.. if ya had a junkyard qrter with rotted bottoms, I'd scab a piece in... but if I was gonna spend the money on a qrter, I'd do the whole thing.. and that's the only way to get that section..

if you do the qrter, it's a series of spotwelds in the jamb, a fillet weld at the bottom of the C-post, and about 20 bolts.. depending on yr...

a qrters gonna run ya $300 prolly these days.. stop in a collision shop, ask em what'd they charge to get it into prime.. don't expect perfection out of the a market tins..

 

[Chief Brody]

I was curious as to what year that one is too..

 

[ryoken]

it looks like a 1/2 cab..

 

[rampage]

it looks like a 1/2 cab..

First pic gives it away ... full 'vert
And profile says it's a 75

 

[Chief Brody]

I thought the roof right over the vent looked like fiberglass...wonder if it is a 73, 74 or 75?