Looking for rust.

[jimjafarian]

I have had my truck(1990 K5) for a couple of years now and have found some rust that I am going to repair (cut and weld). I have pulled up all the carpet and found some rust, some on the interior roof, and some on the tailgate that Im just going to replace. My question is where else should I look. There is none on the fenders or doors, bed/cargo area is clean, and the frame only has light surface rust. I want to find as much as I can to repair it all at once. Thanks in advance.
Andrew

 

[ryoken]

under the tailpan, lower front wheelwells, inner rockers, rad support mounting area........

 

[530BLAZER]

I'm currently having a new roof welded on my k5. I don't have the tools required yet and it was too bad to wait.

 

[ryoken]

eesh, I hope the best for you.... I get VERY leery of rust up high in these rigs... VERY difficult to do properly... and trust me, I've done crazy patchwork on old Macks, etc...


I don't care if it has no floors, but once it gets up into the roofline, door jambs, upper windshield, it's hard to keep it from wrecking the rig... more than 5 yr's or so... unless your tanking the cab, etc.... I junked a 77 for that reason... despite that "I can fix anything" mentality I have.. keep us updated...

 

[jimjafarian]

I'm currently having a new roof welded on my k5. I don't have the tools required yet and it was too bad to wait.

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Well I can tell you that roof rust like that is a pain in the ass. I had quite extensive rust in the same area and it was a pain in the ass and the wallet.

 

[530BLAZER]

Yeah it's not cheap unfortunately. It should be done by the end of the week, hopefully I won't have any bad news when I give ya an update. If only the previous owner didn't just put a tube of silicone on it and spray paint it. Seems like he did most other things right at least.

 

[Cntymnty77]

Looks like it’s time to turn it into a full vert!

 

[RivMan]

That roof rust was the catalyst behind my full vert swap.

-Rob

 

[530BLAZER]

So the only update I have on that roof is the body shop didn't even start yet. They fell behind on the project before mine so I get another weekend of fresh snow and no blazer.

I'm into the truck cab look. I don't think I'd go the convertible route, I really like the k10s but when I got the k5 the wife was pregnant and the back seat potential was a big selling point.

 

[wazzabie]

how did it rust up top? never seen that before. typically rust i see is lower

 

[Cntymnty77]

how did it rust up top? never seen that before. typically rust i see is lower

Areas like here in the Midwest and up north, they use a lot of salt in the winter. That water/ salt mix will work it’s way down between the cab and top and eventually eat the metal up under the weather stripping. It looks like someone tried sealing the top and cab with silicone or calking too.

 

[jimjafarian]

Areas like here in the Midwest and up north, they use a lot of salt in the winter. That water/ salt mix will work it’s way down between the cab and top and eventually eat the metal up under the weather stripping. It looks like someone tried sealing the top and cab with silicone or calking too.

The main thing to watch for especially in places that are seen as rust free (CA,HI,FL,GA), but still get rain, is between the top and cab. I bought my C5 and it looked like there was no rust, but the previous owner had taken off the top to put in a useless "roll bar" and had just used some caulk to seal up the top. This was destroyed by the sun and rain was trapped rusting it to all hell. The main take away being, if you cut or drill, prime and paint the exposed metal, and try not to trap water. This will leave you rust free.

 

[530BLAZER]

The body shop finally finished my roof repair, not the best body work ive seen but I can't see it while I'm driving. Got the soft top back on and ditched the heavy tailgate for a truck tailgate today.

Time to go play!

 

[wazzabie]

looks good to me.... what don't you like about it?

 

[530BLAZER]

Looks pretty good in the picture, it just has some uneven bondo work with some small pitted sections from air pockets like it was applied too thick too fast. It's just a wheelin rig so I'm not worried cosmetics, I just don't want chunks of bondo falling out over time.