When to keep, when to cut rusty floor.

[14-Bolt]

See lots of pages of rust repair, but not entirely clear on what I can save and what I can't. Some areas where the rust had eaten holes I know needs to be cut out. But the areas with surface rust scale, should I sand off what I can and save or replace. I'm afraid of saving pieces and having it come back to haunt me later. But also want to try to cut down amount of work. Pics below are cab hump and behind driver seat.

 

[BoondocK5]

If your going to keep the truck for a long while, than yes cut all that out. JMHO.

 

[big dan]

I look at it this way, if you want something temporary to last for a couple years sand it off and paint it. But if your going to be cutting and replacing metal anyway and want a long lasting job, go ahead and replace it all.

 

[Alpha1victor]

Cut it all out and put in new metal. The bad thing about grinding of the "surface" rust is that you dont know how thin the sheet metal is after you get to clean metal.

 

[80' 427]

Cut it all out and put in new metal. The bad thing about grinding of the "surface" rust is that you dont know how thin the sheet metal is after you get to clean metal.

What rust?

 

[14-Bolt]

Thats my number one concern, grinding it thin. Plan on keeping it a while, thanks for the input. Time to get cutting, i've been spending alot of time removing the body mounts, what a rusted pain in the ass.

 

[1BEATK5]

That's pretty bad for an Oregon truck. What year is it? My 78' was rusted all over in the front. But looked new behind the seats.

 

[82355]

That looks pretty solid to me.

Martin

 

[diesel4me]

Grinding is a poor method to remove rust--it'll allow the rust down in the pits to remain,or worse,make the steel paper thin by the time you ground down far enough to remove the pits,it also tempers the metal and it'll rust even faster afterwards.....sandblasting will remove all the rust even in the pits,and wont reduce the thickness too much.,its the best method.....but eventually the rusted areas will re-rust again no matter what you use for paint or prepping it,if you plan on keeping it "forever" cutting ALL the rusted areas out will be worth it--but its a LOT of work and sometimes the newer metal rusts where it was welded in too...

 

[14-Bolt]

Problem is nobody sells the tunnel portion. I do metal fab by trade so I think i'm just going to make my panels at work. The exterior of the rockers are good so i'm planning on cutting half way in and going from rocker to rocker with new floor. Here's some pics of pass side.

 

[Jessie James]

My previous K5 looked like that. I sold it for $700 (bad tranny too) and bought a new truck with no rust. My biggest problems now have been what color soft top, which stereo to get, and should I lift it.

Why anyone spends time on major rust through like that is beyond me....

 

[diesel4me]

Sometimes you can luck out and find a truck in a boneyard that had a leaky t-case or engine,that has a rust free tunnel section thanks to the sludge that built up on it,and you can chop it out and use it to patch your rusted one.....that area is about the only one NOT rusted on my pickup,thanks to a t-case that likes to sling ATF around some,out of the tailshaft...it only leaks about a quart or 2 a year or so,so I dont bother fixing the leaky seal..I consider it free rust proofing...too bad it didn't reach the rockers,cab corners and the frame..

 

[bmiller]

My 79 was rusted out badly in every area, and I couldn't see putting the work into patching something that bad. I also didn't want to spend several hundred dollars on stamped panels that would be a challenge to weld in without all the right body braces replaced, so I decided to build my own. I took quite a few ideas from Ryoken's build thread, and just used plate and sheet I already had in my shop. It was a quick and dirty replacement, but it's not a daily driver so...
I tried to post pics, but I'm under some sort of link restriction. The floor thread is at carolinak5 / the shadetree / diy floor replacement