question, keep or scrap?
 

I was given a 85 stock 2wd drive pickup that needs some work. The area that most concerns me is the fact that the area around the winshield gasket is rusting bad (sorry no camera). Can this be fixed at a reasonable cost or is it a good reason to scrap the truck? Other than that I am statisfied with the condition of the truck it is a 22r 4 speed pu w/ 180K miles. I like the idea of having another truck to work on and a spare ride. Also it would be a complete set of spare parts for me. :hillbill: I do not really have a good place to store it but I could deal with it as long it it stayed running. What do you guys think I should do with the truck? Keep or get rid of it?

Take it to a body shop and see if they can help you out....But personally...

I HATE RUST!

Which is why I look at the condition of the body before I even think about buying a used car.

Of course, since it's free, you could get a torch, and cut everything off that isn't mechanical, put a locker in it, weld on a cage, make a buggy and have some fun.

if its a beater truck... knock the rust out the rust... find some scrap metal, cut it to almost perfect fit. put some silicon on it and rivit the cover plate in the cover the seal with silicon... can call it good..

if thats not your style take it to a body shop or look for a cab. There is poeple on Pirate 4x4 that are selling cab clips for $100 or free sometimes with no rust.

Thanks for the tips. It is definetly a beater, probably the next classification lower than a beater. I like the sheet metal, rivit, and silicon idea the best so far. Can you give me a little better sumary of how to do this?

"knock the rust out the rust... find some scrap metal, cut it to almost perfect fit. put some silicon on it and rivit the cover plate in the cover the seal with silicon... can call it good.."

What thickness of scap metal do you recommend?
Do I need to remove the winshiel for this job?

I will take it to a body shop for a estimate just for the information but I am not willing to spend alot on this POS truck.

Would love to install a rear locker in the future but I will stay away from the buggy modification. Thanks for the suggestion though. This truck will be parked on public city streets for a while.

If the winshield is physically set in the cab sturdy enough I plan on wire brushing the rust, using some POR paint over rust, and siliconing the heck out of it for a short term cheap fix.

Oh yah I am looking into the $100/free cab clips on pirate4x4 thanks for the tip. Sounds like a interesting project swaping out a cab for a another one. More labor and less parts costs sounds good to me because I have more time than money.

post a pic of the rusted section...

Metal thickness and kind: soemthing that you can work with, like the metal that you would use for a Central Air ducts. you can trim it with a pair of tin snips.

I had a buddy do this on his Sammy Zuk. looked half way decent once painted.

as far as removing the windsheild... not sure... you might be able to get away with leaving it in and workign the metal under the seam.

Thanks for the info, I will round a digital camera but it could be a while.