I got into this project not only because I love these trucks but because I wanted a hobby to keep me active on weekends. Well, I've reached a level of frustration where that's not happening so it's time to pivot. I'm seeking advice on options...
I've learned a LOT. First, I took everything to sandblasting. I should have taken just the cab because once I saw that I would likely not have bothered with half the other parts I thought might be ok but had the same symptoms. Front and rear window edges are swiss cheese all the way around. Roof was dented but I'd planned on fixing until I had to replace the entire back and top of the windshield entirely which means taking the roof off too. Both sides under the feet were bad, easy replacement. The killer was the kick panels. It thought there was little enough rot that I could replace small parts (no more than 6"x6" but that's not working out, as much as I cut to replace, I find more. I'm at the point both kickpanels from the bottom to the bottom of the A pillar will likely need replacing.
My second lesson was buying every cab panel I needed to rebuild what I could see after sandblasting. I have $2000 of panels ready to go onto a cab I'm still cutting into and finding new cancer.
So now I'm at the point I'm in too deep, spent way more time and money than I should have and still don't have a pathway to a cab ready to start building back up.
Here are the options I'm considering...
1a) Keep going. Buy the kickpanel panels which means removing the front cowl inside and out and replace them all. I was always going to replace the firewall with something smoother. At this point the only part of the original cab will be the A pillars and the center section of the floor.
1b) Quit trying to make it a nice/mild resto-mod and go rat rod. Cut out the offending cancer, replace with flat panels that don't match original and piece-meal everything together. Still uses all the replacement panels I bought, but will not look anything like a nice/mild resto-mod. On the other hand, the guardrails come down and I can simply have fun with it rather than stressing. For example at this point I chop and channel it. I raise the steps so it can sit way down low (frame at 4" for example).
2) Buy a new cab. Recognize I've likely thrown away a bunch of money (which was never a top priority anyway), get a complete cab somewhere and start building things up which is the part I like.
Thoughts?
Anyone buy a complete cab for a 1955 2nd series from someone they thought was good quality?
