My perception may be wrong but I don't image finding a clean rust free cab for a 70 year old truck is really an option. I bought the truck in Arizona thinking that it was made in LA (based on the S/N), resided in the desert southwest (at least recently), and the apparent rust did not seem to bad. When I started to dig into it I found that most of the cab, fenders, and running boards were in decent, but not great shape with more rust issues becoming apparent as work progresses. The bed floor is a total replacement and the bed sides have a few rust areas that need to be addressed.
My goal is to have it roadworthy within 3 years (December 2024) so I have a long timeframe but I also know that ia have a lot of work to do. Bodywork is not my first choice but my goal is for the truck to be solid and functional, not a garage queen so I am hoping that my body work doesn't detract from the goal.
Once I get the floor and cowl panel areas reworked so the cab is more stable I plan to remove it from the frame to allow the underside of the cab work to be done. However, one of my thoughts is to get the mounting frame I plan to build for the seats (1999 Chevy 1500 with integrated seat belts) done before I pull the cab because there are seat mounting related aspects to the underside of the cab.
I understand the concern about stalling out on such a long timeframe project but hope that I can stick with it and apprecaite all the support I have been getting from the SB community.
