The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop When to throw in the towel on cab...

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?

No. 2.

You may need some of the panels even if you X-ray the next one. You have learned the 3 most important things to look for in a project purchase. 1. Rust, 2. Any rust? 3. how much rust and bondo?
I think you must be exaggerating about $2000 for just cab patches. No one would do that even if on meth.

Most of us have been there or at least somewhat there.

You will find a cab 55-59 that will be nice and solid for $600. Sell the patched cab to an energetic lad.

Leave the past behind where it belongs. If we were buddys, I would be calling you some names. But out of respect, I feel your pain/frustration. If it's not fun, change it.

You will be able to sell the unused patch panels, at a discount, to recoup, if you wish.

Next time take a magnet and an ice pick with you. Knock on it. Sight down the sides. It's not easy to determine how much rust. You did the right thing by sandblasting.

I do not know how much there is left to fix. I do not know if you did a good job, I do not know if the doors will ever fit. I know there are plenty of good 55-59 cabs still around....so that's why I chose no. 2. If you have to buy a whole truck to get a good cab, that never bothered me. I sell the hell out of the parts and I have room and can hide them from "she who must be obeyed."

Thanks, bartamos. To be clear, when I say "buy a new cab", I mean a brand new aftermarket cab. Not another donor with an unknown history. So maybe I should've listed 2a) lather/rinse/repeat, find another old cab) 2b) brand new cab.

2A for me. I like to find stuff. If you have the money..2B We are on the same page. $8000 for a new cab does not make sense except for something rare. Which these are not. A "hobby" does not compute to buying a new cab. But it does have the advantage of NO RUST and provides your need to assemble, so..........


BTW I was still typing more wonderful advice when you posted just now.

2a. Head south for a good cab. You can find many that you can work with.

Look for "nearby" trucks on the eastern side of the mountains of WA/OR.

They are high-deserts. Minimal rusting in those farming/orchard areas.

https://seattle.craigslist.org/see/cto/d/1955-chev-1ton-tow-truck/6640112520.html Seattle Craigslist.

Don't forget this tid bit. The advantage in 1A is that it has the Vin plate matching your title. The other options involve some possible hassle/nightmare/DMV fights. You never know how all that will go. "Rebuilt" title, bonded title, ETC! Switching VIN plates without DMV supervision is illegal and won't match the frame stamp anyway.

1A= can of beans
1B= Stinky idea
2A= can of worms maybe
2B= can of worms maybe
3A= Sell the project, buy another
3B= Take up bowling

You will come up with the right choice now that you have reached out to the Stovebolt Positive Mental Attitude Motivational Life Coach Club.
I will check back after my Pessimists Anonymous meeting.

Throw in the towel?!
Just as there is no crying in baseball, there is no towel throwing in truck building.
I bought a basket case '52 some 30 years ago, and was too young and stupid to know any better but to try to make it like new. I replaced the dash, front cowl, inner cowls, outer cowls, inner-to-outer cowls, rocker panels, floor pan, half of the toeboard, the entire pinch weld at the cab belt line from latch pillar to latch pillar. This truck is now well on its way to a $30K restomod.
Would I do it again? Absolutely not. But I do not regret doing it just that one time.
Carl

I recently went to look at an International 1/2 ton with a friend. He wanted a hobby truck to fix up and drive. The price was right and it wasn’t too far. When we arrived we started to look the truck over. I could see the excitement, look of longing and the “diamond in the rough” in his eyes.”

Of course, the seller was stating how good of shape it was in and how it wouldn’t take much to fix up or drop on another frame if one so desired. My pal asked me what I thought.
Well, I opened up...VERY honestly. I had been down this road before and have finished a truck so I felt I could give sound advice on the matter. It was junk. All of it. Only the hood was any good. Sounds like you had the “horse blinders” on and got in too deep. I know exactly how you feel. I learned the lesson the exact same way with my first project attempt. It cost me a pile of money too.

Patience is key when buying a project. There are tons of them out there. Look around. A lot. Buy the best you can afford and you won’t regret it later. My second go round went much better because of it. You might be better off getting a different truck all together and using parts from two to make one. This would be less hassle with DMV.

Buy another truck from a non rusty part of the country. It’s easy to dismiss trucks a 1,000 miles (plus away). But the reality is you hook up a trailer, you and a bud hit the road. A Good roadtrip and 2 or three days later you’re back home with a clean project truck and zero to very little rust. You save an unbeliveable amount of time and money with a roadtrip investment.

The above is a hard earned lesson. On one of my projects I spent months fixing rust, cut weld, cut weld, buy parts vehicle, cut weld. Then fill sand......to exhaustion. If anyone thinks driving cross country to get a clean, rust free, straight good iron project is expensive, then they've never gone the really expensive route (both time and money) of building a rust bucket. After the referenced project I made a pact with the Good Lord, I'd never buy another lb. of rust. So far I've lived up to the terms of that pact.

Good Luck
RonR

Fox and MoPar.................%100 great advice. It has happened to most of us. It's hard to stop working on something you've spent so much effort on. After you make the decision to regroup, you feel pretty good about it, pretty quick. A load off.

If a person does not mind the patching and fixing and gets the satisfaction of bringing a rust bucket back to life.....keep going and enjoy.

One more piece of advice is to take a break for a little while. Don't mess with the truck for a month and come back to it. Don't look at it don't think about it just drop the project for a month or so. It's easy to get burned out on something like this when you are stuck and not making any progress for a while. When you come back around with some fresh eyes after not messing with it for a while you are less frustrated and you might be able to see through the fog and come to a clearer game plan.

Thank you EVERYONE for the advice and thoughts. Valuable experience, I'm grateful to lean on.

Good Stuff. Thanks everyone for your questions and input here.

I am in the beginning stages of a 59 Apache Restomod Project. Just bought the truck in June. Not keeping it all original or taking it back 100% the way it was in 1959. My Big Window cab and doors are not great with some cancer, but workable/repairable. I will be deciding soon if I just find a new one. The rest of the truck (bed, front, fenders, tailgate) is straight and solid. Fortunately, it was kept in a garage since the 1990s.

Found some good candidates in eastern Washington, northern Oregon and Idaho.

Anyone live near Walla Walla and wanna check one out for me?

Update: I hate you guys.

I decided to keep going by cutting out the entire kickpanel and replacing it. Got the replacement and this weekend started trying to remove the old one. Only to discover the order (from inside to outside) the parts are installed are 1) kickpanel 2) inner top cowl, 3) kickpanel cowl, 4) outer top cowl. I almost have the kickpanel out, the last parts are where it's welded to the inner top cowl. Time to decide between taking it all off and replacing all six parts (kickpanel and cowl on each side plus inner and outer top cowl). Or to try to slide the new piece under the inner cowl without taking the inner cowl off.

I'll try to do the latter as best I can... But man I sure am looking forward to putting parts on rather than taking more off.

So thanks again, but I hate you all!

Kbrown, I would try and slide the kick panel under the other. Should be doable from what I remember. Removing the top inner cowl will open up a can of worms with keeping the windshield opening correct. Not saying it can't be done though.
I didn't have to do the kick panels but I did do the side and outer top cowel panels. The repop top outer cowel took some good massaging to get to fit properly. And will take some more to match the curve of the hood where the two meet.

Sounds like you have a game plan now. Keep us updated and post some pics of your project every now and then.

KBrown, sounds like a plan! We'll have to get together and meet in person one of these days! I'd like to see your project!

Happened to fall into a rust-free cab with lots of other parts I needed anyway... paid roughly what I already have into the other one that has a dozen rusted panels needing replacing. Came from eastern Washington, believe it or not I'm the third owner.

Sometimes the best project truck to buy is one that someone has started but gave up.

I have been following this thread and kept my mouth shut only because others had said what I was thinking and didn't want to pile on. Well it all worked out, you arrived at the correct solution in many minds. Congrats to that.
Moparguy said something that everyone that reads this thread in the future should take away from it:

"Buy another truck from a non rusty part of the country. It’s easy to dismiss trucks a 1,000 miles (plus away). But the reality is you hook up a trailer, you and a bud hit the road. A Good roadtrip and 2 or three days later you’re back home with a clean project truck and zero to very little rust. You save an unbeliveable amount of time and money with a roadtrip investment."

There is the answer in about as good Kings English as it can be said. I live in the western part of Washington State and in 2012 I started looking for a AD truck. Really everything in my price range (I wanted to buy basket case to trucks needing complete restoration) was rusty(cancer) or too expensive. Had about a year of fruitless looking then started looking in eastern Oregon and California on craiglists. Found one in Bend Oregon that was pretty straight that only needed the driverside floor panel replaced because of a leaky windshield and a rubber mat. Loaded it up on the trailer spent my 5 grand (condition-condition-completeness)and brought home a new beginning. That was in 2013, now looking to do the same thing on a 1964-66. Started looking in the central valley of Cali and high desert of Oregon.

Cheers and congrats on finding the right way through it. Like Bartamos says let the past be the past, look forward and enjoy.

Steve

Updating the thread... I was traveling a bunch so didn't have a chance to keep going and in the meantime, a complete truck, rust free showed up near me. It's now in my shop.

All original, cab is flawless. It's an eastern Washington cab always kept indoors. Bought it from someone who bought it from the original owner's son. Yes, 63 year old truck, I'm the third owner. Needs very little, even has the original bed wood and it's not rotted at all. The bed sides and front are dented enough I'll likely replace those, may sell the entire bed and bed wood, maybe someone wants an authentic looking, patina truck.

Regardless, enthusiasm is back.

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