The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop windshield corner rust - what to do?

So when I bought my truck a month or so ago, it had rubber windshield gaskets but no windshield. It had been stored outside and I saw there was some rust around the gasket but, being a noob and a dummy, didn't think to be concerned about what was under it. I found this and this and this when I pulled the rubber off.

Now my goal with this restoration is to have a decent, working truck that works well, looks good, and doesn't leak. It's not going to be a show car by any means - I just want a cool old truck for hauling mulch and picking up loads of firewood.

With this in mind, what do I do about this part of the cab? Do I sand it down, prime it and fill the hole a bit with polyester filler and call it good? Or do I need to cut it out and weld in a replacement piece?

This will be my first attempt at any bodywork at all, so any advice you can offer will be helpful - speak slowly and use small words . I don't have much money to put into it, so the cheaper/simpler the better, within reason.

I feel your pain. Mine, a 1955 2nd series, has rust through all the way around that area where the gasket goes. Outside and inside. I look at it every day and try to come up with a good way to fix it. I'm going to try the welding route myself.

filler won't hold up there, you need to do some metal work to recover the flange all the way around

Bill

Ouch!

Not that long ago this was one of the most difficult repairs a person could be faced with. Not only did it require a lot of fabrication but that fabrication had to be spot on because of the windshield.

But don't despair because recently THIS PART has become available. Either that or put an ad in Truck Parts Wanted and see if someone can cut that part out of a donor cab.

It's not going to be easy but at least you stand a real good chance of getting it right when it's done if you use replacement parts rather than attempt to fabricate a patch.

LATER EDIT: I just re-read your original post and since you've not done any bodywork before I would STRONGLY suggest you have a pro tackle this for you. No matter how you look at it this is no place for beginners and there is no cheap way out because if it's not done right your windshield will either not fit or leak.

Good luck!

Rust under the rubber is rather common and is generally only repairable by replacing a large area. Although I have been replacing panels for 50 years, I would not be inclined to repair it. There are too many alignment problems that can occur. I would look for another cab. A 48 to 53 cab from a 1/2 ton up to a 2 ton will fit and there are a lot of them around. Many 2 tons get crushed because there is no interest in restoring them.

Sounds like good advice, Czechman. Thanks.

I was kinda wondering if it would be less expensive to just find a new cab. Sounds like it might be. Thanks.

That really depends on how bad the rest of the cab is. If the floorboards, cab corners, sills, cowls, etc are all shot, it's not worth it to repair.

Trust me, even with all of the aggravation involved in swapping cabs it's nothing compared to an extensive rebuild.

That's coming from someone who was determined to resurrect one and spent almost 500 hours in the process. Definitely not worth the time and expense.

The rest of the cab (the rest of the body, really) isn't bad at all, which is why i bought the truck in the first place - the windshield corners are as bad as it gets. I'll have to think about this one.

The best thing to do is to repair.

That being said, and from your original post of just wanting a cool old truck to drive around.

You may want to consider treating that existing rust, convert/encapsulate and just repair the blow outs for now.

And Drive Baby Drive!!!!

I'll share this quick story.
A few years ago I got my Dads old 50 Chevy from a family friend. It was In great shape as, I was going through it I found some rust in lower cowl and inner and outer cowl. So I decided to just take care of that rust...Well since I had the front apart to fix the rust I said ...might as well put front disk brakes for safety...well now the old wheels won’t fit....See where this is going

While I had my truck apart I would sometimes stop by my local Lowes on the weekends. Id see this Old 48 or 49 Bolt parked in the parking lot. No grill..primered fenders.. Just a cool old truck parked at the hardware store.. My 50 is blown apart at the house..I’m loading cinder block in the trunk of my 2000 sedan..And I’m sitting there admiring that old truck in the parking lot.

You have a cool truck. It reminds me of my truck. My s/n is very close to yours. Our trucks were probably sitting at the Oakland factory at the same time.

As others have posted, the best thing to do is to cut out all that old rust and replace with good solid metal.

Safety first...but Nothing wrong with getting her together, driving for a while, Get yourself a good punch list as you learn more about the truck. Then as time and finances permit, fix her up.

Good luck

I might add, what took me a few years to get done on my old truck probably could have been accomplished in weeks if I had the knowledge, skills , and abilities of some of the folks on this forum.
I enjoy every minute I spend working on my DADS50

DADS50, that is a great story and I appreciate your input. My old man and I picked up a '50 in Colorado which he then shipped off to his home in Maine, where I grew up, to restore. Ultimately, that project is the inspiration for mine.

I figure I can cut out the rotten spots, cut two pieces off a donor cab, fit it roughly, and have a pro finish the fit and weld it in, and then do the remaining work myself.

Take care, Nick

One of my neighbors had told me that his father knew something about body work. His solution to the holes in the frame? Good old Bondo! Fill, sand, fill again, sand some more and on and on. No way will I use that stuff! I think a template and some sheet metal.

Sounds like a good plan.
Get a big chunk of that good donor material.
I suspect you may end up cutting beyond your blow outs to find a good enough area to weld

That what I ran into anyways.

Good Luck