The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks No wonder they rust

So I have been working my way up from the floor to under the dash replacing the rusted out bits. I just realized after cutting out a bit on the overhead why it gets so rusty under there and by the air vents. Turns out the water ad pine needles etc that get in the grate by the windshield that the wipers poke through just runs down the inside of the cab and out through the air vent box! What a dumb idea on Chevys part. There is no way thats not gonna rust through, especially up here in rain country...

Guess nobodies perfect...

Done venting.

Don,

If you notice ther is about a 1/2 - 3/4 hole in the bottom, that "of course" should have let the water drain out, but get just the right size what ever and it would have blocked her up. Everybody I've seen when restoring the truck, put a bit of metal or plastic window screen on the back side of the fresh air inlet to keep debris out. I will do the same. Checking ot cleaning it out was probaly a regional thing, if you lived under pine trees you probaly checked it more than others.

All the stufff now is plastic.

Thats a great idea about the window screen. I think I'll do that.

Good find, i would definitly have overlooked that when i got things apart. Can you get to that by taking the fenders off or from underneath?

The area that rusted out is easy to see in these pictures, ,most of the damage was under the fenders and on the underside of the dash. I think if the paint is intact and the water runs right through its probably not too bad, the problem is mine had been sitting under some trees for a long time and pine needles had got all through it, so it was always damp in there. The water enters through the grill panel directly in front of the windshield, the one that covers the wiper assembly. No fix for that, its just the way its designed...

The trouble is, when I repaired the rust, it was impossible to get a perfect bead on all the panels or get complete paint coverage inside, so I think it will rust through a lot quicker the second time. Should still be good for a few years though! Just hope it doesn't leak in the cab!

Of course, the beauty of this rig is that it can't be any worse than what I started with....

Heres a few links to the affected areas in my Photobucket account...

Looking up from the drivers floorboard:

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r28/meld1234/Davids%20Truck/IMG_0736.jpg

Under the front fender. Had to fabricate the lower half of the door post form scratch!

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r28/meld1234/Davids%20Truck/IMG_0730-1.jpg

Drivers footwell:

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r28/meld1234/Davids%20Truck/Cab011-1.jpg

And finally, what it looks like now. Almost anyway, I've done a little more since then.

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r28/meld1234/Davids%20Truck/IMG_2943.jpg

http://i140.photobucket.com/albums/r28/meld1234/Davids%20Truck/IMG_2948.jpg

Very Nice job of rust repair

great images for reference, know exactly where to look for proper restoring now. Thanks for the info!

Props on the patchwork skills.

Thanks!