Project Rusty Revival (56k no way!)
 

So, I got home from work tonight, with some motivation to get started on my project.

Just to recap, I knew going into this, that it would be a project, and I think I did a pretty good job estimating the amount of work that would need to go into it. The main purpose of buying this truck is to have a small project, that I can put time and money into as its available. I have always wanted a Cummins, so I bought one. This is going to be MY project, as I intend to do as many things as possible myself, on my tight budget. Whether it be fabricating something, or doing the body work, I wanna do it, or be a major part in it.

Before I even bought the truck, I could tell from the ad that it needed rockers and fenders, so I went ahead and ordered them. I also ordered some Crager Soft 8's in 16x8, and will be getting Cooper STT's mounted on them tomorrow, if things go well. My rockers will be in tomorrow, and i need to make a road trip to pick my fenders up from JCWhitney, sometime this week.

So, I started tonight tearing the interior apart. I wanted to get a clear look at the floorpans, to see if I needed to order anything, or if i could get away with making some patch panels. I kinda did this a bit backward, and tore out the carpet, before removing the seat. It was so rotten, it was just tearing out from under the seat, so it was no big deal. I then took the seat out, and pulled the sound deadening after it. The mold on the carpet was disgusting, so I made sure to wear a face mask.

Now that I had my clear view of the floor pans, I saw I need to order the driver's side pan. I will be ordering that tonight, and hopefully have it Thursday. I then vacuumed the interior out to see just how flaky the driver's side floor pan is, and i think there is absolutely nothing salvageable.


Well, here are some pictures of the progress.

This is her the day I got her home:
Attachment 48650

From the outside, you can see the rotten rocker on the driver's side:
Attachment 48651

This is the same rocker from the inside door jamb:
Attachment 48652

And this is the interior that I started with:
Attachment 48653

After tearing out the carpet and sound deadening, this is what I found:
Attachment 48654

AND, just for s and giggles I hit the rocker/floorpan with a BFH (Big F'in Hammer), and much to my surprise, some jacka$$ with a 5 gallon bucket of bondo must have gotten a hold of this truck, and a huge chunk flew up and hit me in the face!

Attachment 48655

All in all, I have had no surprises yet. The frame is 100% solid, so I am very pleased with that. Its hard for me to stop at doing body work... I would really love to get the whole thing apart, pull the motor, and sand blast the frame and put a nice coat of rust proofing on it, but thats a project for later down the line (maybe I'll pick up a spare frame?).

In the end, the body is going to be sprayed a Gun Metal gray, the bed will get rhino lined, and I might get a small lift for it.

Parts I am looking for right now, if anyone has any leads are seat belt receivers in tan, and some various tan interior molding parts. Also looking for a bed in good shape.

Thanks for looking! I hope you enjoyed the progress. I have goals of getting the majority of the body work buttoned up this week, so expect to see quite a few more pictures of the progress!

Matt

looks like a fun project, keep posting those pics i want to see the transformation:tu:

Will do! I think it will be well worth it in the end. Just gotta finish finding all my parts and I think it will go together quickly. Unfortunately, I probably won't be able to afford paint until near the end of the summer. Thats the one thing I will not do myself, but I will help a buddy of mine who paints professionally.

that looks like a good project keep us updated

Whew looks like you have alot of work ahead of you! Good luck on the project the work will be worth it. I LOVE my 90!

Got my fenders and floor pan today from JCwhitney. I will get pics of them, and I will start cutting later!

Nice project you got there have fun and enjoy :pca1:

Nice Id love to restore a first gen after I find my 2nd gen pull truck... I want too many toys... Oh well you only go around once. Enjoy it and keep us posted!

just watch, if they started bondoing the floor pans, they prolly did a lot more to it that you just can't see yet, but good luck, it looks like it will be a lot of fun to do. you should love those stt's from cooper, i just got some on my truck and i don't think i would run anything else. it had a set when i got it but they cost to much to replace so i tried some others, and well they are worth the extra money.:w2:

Yeah, I went around knocking on the body panels on the panels I am going to keep (mainly the roof), and it all sounded good. Gonna go around with a magnet soon. The bed (which is junk) has about 1/3" of bondo in places, but thats gonna be gone anyway.

In all honesty, the places I figured would be problem areas (roof drip rail, and both cab corners) are fairly solid. I think I will have a surprise on the passenger cab corner though. The more I look at it, the more I think my rocker won't cover it. BUT, I have some 16ga plate to make a patch, so I should be ok with that.

I think... I changed my mind on the color scheme. I think I am going to go with the original color (metallic poop), just to save myself the effort of a complete color change.