Found a truck I want based on its performance modifications ....... but when we get some more photos I was a bit shocked to see the amount of rust (not a cheap truck with the mods). Would this scare you from buying ? I wouldnt normally even consider it - but the owner seems straight up for getting it resprayed and taken care of for $1200 (full truck spray). Just wonder what kind of job its going to be and if Im going to see more rust and bubble issues later ...

- - - Updated - - -

pic

Theres other bad spots like the doors - hes going to replace one of them...... the part with above is it looks bad enough to me that they would have to cut it out and basically put a huge bondo job ........

To me that looks like some serious "rust belt" rust damage. I am not a body man but I think there would be major repairs needed there to fix that. Bondo and paint will only cover rust for for a short time before it reappears on the surface. To me, rust is like cancer. It has to be removed completely or it just continues to grow. If you live in an area that doesn't use salt or other corrosives on winter roads then the rust may slow down but once it has a foot hold it will continue to grow. How fast will depend on the environment it lives in.If the whole truck looks like this example I wouldn't think a $1200 investment in body work and paint will do much more that cover things up for awhile.

Just from that picture, there are a few things that could be done to keep cost low and prevent further rusting. Depending on how deep the rust has gotten, will determine what needs to be done. Back when I was doing it for school, we would just take a screwdriver and prod at it to see if it'd punch through or not. If it does not punch through and/or does not buckle in from being thin, then its possible to avoid panel replacements. If you were to grind the rust out or sandblast it, it would be a tell tale sign whether or not it needs replaced. It does not take much time to go through the steps from least extreme to most extreme to figure it out. Replacement is going to be the most expensive obviously. But for a knowledgeable person, it can be done pretty easily. If you can avoid replacements, there are tons of products out there that can kill the rust and keep the rust away. IIRC we used PPG products that would etch the metal good and kill the rust off. Then if needed, we would reinforce the area with a fiberglass body filler and finish over it with regular body filler. Then hit it with a self-etching primer(zinc rich). After that, I would start hitting all the lower areas with a bed-liner spray to keep rust from happening again... ALSO, if you wanted to DIY it, there is a product called POR15. Its some decent stuff, I have used it before and does not require a topcoat. Although, IIRC, you can topcoat it if you wanted. http://www.por15.com/

To me that looks like some serious "rust belt" rust damage. I am not a body man but I think there would be major repairs needed there to fix that. Bondo and paint will only cover rust for for a short time before it reappears on the surface. To me, rust is like cancer. It has to be removed completely or it just continues to grow.

If you live in an area that doesn't use salt or other corrosives on winter roads then the rust may slow down but once it has a foot hold it will continue to grow. How fast will depend on the environment it lives in.

If the whole truck looks like this example I wouldn't think a $1200 investment in body work and paint will do much more that cover things up for awhile.

The whole truck doesn't - basically the two doors and this lower door jamb/panel.

He is going to replace one of the doors as the lower panel is bad - that should take care of that. The other door is not as bad - Im guessing they will sand it back and then add some depth with filler and sand and paint.

This is the worst part not sure how they would do it - it looks like its all the way through.

Problem is its $18k truck by the time I get it home. No AC and having had this kind of rust. The reason its so expensive is its BUILT. And rest of truck is fine. Im just really leary of rust ... and this was not what I was expecting when I got the pics. He says he will take care of it ...... I just dont want issues in 1-2 years with bodywork from a half baked paint job that covers it all up.

hmm

- - - Updated - - -

Replacement is going to be the most expensive obviously. But for a knowledgeable person, it can be done pretty easily.

This panel below the door wouldnt be easy to replace though right ? Never had one off/apart ........

My truck has got the door rot. I'd not be too afraid of it. I believe it is repairable... but must be done right. You might want to take cash & have the repairs done yourself at somebody you trust (& will stand behind the repair.)

I have rust on the bottom of my doors and a hole above my rear wheel well about the size of a racket ball. I am going to sand everything down, spray a rust killer/primer where I sand. I still have to figure out what I am going to do with the hole, but I am either going to chip out the rust and fill it with something or have the body shop cut it out and put a patch panel in. After this is all done, I am going to get the rocker panels and around the wheel wells sprayed with bed liner to hopefully prevent the metal from ever having contact with oxygen/water ever again.

Despite the truck being a built one-off, you still have to consider the whole truck and not just the performance aspect. In the end, its your cash. You put the value on it that its worth to you. IMO, if you cannot do the work yourself, take it to an auto body shop yourself and have them quote you for the work. Tell the guy to deduct the amount from his or your asking price. Either that, or request the invoice from him from where ever he took it so you know exactly what work was performed and how. Despite these ol' cummins being so popular, rare, valuable, however you word it, the fact of the matter is, I still would not pay that much for the shape it is in. Blue book it out and it would tell you the price for it in stock condition and at the condition it is in. Add up all the extras done to it, price it out in current asking price and then deduct a % of that because of wear-tear, not being new, etc. Depending upon a few things, body shops will either get some sheet metal and form the pieces themselves, which can be expensive and not often done if complicated. They will also try and get an OEM or aftermarket piece to replace it with or go to a junkyard and pay for the part from them. Keep in mind that if its a whole side of a pickup bed, they are charging you for the whole bed. Junkyards will rarely sell you a section of a bed. They would not be able to make their slice of the pie. MOPAR aftermarket pieces may be available for these sort of things. They may very well carry a replacement rocker panel that you may need. A rocker panel is easy to replace. All those circular distortions on the bottom of the rocker panel is a bunch of pinch welds. You just drill them out to separate it from the rest of the cab and follow the seams to remove it. But like I said, it takes a little bit of knowledge about what you need to do... Heres a couple links as some examples: http://www.jcwhitney.com/pn/c1014p3010j1s41.jcwx?filterid=d50370y1999g2 http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/search/?N=0&Nr=AND%28make%3ADodge%2Cpart%3AFender%2Cuniversal%3A0%29&PN=0+4294905979&VN=4294964648&domain=autopartswarehouse.com&query_type=Product+Results&Nr=AND%28make:Dodge,part:Fender,universal:0%29&refType=Material&refValue=Steel Its very possible to get the parts you need...

Despite the truck being a built one-off, you still have to consider the whole truck and not just the performance aspect. In the end, its your cash. You put the value on it that its worth to you. IMO, if you cannot do the work yourself, take it to an auto body shop yourself and have them quote you for the work. Tell the guy to deduct the amount from his or your asking price. Either that, or request the invoice from him from where ever he took it so you know exactly what work was performed and how. Despite these ol' cummins being so popular, rare, valuable, however you word it, the fact of the matter is, I still would not pay that much for the shape it is in. Blue book it out and it would tell you the price for it in stock condition and at the condition it is in. Add up all the extras done to it, price it out in current asking price and then deduct a % of that because of wear-tear, not being new, etc. Depending upon a few things, body shops will either get some sheet metal and form the pieces themselves, which can be expensive and not often done if complicated. They will also try and get an OEM or aftermarket piece to replace it with or go to a junkyard and pay for the part from them. Keep in mind that if its a whole side of a pickup bed, they are charging you for the whole bed. Junkyards will rarely sell you a section of a bed. They would not be able to make their slice of the pie. MOPAR aftermarket pieces may be available for these sort of things. They may very well carry a replacement rocker panel that you may need. A rocker panel is easy to replace. All those circular distortions on the bottom of the rocker panel is a bunch of pinch welds. You just drill them out to separate it from the rest of the cab and follow the seams to remove it. But like I said, it takes a little bit of knowledge about what you need to do... Heres a couple links as some examples: http://www.jcwhitney.com/pn/c1014p3010j1s41.jcwx?filterid=d50370y1999g2 http://www.autopartswarehouse.com/search/?N=0&Nr=AND%28make%3ADodge%2Cpart%3AFender%2Cuniversal%3A0%29&PN=0+4294905979&VN=4294964648&domain=autopartswarehouse.com&query_type=Product+Results&Nr=AND%28make:Dodge,part:Fender,universal:0%29&refType=Material&refValue=Steel Its very possible to get the parts you need...

Honestly totally understand what your saying. I've done a lot of research on what Im after ..... probably looked at over 200 trucks and talked with guys on over 30 .... and unfortunately not a lot of trucks that are built to support over 600HP that haven't been abused by a kid or have a somewhat vague history or come with their own set of problems. This was is built to 1000HP .... so my goal of a streetable 650 HP should be covered. The truck is only around 100k miles, the transmission less than 5000 miles and has top of the line parts pretty much everywhere. I was definately sold until I saw the rust - hence the thread. I actually just had an update from him - he seems like a decent guy - and he said its not rot through .... was a paint crack where dirt/water has gotten through ...... looks worse in the pic - and basically when it goes to get painted it will be stripped and wired back and sealed before its painted. So I think if I go ahead with it - I might just ask for pics of the problem areas to see how they were prepped and sealed/primered etc. If I get into trouble later - those replacement parts dont look outrageous - although I couldnt see the rocker panels in the JCWHITNEY link .... fenders.

Honestly totally understand what your saying. I've done a lot of research on what Im after ..... probably looked at over 200 trucks and talked with guys on over 30 .... and unfortunately not a lot of trucks that are built to support over 600HP that haven't been abused by a kid or have a somewhat vague history or come with their own set of problems. This was is built to 1000HP .... so my goal of a streetable 650 HP should be covered. The truck is only around 100k miles, the transmission less than 5000 miles and has top of the line parts pretty much everywhere. I was definately sold until I saw the rust - hence the thread. I actually just had an update from him - he seems like a decent guy - and he said its not rot through .... was a paint crack where dirt/water has gotten through ...... looks worse in the pic - and basically when it goes to get painted it will be stripped and wired back and sealed before its painted. So I think if I go ahead with it - I might just ask for pics of the problem areas to see how they were prepped and sealed/primered etc. If I get into trouble later - those replacement parts dont look outrageous - although I couldnt see the rocker panels in the JCWHITNEY link .... fenders.

http://www.jcwhitney.com/key-parts-direct-fit-rocker-panel/p2000368.jcwx?filterid=d50370y1999g2j1 Well, as long as he takes it to an actual body shop and not a buddy who says he knows how to fix it, you ought to be alright. Now I suppose it will be just a matter of how your gonna pay the man!

http://www.jcwhitney.com/key-parts-direct-fit-rocker-panel/p2000368.jcwx?filterid=d50370y1999g2j1 Well, as long as he takes it to an actual body shop and not a buddy who says he knows how to fix it, you ought to be alright. Now I suppose it will be just a matter of how your gonna pay the man!

- is that the full rocker - seems cheap. I'll be flying up there with a cashiers check ........driving back. I'm considering putting a custom charger on the truck that he's offered me as an optional deal ..... so most likely if I do that I'll just pay for that outright and it can serve as a deposit. thanks for the feedback and links .......appreciate it ......

LMC truck has them also. Just a tad cheaper, but dont know which one is any better than the other. http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/de/full.aspx?Page=21

LMC truck has them also. Just a tad cheaper, but dont know which one is any better than the other. http://www.lmctruck.com/icatalog/de/full.aspx?Page=21

thanks David Im thinking worst case if that known problem area shows up through the paint ...... I can have someone pull it and put one of these replacement parts on ...... shouldnt be overly expensive. Then paint to match. Not wanting to have to do it - but doesnt sound as bad as I was originally thinking which is that it wold have to be custom fabricated and filled.

I have been looking at some of those parts for my self since the lower left rear corner of the my bed got crunched a good while back. I got lucky and found me a bed in pretty good shape with a rear bumper in decent shape for $200 bucks. the only bad part is there is a hole in the bed for a goose neck. Cant complain much for $200 though.

Good luck with that. I live in the northeast where salt and rust are rancid. The worst part is that it rots from the inside out, NOT surface rust, so it's a cut and weld job to do it right. Hard to tell from the pic though. Hence my southern truck and constant oiling of rockers, inside doors, quarters, bumpers, cab corners etc.

Panels can be replaced fairly easily by a competent shop, those aren't /wouldn't be so much of a concern to me. What I would be more concerned with is frame condition and floor boards. That's where things can get real expensive to try to repair/replace. I would ask for a few shots from the underside looking up if you haven't already. Any kind of repair of the body panels will most likely only be temporary, as mentioned above most rust starts from the inside out and no amount of sanding, grinding, blasting, or rust proofing will cure that unless the panel is removed and treated from both sides. And if you are going to that extreme, you would be time and money ahead to just replace the panel rather than try to repair it. 1000 HP truck That is impressive! What gen truck is this?

What funny I use to work in a local paint shop and all I did was demolition work pull old damaged panels off either from a accident or from a rust damage. Yes. Most panels can be cut free from a spot weld seam then replaced and spot welded again.

Panels can be replaced fairly easily by a competent shop, those aren't /wouldn't be so much of a concern to me. What I would be more concerned with is frame condition and floor boards. That's where things can get real expensive to try to repair/replace. I would ask for a few shots from the underside looking up if you haven't already. Any kind of repair of the body panels will most likely only be temporary, as mentioned above most rust starts from the inside out and no amount of sanding, grinding, blasting, or rust proofing will cure that unless the panel is removed and treated from both sides. And if you are going to that extreme, you would be time and money ahead to just replace the panel rather than try to repair it. 1000 HP truck That is impressive! What gen truck is this?

He said the frame is pretty clean and I have seen a few pics there - doesn't look too bad ...... Its a dyno truck that was built ...... 2nd gen .......24v with ppump and a bunch of parts Ill be sure to get pics of it once its peeled/sanded back and before its primed/painted .....