well i got pics finally. first2 pics are of the body rust then theres a pic of the gas tank which i just found out that i guess one of the straps broke and the owner before me put 2 bungy straps to hold it in place............... dumbass.... and then more frame rust and some more body rust pics.

im just asking what you guys think. is it fixable? should i even try? i really like the truck but for the amount a new frame would cost to buy,clean,undercoat and swap over im better off trading it in for another ram but in better condition then this one.

just to give you some info. i purchased this ram 6 months ago for $6200 its a 1996 with 149,### miles as of today but with finance charges i ended up owning 9000. so after tomorrow what i have left on my payments is $6500. trade in is only worth about $2000 tops. so im in the hole 4500 if i trade right this moment.

anyway here are the pics!

 

alot of that looks repairable by sanding and painting, like on that rear fender, thats easy. The frame didnt look too bad to me, if you want and and undercoat the running boards look bad, lmctrucks.com have body parts, and they may have running boards, not sure... good luck, oh yea get that new fuel tank strap, if not found rig something up more stable[&:]

once again GOOD LUCK

 

well thats good news! thanks 2500 MOPAR. ill keep sanding and undercoating. one thing i wanted to ask because i cant sand blast, is there anything you guys can recommend as far as tools to get into the small angles and holes ect. to make this easier? im planning to do it in parts. front, then rear, then center.

 

Do you have a gun gleaning kit? if not go buy one. They'll have little wire brushes and stuff that will fit in the hard to get places you can't get with a sanding wheel or a normal wire brush.

As far as the overall truck what do you want to do? If you like it, and it's in your best interest to keep it, and you like working on it then do it. If you don't like working on it... I don't know, rust removal patching and painting is some pretty tedious and time consuming ****.

Do you get alot of rain where you live or hard winters or something? After you get it repainted washing and waxing the whole truck once a month does incredible incredible things for keeping paint healthy.

 

my truck is a bucket of rust too. maybe worse than yours, it just hasnt attacked the visible body yet. Actually i take that back, i had a rust hole in the back bumper 6 inches tall by a foot wide. Needless to say i replaced that pronto. But what i do is just getsome CLR and a steel wirebrush and go to town. I mix the CLR with some"krud kutter" and it works excellent. Itsfrustratin, but thats what happenes when trucks are born up north.

 

It looks like you need rocker panels and possibly cab corners at the very least. The rust over the wheel wells looks like it is rusted through from the inside, which is common. The top of the inner wheel well where it joins the outer panel is like a shelf, and holds dirt and debris, which gets wet and seldom dries out, thenrusts from the inside out. Patch panels are available for that. Swab some grease or oil onthe joint once in awhile after the patchpanel is installed and you'll be all set from then on.

I would think any decent running truck would be worth some new sheetmetal, especially if it's limited to rocker panels, cab corners, tank straps, and wheel well patch panels.

It looks like that truck went through some Maine winters or was sitting a lot. Anyway, almost anything is fixable if you catch it in time.Considering the money you have in it, the only way you can, in a sense, get some of it back is to run the truck as long as you can.

I do like restoration and body work, and I did a 2WD to 4WD frame swap (The 4WD frame was too shot to save) once, but never, ever, willagain. Too much time and seemingly infinite details.

In Maine, old trucks have rusty frame issues, especially under the bed and toward the rear. It's not that hard to remove the bed to gain easy access to that part of the frame, then scrape, wire brush (mediablasting is even better if you protect the vulnerable parts), then coat with POR-15 or similar rust converter/preventative paint.

Another, easier, way out if the frame is still adequately solid is to just spray the framedown with oil, and repeat the process yearly or as often asneeded to keep more rust from forming. It's a messy process, but effective. I bought a '73 Charger, which was about 22 years old at the time,from a mechanic who drove it year round in Maine for 11 years until he sold it to me, butsprayed it underneath with oilevery summer with an undercoating spray gun. Under the grunge it was perfectly preserved, with zero rust. (You don't see many decent '73 Chargers in Maine unless they came from somewhere else or have had most lower and underneath body panels replaced.)

 

thanks for all the reply's guys. i think i like that CLR idea Motorbrreath.

the truck was from new york as a commercial registration then moved all the way to marathon, florida (the florida keys). both areas are known for rusting cars/trucks.

i guess i got some work to do. one question i have is does anyone have a list or know a website where it tells me what size bolts attach to the frame? because as you can see in some of the pics alot of the bolts are rusted. if im going to do it i want to do it right

thanks again for all the help guys,
Calvin

 

BTW, just ordered a new rear fuel tank strap off ebay.

 

my plan is this,

1. sand any lose rust off frame by machine or hand.
2. apply rust converter
3. spray undercoating

i know its not the BEST way but ive used the rust converter before with some good results so lets hope for the best.