well so much for plans A,B and C

[thenewminator]

Im a fairly new member with just a few posts. not easy to get on here to update with work and life. Its been a bit since I posted anything or commented on others posts. Been even longer since I posted updated pics of my 84 short bed. The good news is I have made time here and there over the past few months to get busy on getting the body work "right". The bad news is that the more I get into it the more I find that the body has been beaten and the body work has been done all wrong over and over several times with several layers of paint in between. Back in may I decided to tackle the door jams. Starting with the right side I figured out right away that the rocker had a thick layer of filler over a very poor attempt to patch a rust hole. Then working my way up I started to uncover all the layers of paint. Once I got to the roof I found that it was covered with two layers of filler over top of and in between layers of paint. At that point I stopped,tiddied things up and laid down a coat of primer on the right side door jam and cab. The new plan was either a new cab or work with what I have-new rockers,cab corners,maybe a few patches on the firewall. The ultimate plan is to have a 3" chop and suicide doors, so after shopping around pricing a replacement cab i decided to stick with mine. It would be cheaper in the long run and I cant justify spending the money on a realy nice cab just to chop it up basicly. I even considered going chopped roadster if the filler is hidding a wavy roof. That was plan A.

Well after steppin away from the body work for a bit and getting more into another hobby-bmx bikes-I made a few new friends. Both younger guys,one into classic cars and the other into mud trucks,chevys of course. After hanging out a few times i made a trade with Austin,the truck guy,for some doors (i found rust in my left door and far too many dents in the right to deal with), a chrome bumper and mirrors,and a decent stock hood for my 'glass hood. With new determination to get going on the project again I got to work on the bed. The plan was to sand out some scratches in the paint and level out a thin chuck of filler that came off on the right side tailgate opening. The filler being there was expected seeing that the tail lights have been filled. What wasnt expected is that as I sanded I found that the area where the tail light has been filled was a very thick layer of filler covering a poorly home made two piece light filler with very bad,very poorly finished welds. In the middle of discovering more bad body work my wife decided that it ww really should try to move to a smaller cheaper rental,likely an apt. So I put my van up for sale. The idea was sell the van and drive the truck daily and work on it when I can, so again I stopped the body work. Weeks go by with no interest in the van and with pressure from my wife to find the money somewhere I decided to put the truck up for sale too. The deal is i love the truck and would rather keep it as a driver and work on it here and there but without the van selling i need to do something so if i have to let the truck go so be it. That was plan B.

As a few more weeks went by with no luck selling either i thought it mite be a good idea to tackle the body work on the bed again. This time the idea was strip the paint and lyer of filler from the tail light area on the right side. I have fully disclosed the body work issues in my cl posting and figured that if i kept going with at least prepping the bed for new body work/paint it would be a pos for a potential buyer. All the while i have kept my fingers crossed that the truck wont sell,of course,and have mentioned to my wife that with its issues i will have to sell it for much less than i paid for it. She is ok with that and is also ok with the fact that it may not sell and that i dont want to sell it. With that in mind i spent all last week stripping the thick layers of paint and body filler from the right side. My thought is if it doesnt sell but we do move to a place that i cant work on it i need to get as much done as pos,asap, while i have a place to do the work. Strip the bed and deal with the issues around the tail light later,the rest of the bed is fine other than a thin layer of filler and several layers of paint. That was plan C.....or so i thought....

.....it took me a total of 18hrs to chisel away and strip away with a drill and 36 grit dics at least 6mm up to 10mm of filler and paint. And still not completely done. What did i uncover you ask? Close to 100 small pinging hammer dings,1 orange sized dent poorly hammered out down at the bottom of the wheel well,and more waves than the red sea between the wheel well and front of the bed side. Pardon my french, but this thing is F#@!ING REDICULOUS!!!! I am so pissed and disapointed. Not so much that i got ripped off when this guy sold me a beat up bucket of bondo....but that someone or several persons with enough skill to shape the filler so well that you couldnt even tellit was there...didnt have the sense to strip the repair area down to the metal with each repair. Its like the same guy went over this thing a dozen times trying to get it better or that each new owner would do the same. Go over what the last guy did to get it better but not doing it right. Strip it down and start over. To look at it anyone the any body work exp would see that the metal could be worked straighter then put a skim coat of filler on,maybe two,no more than 2mm. But thats without the issues around the light area which is also dented along with the bad welds. A guy with money would just replace the bed sides. A guy with exp but not much money would spend the hours doing the sheet metal work to make it straight. A lazy,clueless guy (i.e. all of the prev owners) would slap some fresh filler on it and hope it turns out ok,but not really give a crap if it goes. A guy with brains would walk away and say to hell with this thing im gonna dump it on somone else and move on.

I am none of those guys. I dont have the money to replace the bed sides. i have limited exp with sheet metal work and am up for the challenge. But i dont have the tools nore the money for them,nore do i have that kind of time on my hands to spend hours pounding away a sheet metal. I def am not lazy or clueless. I take pride in putting 110% into everything i do with all of my vehicles. Even if its just my labor with no cash to work with,i make the best of what i have to work with and do things rite. And brains...? you have prob figured out by now i dont have much of those either....

....so whats plan D? Strip every inch (except the new to me hood and tailgate i got from trading here and there)down to the bare metal and let the flaws fly rat style. It will make a fine example of how NOT to do body work and an interesting convo piece at shows. Oh yes i will still cruise it and hit shows. The body as a whole might screwed but i still have all of the other plans for it. However my hopes and dreams of the truck being a super slick street rod style show truck are no more. It just needs way more time, money and work to ever be that. Realisticly it would take replacing every panel other than the shell of the cab and the bed floor to be "right". Did i mention the fenders are f!#@ed too? And the other way i see it is this.....less time, and esp less money,i put into the body...the more money i can put into the engine sooner. CAN YOU SAY BLOWER!?!?