How bad are these paint bubbles?

Hi All,

Looking at buying an 88 pickup. It was painted in the last couple years, but there are a few spots where rust is bubbling up from under the paint. I know from reading here, that the best way to remedy this would be to sand down to metal, and cut out the entire affected area. However, I don't own a welder currently.

From your guys' experience, could this be reasonably covered by sanding and repainting the surrounding area, or would this require much more to reasonably cover it up? I know I would have to re-do this often. Im assuming it was a budget paint job. I appreciate any advice.

 

The "budget paint job" is probably at least part of the reason the paint is bubbling up due to rust underneath it. Based on what I can see in you pics, there's probably some major issues hiding under there. Up here in the rust belt, that much bubbling means lots of rot and lots of work, which equals lots of money. Remember, rust never sleeps.

 

Thanks for the response. This truck has been owned in NC since 1988, who knows, could have been driven in VA at some point. Is there any way to test the body for further issues?

Also, if the frame looks good, can the body really be that bad underneath the paint?

 

The best way to find out is to look at the back side of the panel - if you can get to it. Remember, that rust is coming from the inside. If you can't get to the back side, the only real option is to grind the paint off and see what shows up.

As for the frame, on older vehicles, the bodies rotted out long before the frames. (Unlike our Tacomas, cough, cough.)

 

How much restoring are you willing to do? I wouldn't touch it unless I was ready and willing to strip that truck down to bare metal and assess from there. Murphys law says that what you see poking through the paint is just the tip of the iceberg.

 

Uh, wasn't planning on doing the whole vehicle...shoot. Now i'm torn. I also don't care THAT much about perfection on this truck. I figured I'd be happy enough patching up the body here and there. Mainly interested in the engine, but I'm not trying to have the entire body fall apart in two years. Thanks for the insight.

Good to know. I'll try and get a look at as much of the body from the backside as possible. ARGHH. Thought this truck was the one.

 

Frustrating I know. Ive seen what happens to just patching up the visible areas though. It starts as a bubble, and if it isnt addressed properly a line of bubbles will appear, and soon enough you'll have a hole running the entire length of that rocker panel...

 

Thanks man. I'll do some hard thinking and maybe pass this one up...

 

Fixing that properly is going to require a repaint of the whole effected panels and since that looks like a homemade paint job the color probably won’t be matchable so you are looking at a whole new paint job.

 

Took your guys' advice, told the seller I wasn't interested anymore. Thanks Tacomaworld....for bringing me back to reality.