PennSilverTaco's "Perfect 5-Lug Regular Cab" Build, Aspergers, and General BS MegaThread!

I've already brought it to my trusted body shop; Butch looked at it and determined that the metal simply split. He is going to sand it down and seal the crack with caulking in January. Crisis averted! Right now, the mission is just to keep the truck on the road for another few years until I can afford something newer. If the budget allows, I will restore the truck.

 

(A) How did your oil pan rot out?
(B) How did you engine not seize or somehow get damaged due to oil starvation?

 

It's your truck and you can choose what you think is best, but me personally would not cover it with caulking as an attempted permanent fix.

 

A: Because New England and old age
B: Must be all that good clean living I been up to for the past 21 years

It definitely was losing some oil but fortunately caught it before it got really bad.

 

My appointment is in January, so I'm gonna do extensive research. There was a miscommunication over the phone, and my mechanic thought I was saying the floor had rusted. That is why I was worried my truck would fail inspection.

 

I just know how much you care about and love your truck, if you were planning on getting rid of it in a year or so I would agree with just covering it up. At the very least as was mentioned above you should drill holes at each end because cracks will have a tendency to continue splitting. Proper long-term repair is honestly going to require a little welding, whether it's just simply welding the crack closed or completely cutting out and replacing that section.

 

The caulking will just be temporary; I don't know how to weld and probably will have it welded. This fix is just to keep moisture out through the winter.

I'm also having a hard time picturing where to drill these holes...

 

The small holes are drilled at the very end of each crack, it will prevent it from continuing, it's also an approved method on airplanes too.

 

Can I have pictures of this? I'm gonna see if I can get Butch to do it, because I don't feel comfortable doing it myself. Could I have it drilled and then still use the caulking as a temporary measure?

 

Usually about an 1/8" drill bit is sufficient.

 

How do you think the crack started? There's never been any damage to the cab, and I've never had body rust...

 

Possibly when they swapped the frame, they could have twisted the body a little and concentrated stress into that area.

 

Do you think that I have any recourse with the dealer?

 

I highly doubt it as you would have to be able to prove that was the cause.

 

So, who should I get to do the drilling?

 

I had a friend with a Firebird that would split like this going up into the roof, too much power would twist the body.

 

Whoever is going to handle your repair should be able to handle it, its a pretty simple process.

 

You don't think my truck is fucked?

 

I don't, my only concern is that you don't leave it that way for a long period of time, the sooner you get to it the easier the fix.

 

So, it'll probably be safe until after Christmas? Also, I can't believe I forgot about the job I'm currently unemployed from. We build airplanes, and we have at least two welders on staff!