Advice On My New Project Truck

[PearlWhiteGT]

I purchased a 2001 Silverado 1500 Z71 from a buddy of mine for $500. It's been sitting for some years and does need some work to get back onto the road. Truck only has around 120K miles and has never been in a accident. Body is pretty straight from what I can see but there are a couple of rust spots that I'd like to take care of. One is around the 3rd brake light and the other is on top of the roof.

My plans are to fix and flip this truck. The hood is completed faded and some clear coat peeling on the fender flares. I'm undecided on what I should do after repairing the rust spots. Should I just have the hood and top of the cab painted or do a complete paint job on the whole truck? Keeping cost down is key so I'd like to repair the rust, paint the top of the cab and hood and try buffing out the rest of the truck to look as best as possible. The interior isn't bad other than the cracked dash which I plan on taking care of with a nice dash pad that glues down onto the original.

Any advice would be much appreciated. Here are some pics of the rust and the truck sitting at my buddies shop.

 

[BurnsDetailing]

From what I see, the rest of the paint might be salvageable for a vast improvement. We bought a 2006 Trailblazer from an auction in Orlando, black paint, every panel dull and faded. After doing a test spot I found Rupes Yellow DA pad on the Rupes LHR21 with matching Rupes compound tackled the fade with just a few passes. Up close, still plenty of RIDs, but the goal was not 100% correction, rather just remove the fade and restore the shine. Ten foot back it looked good for it's age, especially with only a few hours invested in buffing.

 

[PearlWhiteGT]

Thanks. I have a older Flex 3401, think it will be able to get the job done?

 

[2black1s]

I think if you're just going to flip the truck, I would do the rust repair and paint prep (sanding) myself, and then take it to Maaco (or similar) for a complete paint job.

 

[BurnsDetailing]

Thanks. I have a older Flex 3401, think it will be able to get the job done?

Yes, I've got an old Hand Warmer Flex 3401 as well, just tend to gravitate more to picking up the Rupes these days, with the right pad and compound it'll do the same job.

 

[PearlWhiteGT]

I think if you're just going to flip the truck, I would do the rust repair and paint prep (sanding) myself, and then take it to Maaco (or similar) for a complete paint job.

This is an option as well. Just not sure how I feel about a single stage paint job which are their cheaper options. I've heard that our local maaco shop does pretty good work though.

 

[opie2]

What are you looking to get profit wise out of the truck? That would be the big determing factor to me on how much i invest to it

 

[PearlWhiteGT]

As much as possible but I do want to keep it simple. I got a set of stock OEM wheels from a buddy of mine that were in bad shape. I tried some aircraft stripper on them to see if it would remove the corrsion but it didn't work so I gave them a little hand sanding, primmer, paint and clear coat to spruce them up. I could have done a much better job with them but overall I'm happy with how they turned out. Spent about $40 for the materials.

Before:

After:

 

[opie2]

Nice quick fix on the wheels. How does the underneath look? Cab corners and rockers showing any hint of rust?

Ii would also think about if the fenders and bedsides arent rusted bad under the fender flares...might i suggest removing them? The truck would look so much better with them off. Especially if you are going to sell it in the somewhat stock look.

 

[PearlWhiteGT]

Underneath looked good from what I saw. I thought about removing the fender flares but they came stock on this truck. If I do paint the whole truck then I would remove them and paint it all a solid black color.

 

[opie2]

Underneath looked good from what I saw. I thought about removing the fender flares but they came stock on this truck. If I do paint the whole truck then I would remove them and paint it all a solid black color.

Yeah i know unfortunately they add fender flares to a truck that sits on stock wheels and tires. Flares to me only are needed if ya got larger and alot wider tires. It cheapens the look imo. My dad took them off his 06 serria and it looked so much better.

And i hope if you make it a different color your going to do the door jams as well lol

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[PearlWhiteGT]

It would be the factory black color that’s on the truck. Just wouldn’t do the two tone and would debadge it.

 

[opie2]

It would be the factory black color that’s on the truck. Just wouldn’t do the two tone and would debadge it.

Holy chit, im sorry i honestly thought it was dark blue lol. The paint is so faded i never thought it was black :doh::doh:

 

[PearlWhiteGT]

Holy chit, im sorry i honestly thought it was dark blue lol. The paint is so faded i never thought it was black :doh::doh:

Yeah and it's really dirty. Been sitting outside for years and never been washed. First thing is getting the truch mechanically sound and back on the road then I will address the exterior.

 

[David Puddy]

What are you looking to get profit wise out of the truck? That would be the big determing factor to me on how much i invest to it

This. Are you planning to do the rust repair yourself or farm it out to someone else? Even without knowing the full extent of the rust in the drip channel (the door is in the way), it looks like it would need a pretty substantial patch, which is complicated by the body lines involved. The same applies to the smaller spot by the third brake light. I'm sure it's fixable, but won't be cheap if you're paying someone else to do it.

 

[PearlWhiteGT]

I plan on tackling it myself. Plans are to sand down all the rust and remove the bad stuff then I’ll most likely use fiberglass to patch it as best as I can. I have a friend who use to do bodywork that I’ll probably reach out to for some advice.

 

[David Puddy]

I'll preface by saying that I realize I'm new here and therefore haven't established myself as a credible source so please understand I mean this as constructive feedback and not a personal attack. With that said, I don't think you're going to be happy with the results you can get repairing those rust holes with fiberglass.

Before you can think about fixing rust, you have to assess the full extent of the damage - this means grinding until you hit clean, solid (full thickness) metal and typically trimming the hole to a more uniform shape (you would typically trim the body to match the shape of the metal patch you already made). After you do that, the holes will be considerably bigger than what you can see now and even closer to the various complex curves and contours. Fiberglass isn't rigid like a metal patch, so getting it situated in places with lots of curves and contours won't be easy, nor will blending the repair into the surrounding areas.

Even if you get it to look good, fiberglass repairs don't hold up well in my experience, which is a problem on a vehicle you intend to sell.

You didn't ask for my advice, but in this situation, I would at least look into what it would cost to have someone weld new metal. If that's not in the budget, I would clean up the paint as well as you can and fix whatever else, but leave the rust. I personally think it's better to leave some things as-is rather than do a sub-optimal repair. Even though it may sell for a bit less, you'll save time, and won't have to deal with the cost of painting the roof or the hassles of an unhappy buyer coming back.

Edit: For what it's worth, I've been tinkering with cars for 20+ years, including restoration and "restification" work. If I've learned one thing, it's that it's always best to start with the cleanest, straightest, least rusty car you can because doing body and paintwork badly is worse than not doing it at all.

 

[PaulMys]

I'll preface by saying that I realize I'm new here and therefore haven't established myself as a credible source so please understand I mean this as constructive feedback and not a personal attack. With that said, I don't think you're going to be happy with the results you can get repairing those rust holes with fiberglass.

Before you can think about fixing rust, you have to assess the full extent of the damage - this means grinding until you hit clean, solid (full thickness) metal and typically trimming the hole to a more uniform shape (you would typically trim the body to match the shape of the metal patch you already made). After you do that, the holes will be considerably bigger than what you can see now and even closer to the various complex curves and contours. Fiberglass isn't rigid like a metal patch, so getting it situated in places with lots of curves and contours won't be easy, nor will blending the repair into the surrounding areas.

Even if you get it to look good, fiberglass repairs don't hold up well in my experience, which is a problem on a vehicle you intend to sell.

You didn't ask for my advice, but in this situation, I would at least look into what it would cost to have someone weld new metal. If that's not in the budget, I would clean up the paint as well as you can and fix whatever else, but leave the rust. I personally think it's better to leave some things as-is rather than do a sub-optimal repair. Even though it may sell for a bit less, you'll save time, and won't have to deal with the cost of painting the roof or the hassles of an unhappy buyer coming back.

Edit: For what it's worth, I've been tinkering with cars for 20+ years, including restoration and "restification" work. If I've learned one thing, it's that it's always best to start with the cleanest, straightest, least rusty car you can because doing body and paintwork badly is worse than not doing it at all.

Here on AGO if you contribute intelligent, pertinent information, it makes no difference if you are a newbie.

I would consider your above post to meet all the criteria.

 

[opie2]

I plan on tackling it myself. Plans are to sand down all the rust and remove the bad stuff then I’ll most likely use fiberglass to patch it as best as I can. I have a friend who use to do bodywork that I’ll probably reach out to for some advice.

I mean this with absolutely NO disrespect...but imo using tiger hair to patch that is a hack job. There is a time and place for that material but this is not one of them.

I understand you are trying to make a quick buck but unless you are going to disclose this info to the potential buyer...i would advise against that type of work.

I doubt you would be happy if you ended up buying something used off a seller that you though was being honest with you, and that you thought it was in better shape than it actually is. There are enough hacks out there...the world doesn't need another.

Im of the mindset, do it right or dont do it at all. I would just remove certain components that can be scraped separatly, and send the rest to the crusher.

Dont take it personal...just my 2 cents



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[ducksfan]

Here's a possibility if you don't want to pay to have the entire truck painted. Do a two tone similar to this (Click on truck picture below the wrap):

Satin Frozen Vanilla - 3M | Metro Restyling

I'm not saying wrap the top (But you could). You could prep the top like 2black1s said and pay to have a matching silver painted on the top. Vinyl striping can be bought on Amazon.

Quicker, easier, cheaper.