1985 chevy pickup fix-up

[technicaldiff]

So, I bought this 1985 Chevy Silverado from my dad's car lot last night for $200 without the plow. As you can see from the picture below, it does have some rust, and there's even more of it now thanks to the rain here in Minnesota. I was wondering if there would be a way for me to remove the rust without replacing anything.

 

It does have more work to be done, like, getting it to run, but I believe that's because it's been sitting for awhile(about a year).

 

But, for the record, the interior is MINT.

 

Here's my solution for the rust..

 

- Sand it down with some sandpaper or steel wool.

- Find the paint shade

- Paint it.

 

Yeah, elaborate, huh?

 

I'm 14, have next to no cash right now, but I would just love to get this truck back on it's wheels for when I'm ready to drive in a year (when I'm 16). I'm really big on the old-style trucks and cars and such, so I thought it would be perfect.

 

The truck..

 

 

So please GM Trucks, PIMP MY RIDE!

 

Erm. Yeah. Solutions please.

[Trouttrooper]

That's some pretty serious cancer in spots. I hope you understand it won't be a looker without spending some dough.

 

I know what you are going through. My first truck had some semi-serious rust in spots....and me with virtually no money.

 

This is what I did. Bought some wire wheels that fit a drill (you'll be at it forever with sandpaper). Had fun with the drill on the rust spots until I got to shiny metal. Wiped off the spots with a wet towel. Let it dry. Hit the spots with a rust resistant metal primer. Found a spray can color that was relatively close to the surrounding paint and covered the spots while feathering the color into the original paint. BTW, I did all this outside.

 

Was it pretty? NO

 

Did it stop the rust? For as long as I owned it.

 

Did it accomplish what I wanted? Yup, unless you really looked it was hard to see the different paint colors.

 

 

Look at it this way. this is your first vehicle, chances are you won't have it for years and years. All you need to do it make it last until you either A: have enough money to do a proper resortation or B: buy another vehicle.

 

Don't forget salvage/junk yards. They can be your best friend for those trucks. There's no end to that body style out there just sitting waiting to be parted out.

[technicaldiff]

Ah, that helped.

 

I remember one site saying that you can find the trucks paint color under the hood or in the door jam, so maybe I could find the right paint for it if I do decide to fix it up.

 

I haven't bought it yet, but my dad says that there is alot of those mid-80's chevy's around, but yeah, I figured it was a bargain for $200.

 

I will try your idea, my dad says it's just a space-waster and that it won't ever sell, so maybe I'll just work on it anyway, if it turns out good, maybe I will buy it.

[zibzer]

with a truck like that you will learn a lot about vehicles and gain some real good experience. In my opinion dont wory so much about the rust. I see holes on the box, so you will eventually need a new box, so dont worry about that for now. Fix the motor and as money comes replace panels/doors if need be. Use an angle grinder with a flap disc if you think you can salvage the doors,hood,cab, front fenders. borrow an angle grinder from a friend, neioghbour, father, uncle... someone will have one, it will make the job much easier. and then go over the spots with a rust resistant paint.

 

the front end of the truck looks like its in great shape from the pic. so you wont have to worry about front bumper.

 

Junkyards are usually very good towards young people. So you are bound to get some awesome deals.

 

I think this would be great for you. When i was 14 my grandfather had 2 1970something VW beetles in his back yard. He sold both for 50 bucks. But i wished that he would have kept them so i could fix them up.

 

Theres nothing like taking something that doesnt work and with a little elbow grease and knowledge from forums like this bringing it back to life.

 

good luck!

[technicaldiff]

Thanks man, that has me more excited.

 

As far as I know, there's only a motorcycle salvage yard about a block away from my dad's lot, but I'm sure there is a vehicle salvage yard somewhere.

 

And yeah, I was going to concentrate more on getting it to run first, then getting the rust taken care of. I'm not quite sure what's wrong with it, but I haven't been around it too much, but I believe it's because it's been sitting for awhile.