I’m pretty sure it was Neil Young who years ago recorded an album by the name Rust Never Sleeps. And though I may be mistaken in regard to the album title’s author, I’m more than willing to back up the accuracy of that rust statement. Because unless you’re one of a very select few classic truck restorers who are lucky enough to run across one of those mythical Cream Puff’s we’ve all heard tails of, you can expect most project trucks to be dent and rust riddled gems of one degree or another.
This ’60s vintage GMC is the recipient of a bunch of high-quality rust repair panels from our friends at Classic Parts of America. We’ve learned from past experience that the use of quality parts is the only way to go when performing repairs of this nature. So it was with this in mind that my pal Kev Elliott (tech editor of our sister publication ROD & CUSTOM) dialed up Classic to order the few panels needed to bring the GMC up to snuff.
Now, of course we all do our best to get hold of project truck fodder that’s in as good a condition as we can find and/or afford, but it’s almost a given that most of ’em will be afflicted with various degrees of those aforementioned maladies. That said, repairing those dents, rust, and rot can be expensive for those who choose to farm out those repairs or time consuming and labor intensive for those that opt to tackle the repairs themselves. Betting that most of us have more time and energy than extra cash burning holes in our pockets, attempting to make these kinds of repairs on our own makes perfect sense.
The following images show a typical classic pickup and a couple of common repairs that anyone with a welder, some quality rust repair panels, and a bit of motivation can do in a home garage. So take a look, see how it’s done, and consider tackling a repair like this—it’s actually easier than you’d imagine. CT
