Had a 50+ degree day yesterday so I took advantage and did a bunch of sanding outside. The roof is mostly done and I started on the B pillars as well. I found some surprises - namely, 10 layers of paint and more holes in the roof. I am pretty sure this truck had a visor on it at one point, which caused the big rust hole... there are 5 screw holes on the other side in the same spot, although not rusted through that I can see, thank god. I think it also had lights or something attached to the roof as well - two more pairs of holes on both sides. This was all covered up by a very thick layer of bondo. There was also a lot of surface rust under the first layer of primer - I think somebody used the old "paint sticks better to rust" theory.
Fortunately the back wall of the cab and and the door jambs don't have that much paint so it will be easier going. I may just scuff these and prime. I probably wouldn't have gone to the extreme of taking the roof and pillars down to bare metal but I was having chemical reaction issues with the passenger door and did that with it, and I'm kinda glad I did it on the roof too so that I found the holes and have a chance to fix them now.
As you can see - bare metal, primer, base, base, clear, primer, base, clear, primer, base, clear
Too much!
And surface rust underneath
Screw holes in the roof
I tried to just fill in one hole and of course it got bigger. I can't get in there with my copper backer strip so I screwed some bolts into the holes, cut them off, used a body hammer to dimple them down a bit and welded them in place, then ground the weld somewhat smooth and covered with filler.
No more holes on this side
Still have a long ways to go on the cab. Hopefully I will have a few more nice days in the near future so I can finish sanding outside. It's really nice to just let the wind take the dust away instead of sweeping.
Remember, safety first, wear your seat belts