Restoration question - terrible idea?

pre-runner

Alright, I think I have made the decision to begin parting it out. A real shame, but I need the space and the free Camaro thread just has me wishing I had an empty bay and that engine/transmission sitting around. It could be a money maker/Lemons car/Challenge car/BABE car/Chump car, anything, but it just sits there as a hulk needing the grace of God or $4000 in bodywork to be viable again.

WARNING TO ALL:

If you are thinking about a project, and start digging in to find much more rust than you anticipated, stop. STOP! STOP, DO YOU HEAR ME, STOP!

JohnInKansas wrote:

I haz sad. I don't know what else to do. I am angry that I don't have the space or cash available to make other car stuff happen. The sad part is that this truck, other than the gratuitous bondo use, was a nice, running, driving, stopping truck. Everything worked, and it ran strong. The cab is just crap. Then I made it worse. I have good doors, good fenders, decent bed. Just sitting there. Unless someone (hint hint) is willing to come and make things better somehow, I don't see it staying and waiting.

In reply to tuna55:

You got mail.

Darn you John!

OK folks, dare I say that John has gotten me going again. I am slow, and this will be slow, and painful, but it's going to be a build thread. You've all seen the mess, now watch as I clean it up. I expect the result to take about 4 more years.

So I want to tackle the cab corners because I hate them. They stink and they're hard to get to. They're hard to work on because the bed is in the way. Here are some pictures:

This is how the passenger side cab corner looks now:

And from underneath:

So today's quest is to lift the bed. I have about an hour between start and bedtime. The morning starts at 5:30 with children screaming (baby screaming happens at all hours), I am working on maybe 2 dozen more or less consecutive 4-5 hour nights, broken up mostly by the baby. So I am slow.

Someone has been here before, I know GM didn't put lock washers here. They are the devil and will not be replaced:

Ick, rust that I didn't see initially at the front edge of the bed at the bottom, not sure how to tackle this. Anyone have any ideas?

Here it is up in the air, from the bottom:

...from the top (apologies for the political paraphernalia)

...from the side

Also I realized a few things. My exhaust hangers stink, and were attached to the bed, not the frame. Also, I decided to cut and redo the center bearing crossmember rather than remove it, so I need to figure out what to do with the rivets I began cutting off, any ideas? I am thinking of grinding them smooth after a good weld, just ignoring that I ever did it and hoping nobody notices the rivet hears which are supposed to be there: