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Plenty of rust free sheet metal around here. Kinda hard to imagine having to buy aftermarket stuff, much less major rust repair. Bad rust here is when ya get a few bubbles around a wheel well. Never seen the drip rail rot here either.


Sounds like I need to start locating parts for yall and shipping them out!

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You might have something there

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All I can say is, I live in the rust belt and there is a guy near me,
(a member here too), that will sell me an entire rust free box for $700.oo. kinda hard to pay 3 to 4 hunert + shipping, per side with a whole bed available. Either way I have a few more bucks to save up.

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no offense, but if you think a 33-41 year old truck box has no rust, you are fooling yourself. It may look rust free but there is rust lurking in between, just waiting for you to put fresh paint on before it bubbles through right above the wheel opening. Trust me, it really ruins your mood when you see bubbles 3 months after you spent a bundle getting the truck painted.
And what if the the "rust free" box does that? Then what? You are cutting, patching, bondo and repainting. Suddenly your used box doesn't look so peachy and cheap anymore.
Not to mention the dents and cracks that any old truck box accumulates over it's life of use.
This isn't meant to hurt your feelings, I'm just speaking from experience. There are good used boxes out there, factory take offs etc, but we are talking about trucks that were built decades ago now. A perfect box is a rarity

Just like on muscle cars, you don't know what you have until you take it apart.
Ever cut the bottom off the lower 1/4 of any old car to patch it? Know what happens when you open it up? Damp dirt, rust, bottle caps and rusty nuts and bolts fall on the floor.
There may not be any visible rust on the truck box you have found, but it will have pitting happening where you cannot see it, and it is a ticking time bomb before it comes through. And has the box been painted before? After 33-41 years, most likely. Are you going to assume it's good and paint over it? Or strip the paint to bare metal? More $$. What's hiding under the paint? Does it have unecessary trim that needs removing and holes welded shut? More $$
Is the gas filler where you need it? There were no less than 3 combinations of filler openings. Is the back side of the box sides clean and smooth and new? Don't think so. But they are on brand new box sides.
Want to knock the dents out of the inner panels for the show truck? How do you do that with the box sides on? With them off you have full access to the inner panels to address any dents, rust etc, or to add in handy ties down hooks while the sides are off.
Take any banged up old truck box that is basically free, remove the banged up box sides, sandblast the inners and epoxy them. Weld on new box sides and Presto!
Nice straight box with no surprises waiting in behind.
You can transform a piece of s**t box into a beauty with new sides.
The fact is, quality panels will make a quality box, which is a huge part of any old truck.
I for one would rather have straight new box sides with No bondo, No dents, No rust. no welded in patches. Try that with old box sides

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Nope didn't hurt my feelings. You know what they say about opinions right?