In my part of the world, most cars are going to be pretty rusty after a few decades. We're not as bad as Quebec, but you can't expect to pick up something for cheap and not end up having to fix some rust. Rust is evil. Insidious, hard to detect, and impossible to completely eradicate. A bad patch will be showing through in just a winter, and things get worse from there.
In traffic, I like to check out older cars. See how they're doing for rust. Even if you really love your car, and spend a lot of money at the paint shop to get it fixed, they're probably going to do a crap job, and there certainly won't be a warranty. It's not worth it, unless you have some kind of exotic semi-racecar. That means that effective rust repair on "the truck I drive to work" has to be done by yourself, at home. And that means you get all kinds of creative solutions to the problem.
Rookies get real upset at a little bit of rot in their rockers, or their quarter panel, and they decide to tackle the visible stuff. That's a terrible mistake. Not only is it a pain in the ass to shape all those panels, but you also have to paint. And then, unless you're a generational talent in bodyshop work, everyone knows what you've done for your first metalworking project. Better to leave the rust on the outside for a bit, and focus on the inside. Your floors are probably fucked too.
Indeed, if you take a look at any semi-old vehicle, especially this Datsun B210 that I just happen to have sitting in the driveway, you'll note that you can see the road through where the floor should be. In times long past, this used to be an inconvenience, but nowadays it has become very dangerous. The reason, of course, is that you could drop your phone through one of these holes while texting, and have to pay Tim the iPhone Man $1500 for a new one. So that's why I always recommend starting with floor repair. People can't see it, because it's covered in carpet, and you won't have to activate the little bleepy-bloopy "find my phone" feature while driving very slowly on the side of the highway.
For part two of our rust repair tutorial, we'll be talking about where you can source replacement metal. Those of you who are extra-credit achievers already know about license plates, sure, but have you considered: road signs? All this and more in the next exciting lesson of the Seat Safety Switch Smasterworks Scollection.
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