Okay, I'm out there working on it, so I can post I guess. It's been stated we need more build threads. I purchased this truck about 7 years ago when my OT pickup blew up and I decided I wanted to drive something interesting as a daily. I don't drive it when the roads are sloppy here in the winter, but when the roads are dry it's been my firewood hauler, etc. So, I pulled it into the shop about a week ago to do a few things. The previous owner did a mul***ude of sins that I have had to fix. This truck was built with stuff he had around the yard. It started life as a 65 with 300 six and twin I beams just like it is now, but somewhere he had a really nice 63 cab and decided that was his plan. The cab mounts are totally different. It took me a bit to figure out what he had done, but the steering column was too long, cause he didn't have the wherewithal to shorten it. It had a single rag joint connecting it to the 65 steering box, and the whole deal was jury rigged. The rag joint let go on me one day about 40 mph, and when all was said and done, I found there was a slight misalignment in the steering column. The front of the cab has been mounted too low for 7 years in order to line up the steering. I have raised up the cab mounts to what I think is the proper height now. While the front end is off, I put new coil springs in the front from an OT Ford and it's supposed to drop the front a couple inches. I have a set of lowering shackles for the back that will be installed when I remove the box. So now it sits in my extremely messy and crowded workshop that I am very ashamed of, but right now the embarr***ment of it all is driving me to keep working on it as much as I can. I'll start here. Previous owner obviously didn't know how to pound out a dent, so he drilled all these holes and pulled it out somewhat. I s****ed almost half an inch of filler off here with a map gas torch and 1/2 inch wood chisel. Made a new panel from 18 gauge cold rolled. I am a far better metal shaper than I am a sculptor. I haven't ground the uglies off it yet. I spot weld all my panels in with mig, then grind the tops of the tacks off and run a p*** over top of them all with the tig. And of course there were a few hairline cracks etc. to be welded up. I already roughed out all the dents. Both fenders still need a bit more metal finishing before primer. I added this reinforcement to the bottom edge of the fender for a couple reasons. No matter how much hammer and dolly work I do, and shrink it flat, that area wants to curve slightly. It needs to be basically flat across the surface, and the one crack that was in there lined up perfectly once I installed this little piece, and kept its shape. I'll seam seal it so as to keep moisture from getting in there. Only weld thru primer on those surfaces right now.
I'll mention again that this is just my beater, but it will have all sheet metal work done first cl***. I won't be spending a ton of cash on this, but as long as I've been driving it for 7 years now, I get very few compliments on it, cause it's kinda ugly. This grey primer was put on the truck I think by the previous guy to cover up all the sins he had done. BUT, here is a tip for F100 owners that the previous owner did that was I think a very good idea. Those bottom bolts on the fenders always seem to break off when you loosen them. He put this little tab in the hole with a nut welded to the back side. It can't fall out unless the fender is tipped upside down, it just kind of lays in place and when you go to put the bolt in, you can maneuver the end of the tab to help line up the bolt. I will put a **** ton of anti seize on these bolts so hopefully this will always come apart if I need it to. It not very pretty but I don't think it will rust out like the tin clips. If its made to the right size, it can't fall into the hole, and it doesn't fall out unless you tip it upside down. That is how it lays in there naturally when the fender is horizontal. The holes were a bit suspect, so I made some new overlay patches to reinforce this area as well. This will make the fender stick out the thickness of the 18 gauge patch, but there won't be any bondo on the outside of the fender either so I think it will be fine. In order to line up the steering column, the previous owner had the front of the cab so low that he had to notch the panel behind the bumper to clear the top of the frame rails. When I bought the truck, I looked at that and figured what the hell, I can fix that, but why did he do it in the first place? After the rag joint let go, I figured it all out. Truck looks like **** but after doing some exploratory sanding on most surfaces, it's actually in really nice shape. There is a bit of rust on one bottom cab corner which I'll do when I take the box off to repair it. Previous owner had welded a patch over this whole area, and didn't bother to grind the welds. I have had to explain this f**k up for 7 years now that I had nothing to do with that. A buddy and I went down to Gary Ledene's place last summer and I was able to cut this piece of floor from the back end of a similar pickup, and no, it wasn't this nice and straight when I first brought it home. There is quite a bit of work in that panel already cause Gary wasn't going to let me cut that panel from a truck with a good floor. I'll be doing this repair later. Right now I can barely get around the truck, so I need to take the box off and let it sit in the snow for a bit, till I can get the truck out of the shop. And yes, it has looked like dog**** for 7 years. I was staring at it last week, thinking of all the pros and cons and decided to tear it down and paint it. I bought the paint last Friday. This is going to be a fast build, at least for me, cause I have a lot of other **** to do, and it's just a beater anyway. I'm not a painter. This will be my second paint job but I have much more confidence now than the first time around. Both front fenders are "skimmable" right now, but I'll spend some time with ******* and dolly and shrinking disc and try to make them really pretty. As I stated earlier, I am a far better metal worker than a sculptor. That's all for now.
The bottom of this fender was in fairly rough shape. I'll have this smooth as a baby's bottom in the next day or two. I forgot this part. I didn't take any pics of the process while I did some rust repair on the bottom of the radiator support. This afternoon I taped up all the holes with duct tape on the bottom of the rad support, then poured a pint of rustoleum in where the rad support bolts go. I tipped it back and forth several times, before the red rustoleum started leaking out all over the floor. That is why the floor looks like I just gutted a deer in the shop. With a little luck that paint will help keep the inside of the rad support from rusting out for a long time. It's leaning against the ranchero making a mess on those paper towels. The rad support, inner fenders and inside of front fenders are just simple brush on rust paint. Its a driver.
I guess I do have a few pics of the bed floor from last summer. I decided to do it this way to close off the way water can run down the front of the box and rust out the cross member like all these trucks seem to do. It actually looks better in the pic than it really was. There are lots of small dents that I pounded out. The good news is that the box floor is 16 gauge, so it will take some pounding, and retain its shape fairly well. It needs to be clamped firmly to the bench top. I like this old table that is made of 1 1/4 inch thick mdf. It is resilient to pound into, and doesn't seem to stretch the metal as much as a steel table. My opinion anyway. It just feels better. That little metal block has all the sharp edges sanded smooth so as not to transfer any marks to the metal. The BFH is a 2 1/2 lb ball pein. You need to hit this **** fairly hard to move it. And if it isn't clamped down to the bench top, it will just flutter in the wind when you pound on it, and you won't really move the metal. This is actually more like blacksmithing than metal shaping. The wide brick chisel has been ground smooth on the end and has the corners rounded off as well. The chisel laying there as well has the sharp end ground off and the side edges rounded off. I use them to chase all the bends back and forth many many hammer blows. The panel comes out quite smooth. All those little dents from "work" back in the day.
Nice work. I had one of those trucks for 18 years. regretted selling since I watched it drive away. Now, I have a hankerin for another, except this time with a ***mins 4bt. But.. thats another story
As someone who is a painter some pointers Follow directions on can exactly (I don't but I've used the products I use enough I know how to alter mix to do what I want) Clean clean clean. And after cleaning the panel all those times clean it again. Clean it one more time after masking. Contaminated surfaces are the main cause of paint failures and flaws Keep an eye on coat times. Generally around 15 minutes between coats. I'm a smoker so I just smoke three cigs between coats lol. Find out final dry time. Then give it an extra few hours before untaping. Sometimes fluctuations in humidity can goofy up dry times. Paints still fine just needs more dry time Finally remember it's just paint. So not only can it be sanded off if messed up it can serve to fill any course sand scratches you may have missed
I used to try to actually time coats. But my natural ****ter brain along with fumes from the paint I constantly messed it up lol. Was actually an old timer(he'd have been like 100 now lol) that told me he kept partial cigars for coat timing. Basically he cut a bunch of cigars in half. Would smoke a half each coat. I just adapted it to cigs. I'd already done the cig timer method at a fast food job I had at 20 when I didn't have a watch. Chain smoked to time my breaks lol
Thanks for starting the thread! Looks like the ol workhorse is going to come out a bit better. One observation is the body/bed line. You had to move the cab around to get things better aligned. Is the back of the cab and bed going to be adjusted too? It looks a bit 'stepped on'. I hope this isn't opening a can of worms or taken as a slam.
Thanks for your hint on the bolting the fender to the tab, the 62 Uni that I am working on needed repairs in the same areas (although they weren't as "nice" as yours, I will use the same attachment method as you are using, which will save buying U clips for two places. I hadn't thought about reinforcement in the lower fender area, thanks for taking time to post!!
Yes, the front of the bed is down almost 3/4 of an inch because the support channel under the bed is rusted out and collapsed slightly. I have had a new rear bumper for about 6 years now, and made the mounts to put it on, except that it was off centre noticeably when bolted in place. So, the box is not square to the cab, or maybe to the ch***is, or maybe both. So far, I have only gotten to repairing the stuff I have removed. Once I get the box off, and repaired, everything will be measured up and squared properly when its put back together. The truck has always had pretty good bones, it just needs some care and attention. And yes the reinforcement on the lower bolt area is necessary, as every one of these I have taken apart has turned out to be twisted and broken. Ford trucks have decent drainage in this area, if you keep it washed out, but those ****** clips are thin and rust out too easily.
If only new car designers had to work on old neglected stuff before they came up with a new way to do things! Oh, and every bit of plastic be exposed to UV and heat cycles before they had to be pried apart.
The last little patch job. I spent a bit of time getting this part of the fender close to where it needs to be before welding in this little patch, so as to keep the warpage to a minimum. Its not perfect yet, but the biggest damage has been repaired. I like to make sure all the metal is clamped together perfectly for welding. And then remove them one at a time while doing tacks. Tacks are ground down ready for tig welding. Ready to grind the uglies off. It still needs a bunch of work, but it's welded in, ready for metal finishing. The other end of the fender needed a hole filled. Easiest to do with a magnet but the welder doesn't like the magnet's polarity but it only takes on tack to hold it in place. There. It's coffee time and nap time. This fender is ready for metal finishing.
I spent a couple more hours on this fender. Then ground the uglies off the patch on the other one. Tomorrow I should be able to finish this one. It's about 80 percent done now.
Been busy doing a set of doors. I had a really nice totally rust free pair of doors left over from another cab I had. Glad I saved them. I got busy with a map gas torch and an old 1/2 inch wood chisel. This stuff comes off really easy this way, as long as I don't warp the door skin. Peels off nicely but I didn't like what I saw under it. It's way easier to take this one and remove a couple creases and dings and weld up about 10 holes from old mirror mounts, etc. At least with this one I don't have to s****e all that bondo off. I guess I didn't take any pics of the doors finished but they are pretty much done. I work on the skins to get rid of all the highs and lows till I get sick of working on them, then do a little more the next day. They are ready for paint prep now. I'll post a pic later some time. The bondo on the leading edge of the box was almost an inch deep in places. What a mess. I drilled out the end panel and straightened it out on the bench. It's ready to go back in. Just a god awful mess, so I made a new panel for it. This piece is ready to be cut and welded in place now. Thank christ for the map gas torch and wood chisel. I have s****ed both sides of the box off now, and there was a ton of bondo on it, pretty much all of it covering dents. So, I removed it, then pried and pounded all the dents out. Just needs time and metal finishing now. Been working on the box floor as well a couple hours a day for several days now. Pounding on it with all manner of tools and a 2 1/2 lb hammer, till I can't stand it any longer then do more tomorrow. The back end was pretty badly bent up. I wasn't sure it was going to come back until today. Day five probably of pounding on it. It is almost there now.
This jig to hold up the box is left over from when I had the unibody on the rotisserie. Works really well, as I'm working in my hell hole filthy shop this way. I'll get it tidied up one day. The 1 1/2 box tubing clamped in place helps immensely with the pounding of the sheet metal. That particular area is the worst place on the box. It just wanted to vibrate when pounding on it, but the box tubing clamped in place makes the metal move like I want it to. I can skid it around pretty easily, and I can stand on the back of the truck frame to work on the top side. You can see the copper weld thru primer on the crossmember. Only the top was rusted out, so I cut that out and I'll be damned if a 1 x 2 box tubing doesn't just fit in between there nice as pie. I plug welded it along the sides, then capped the top off with another piece of metal so as to keep moisture from running down into the seams. I'll seam seal the whole shebang later, but it should be plenty strong and never rust out again. This area was pretty bent up. Lots of dings and dents also. The nice thing about pounding on 16 gauge is the dents shrink right back down into themselves nicely with a bunch of hammer blows. Not quite blacksmithing, but not like regular body work either. Got to this point this afternoon, so I know I'm winning and fairly confident it will come back flat again. So that leaves the last patches to be built on the back bottom of the cab corners. I thought they were a bit better than this, but that's the way it goes, eh? First the inner piece. I guess I forgot to take a pic of the outer piece. Then the corner pieces. I imagine these are made by someone, and if I were doing this for a customer, I would tell him to buy a patch panel, but I had the metal and just made them. And last for tonight, I made these up a couple months ago. Just have to grind the uglies off them and remove the old and drill for the new to drop the back end. I also have drop shackles in a box somewhere. And yeah, it took me 3 scribed lines to mark centre. The line on the far left seems to be the one I want. That''s all for tonight. I have all my panels made, and ready to go in. Just need to stay head down and *** up for a while.
Looked it all over again, nice metal work, wish I had those skills. How did you make the cab corner held in your hand, sand bag and hammer?
4th time around for this one , 390 FE , C6 , Power Steering , Power Disc Brakes all swapped from 73-79 OT truck . Bolt in swap .
Too small to hold onto for a sand bag. This depression I carved out on my portable stump. It's still a bit hard on the fingers to hold onto, but it gets the job done, partially. Its timely that you asked how I did this, as this one here is the first one I made, from a piece of s****, just to see if I could do it this way. And it wasn't quite deep enough, and it was a piece of 20 gauge s****. I like to use 18 gauge cold rolled. And I'll stop right there and give credit where credit is due. I don't take credit for other folks work. I guess that's why I got run over in the stampede for the corporate ladder back when I still worked for the man. I purchased David Gardiner's video a couple decades or so ago, and it was probably the best 65 bucks I spent on tools. This is due to him. This piece of railroad rail I use every square inch of. Every surface has a different radius and different "sharpness" to the corners. Very useful. Also, while I'm giving credit for what I have learned, I will mention a couple trips to Wray Schelin's way back when he was doing cl***es out of his home shop. And I attended Peter T's cl*** in Seattle at Rick's shop with at least 6 Seattle locals, in a previous life as well. And I won't forget to mention all the friends I have rubbed shoulders with at various metal meets around the country. There. That said, I made up a blank as per the next photo. Grinding disc appeared to be the proper radius. I'm sure most of us have an old hammer around that doesn't feel like a hammer, just a "club". Go ahead and laugh, but this old cheap junk hammer does get the job done. It feels like a club, looks like a club, and definitely works like a club. This depression is an inch deep. And that there above is exactly 50 blows with said club. It gets down in the bottom of that depression quite nicely and makes a nice mess of things. Here I cheated a bit, just to flatten the flange, but also to "round it out a bit". We are back to the rail anvil. Starting to look a bit better. Next pic I'm hacking a bit of excess material off so I don't have to shape right to the end of it. It will get a bit harder on the fingers after this though. So even at this stage when it still looks like absolute dog ****, it is still a ways from being done. At this point, this dinging hammer will stretch the flat face out so its even all the way across the surface. Just hammered into that very slight depression to give it a tiny bit of shape. Back to the anvil again, and starting to planish out all the uglies. Still working on the rough shape though to fine tune it. I usually end up making slight changes right up to when it gets welded in place. Here you can see the profile a bit better in roughed out condition. Closer. Tuning up the crease. Finally using the ******* to begin the planishing procedure. Quite often, I am flipping this anvil around, upside down, on a different side, etc. Very useful tool. Thank you David Gardiner. Round end from the "body tool drawer" clamped in the vise, to tune up the corner area with *******. It can be a bit hard on your fingers, but if you hold the work piece just right, against the dolly, it minimizes the sting to your fingers and smooths it out nicely. Tuned up the outside edges a bit, then held it in place for fit to the truck. Then I can scribe the back side to fit against the existing weld flange on the truck. The finished product. It will be sanded smooth for paint later. If you want to get crazy with the time, you can planish the whole thing totally smooth so you can see your face in it, but I've got way too much to get done to do something foolish like that. Time for my nap, then back to the salt mine. Funny. I just looked over the whole post after I hit post it. All those nicks and wounds on my left hand come from the heavy duty planishing of the box floor whenever that 2 1/2 lb hammer grazed off my knuckles.
The Jalopy Journal
