Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

looks great John..!!

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

John, catch us up on this project.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Great work and project. Saddens me to say it but back in the early 1990's I was given a truck exactly like yours, color and everything. It was my great grandfather's truck and my grandfather wanted to give it to me. I was in college at the time and had no place to keep it or money to spend on it so he ended up giving it to my cousin.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Thanks!!



The bed is ready for the floor to be welded in once the flat spots are reshaped to form continuous ribs. I've sent samples of the rib shape, as of last night the dies are cut and are being fine tuned now. More on that soon.



Thanks for checking it out! That's unfortunate about your granddad's truck, it's always cool to keep them in the family when possible. My granddad also had a 60's F100, dad has it now but it's been sitting up for about 25 years. It's on the list of my other 397,903 projects I'll get to eventually :lol:

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Looking good!

The front fenders look pretty decent, what was so bad on it? I've seen you fix so many things that looked so much worse? Repair vs. better fender cost?

I also just noticed someone put GM stepside back up lights on the bed.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

One fender was pretty good so I'll save it, the other was really rough once it was stripped. Plus I try to save costs when it's easier/cheaper to replace than to repair.


Here's an update on the bed floor, ya'll might recognize this guy.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

looks good John.....
looks like somebody is just showing off...haha

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Hey that place looks familiar. Deja vu or something...... :D

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

A teaser pic.... Pre-stretching on the wheeling machine. Kramer looks on.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

That's a teaser alright.....lol

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

I hate a tease....hahaha

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

I didn't go into much detail about this earlier, but the F250 bed floor had four flat areas for a fifth wheel hitch that looked really out of place for use in a '66 F100. I contacted Robert (MP&C) about having him make dies for his Lennox to reshape those spots into continuous ribs to look more like the original bed floor. I sent a sample so he could make dies a while back, and yesterday our schedules finally aligned so we could work on the bed floor.

https://i.imgur.com/KRi2etuh.jpg


We started by gas welding plugs in the four holes that won't be used on the F100. I didn't want to weld those with a MIG at our shop since the weld would be more brittle and would probably crack during the reshaping process. Gas welds are much softer and more workable.

https://i.imgur.com/hTNzDpQh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ieyt4BJh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zpl1rhrh.jpg



The welds were smoothed down and the flat areas were pre-stretched in the english wheel with a bit of guesswork as to how much we should pre-stretch.

https://i.imgur.com/Mlq0aGyh.jpg


Then into the Lennox to add the ribs. This was done gradually in multiple passes, adjusting the depth of the dies after each pass.

https://i.imgur.com/m12QCbPh.jpg



Slightly reworking the dies to gain more rib height.

https://i.imgur.com/1VWaYAHh.jpg


Finished ribs. These are hard to photograph so I stripped an area with the two new ribs in the center of the outer original ribs to show the matching profile.

https://i.imgur.com/TVDYKe2h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/r3UHssQh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/x6D0SUuh.jpg



James (duallyjams) dropped in to hang out for the day, it's always good seeing him! He was a big help and also shot vids of us working.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Speechless at the kind of work yall turn out on a regular basis....very impressive.....

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

You guys are magic.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Had a great time hanging out for the day.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

John and James, good to see you guys again, even better to work on something in the shop. John, thanks for letting us help out on the 66!

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Thanks for the comments! I'm currently working on fixing a '39 Ford that had an encounter with a deer, once I'm done with the fender I'll start back on the F100. I'll replace the grill with one from Alumicraft, this one is an original that's been smoothed with a lot of filler so we decided it would be best to not get into trying to fix it.

https://i.imgur.com/Ub1oNhbh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/X5c2JUPh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/mEuNzz8h.jpg


Headlight opening roughed back in.

https://i.imgur.com/eL3DoA5h.jpg



Top of the fender lip was busted up and bulged out, after stripping it I found a pretty rough patch attempt so I ended up making a new section to weld in.

https://i.imgur.com/OGB5DSKh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/HIJP9D7h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/egQWxvPh.jpg



I started with a square panel and rounded the J-shaped edge over a section of straight 5/8" tube, then used the planishing hammer with a linear stretch die along the top of the outer panel to match the curve of the opening. I had to open and flatten the inside part of the lip so I could shrink the inner half of the lip to match the front-to-rear curve of the fender, then closed it back up using by hammering it over a die I made from curved 5/8" round bar. The outside was lightly domed with the planishing hammer to match overall shape of the fender.

https://i.imgur.com/6Aezcd3h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Ii2UjQGh.jpg

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Dang deer...some more great metal work..

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

John, I see what you meant about the color. How did the deer not see it coming?!! :lol:

Nice job on the repairs.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

I am sure it was color blind
I am probably as good as most With patch panels even making My Own When I have to but you and Robert make me look like a First grader. I love looking at the stuff y’all do and thinking how would I have done that with my limited skills and equipment lol
Somebody probably paid good money to have that car done, I wonder how many more repairs like that or hiding under all that Bondo and high build

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Remarkable the work you do. I love watching!

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

A 40 Ford is near the top of my must own list someday.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

As Robert would say, everything in the shop is a tool, if you can touch it you can make it a tool.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Quick update on the '39, I now remember why I don't like going behind other people's body and paint work! I'm guessing whoever did the bodywork before didn't have a flexible sanding block, there wasn't a properly shaped spot on it. Really fun to try to blend in good bodywork into "friendly" bodywork. It's in epoxy now and at the paint store for color matching. It'll be a few more weeks before we get the new grill for fitting.



https://i.imgur.com/8k1BHIzh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/enXCrkch.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Ao7Ytpbh.jpg



Back to the '66. The bed tops are fully bodyworked and ready for epoxy sealer except for adding and shaping the seam sealer.

https://i.imgur.com/pnmiV71h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/WvoGWOyh.jpg






I started prepping to weld the bed floor in by using tubing to align the side panels and leveling/squaring the bed on a body cart. The header panel was slightly out at the front so I pulled it in with ratchet straps to correct that before tacking the front corner panels in place. As usual, I applied epoxy between the layers to prevent future rust.

https://i.imgur.com/BUR005sh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bb0Or3ph.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BGoMWB8h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/chrYTKnh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/RIpYgCQh.jpg




The bed floor had a few high spots where we accidentally over-stretched before adding the ribs. That was an easy fix with the shrinking disc. Still need to fine tune it before welding it in but the overall shape is correct now. I also trimmed the floor to the correct length so it can be dropped in for a test fit.

Before/after.

https://i.imgur.com/c7a0tfxh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/5HhSj54h.jpg

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

As always John...Great work!!

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Always great!! Caught a glimpse of goldilocks👍👍😁

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

That’s like NOS right there....

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Top notch man.

I'll have my house paid off in 4 years. Should I get in line for my Bird now?

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Thanks Greg!



Thanks Jay, I just put the fenders on and was playing with a mock up wheel and spacers to see what backspace I'll need.

https://i.imgur.com/9yISjNlh.jpg



Instead of 50 years of shelf wear it already has 1,000 miles under it's belt :lol:



Sounds like a plan!

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

The '09 bed floor was too long to fit the '66 bed so I trimmed 3 1/4" off the front to make it fit. It dropped right in place after slightly trimming the 90* flanges at the front to clear the crossmember. I also stuck the fenderwells back in place to see how they fit against the floor. It looks really good for just the initial test fit!

https://i.imgur.com/IIxC9S0h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/QdmYD1Qh.jpg


Tight fit against the header panel.

https://i.imgur.com/mqauTvOh.jpg


The rear flange fits the recess in the rear crossmember exactly like the factory floor did. I was a little worried that the raised sides might not fit flush with the four side panels but they line up very well. The end of the raised stamping on the floor needs to be moved forward about 1/4" to close up the gap, but that's an easy fix.

https://i.imgur.com/KBNkrgbh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Q3nwF6vh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/AvQKHtPh.jpg

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

We decided to weld studs into the crossmembers and braces to mount the bed to the frame instead of using bolts from the top side. Two reasons for that; the existing flat mounting areas from the '09 floor didn't exactly line up with the '66 mounting pattern and it would look better without bolt heads showing.


Since there wouldn't be any flat areas needed for mounting bolts, I extended the ends of the ribs all the way to the edge so all ribs would match. I did the rear edge first using the leftovers trimmed from the front edge. Unfortunately each rib is a slightly different height so they didn't line up exactly and the filler panels had to be manipulated into place.

https://i.imgur.com/hOjD7yvh.jpg



The process was to get one area to line up, tack it, then work around with a hammer and dolly to make other areas line up. The small, square face hammer with a pointed end that I found a swap meet was perfect for fitting within the narrow flat spots and inside corners.

https://i.imgur.com/OtTBL0Gh.jpg


Close up of the misalignment.

https://i.imgur.com/NwLQ8k5h.jpg


Ready for welding solid.

https://i.imgur.com/K5dy9kqh.jpg


Welded and smoothed.

https://i.imgur.com/ohFJgDNh.jpg



The front edge only had one row of ribs missing and the ends run straight out instead of having a flattened end. I made my own filler panels since they would be easier to fit and I didn't have enough leftovers after extending in the rear ribs.

https://i.imgur.com/X8DLtQSh.jpg


Filler piece welded in.

https://i.imgur.com/KnXIUmqh.jpg


Welds leveled with 2" 36 grit discs.

https://i.imgur.com/0xQLbwth.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wLYTZWVh.jpg


100 grit used next to remove the 36 grit scratches and to fully blend the weld areas smooth.

https://i.imgur.com/ELUaRZfh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IUlYw2Yh.jpg


100 grit scratches smoothed with 80 grit on a DA sander, ready for epoxy primer.

https://i.imgur.com/YyKzNlrh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YNvzxhXh.jpg

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

That's some nice fixes John..its a shame that most people will never recognize the amount of work you put into the little details thatll make this a sweet truck in the end.....

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Man, that is some quality work. You put more work into the parts people aren't going to see than most do in the visible pieces.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Awesome.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Thanks guys! Greg, that is somewhat annoying... the bed floor is going to look like it's supposed to now so people will just glance in and it'll look "normal" and assume it came that way. But I guess that's the point.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

I posted earlier about the rear outside edges not matching the outer corner panel edges.

https://i.imgur.com/lNBz59ph.jpg


After reshaping.

https://i.imgur.com/yotkdEhh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/I6oPFbMh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/zaBHKeah.jpg



Tons of test fits, lots of minor tweaks, and drilling a ton of holes for plug welds later, it's all welded in.

https://i.imgur.com/RvsSZkkh.jpg



Mounted on a rotisserie, then flipped to finish welding everything underneath. I'll start bodywork and prep for epoxy primer and seam sealer inside the bed tonight.

https://i.imgur.com/8IocOdQh.jpg

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Awesome work John!

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

I try not to look at this thread since it reminds me of one of the trucks that got away from me but I just cannot help myself. You are doing such fantastic work I gotta look.

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

Thanks guys!!


I roughed in the bodywork on the inner bedsides and outer floor panels, stripped the cheap primer off the wheel tubs, and shot a couple coats of SPI epoxy. A great thing about SPI epoxy is that it's glossy enough to easily show all the places I missed.

https://i.imgur.com/gq67sqkh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IsBbAX6h.jpg



I started straightening the passenger outer bed side. I used a sanding block inside and out with 60 grit to find the highs/lows, then hammer/dolly to straighten and level the panel. Then DA sand it to remove the sanding marks, resand to find the smaller highs/lows, more hammer/dolly work... repeat until it's good enough to skim coat then DA sand it for an even finish and to prep for epoxy.

https://i.imgur.com/Zqzb49fh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ZE0jf7Bh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/bofixcih.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/YRGS8OVh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/1zRC0B1h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/X20dWyuh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/sQKSesqh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ipLX5OAh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/EIk3gh5h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/pMBprLth.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/gp6ffyOh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Rbkr9Fnh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/0avPq3eh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/nSQZtvhh.jpg


Wiped down with wax and grease remover to check the reflection.

https://i.imgur.com/dwVskX6h.jpg


Straightened the rear of the wheel opening flange.

https://i.imgur.com/AkLEU19h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/hZhILN0h.jpg

Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
 

John, that spi epoxy looks as good as paint..!!