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

I think that pic where you said the inner panel stuck out slightly farther than the outer and you ground it off helps explain why your restorations are so perfect. Speaking for myself, I probably would not have paid any attention to that since it won't show when it's done.

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

Man your metal work is sooooo good. I really enjoy looking at all of your various repairs/solutions.

Keep sharing please...

Thanks
Marc

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

Thanks Robert!!



Thanks!



Those kind of things really bother my OCD lol. Plus it makes it easier to mask later on when I'll do Raptor Liner underneath- the tape will lay flat on the outside edge without the inner layer creating a gap and possible overspray. And it only takes a minute to trim down while the grinder is out.



Thanks for following the project Marc!!

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

Does anyone near the upstate South Carolina area have a junk cab with a good roof skin? This one had something fall across the roof and do a lot of damage which I was planning on straightening but after looking over it closer Friday there is rust coming from the inside out near the driprail seam on both sides. A few areas have already rusted all the way through and poking it with a carbide scribe finds more weak spots along the edge, so it will be best to take the skin off and replace it. I have found a cab locally but it's too nice to cut up. PM me if you have a cab/roof or know of one nearby!

https://i.imgur.com/V46I7Pxh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/AGsVw2th.jpg

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

https://i.imgur.com/cK0NIjIh.jpg

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

https://i.imgur.com/kIVy7T2h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/LCpIV8Xh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8kG4GDeh.jpg


Started making a patch for the door bottom.

https://i.imgur.com/IyUa4Mmh.jpg

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

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

John, have you checked with this guy?...
http://flashbackf100s.com/usa_made_s..._repair_panels

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

No, wasn't aware of that place. I'll look into them if we can't find anything locally!

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

More door work.

The driver side inner door skin was cracked around the window felt area so I realigned the panel and welded it back together.

https://i.imgur.com/HRFe2nph.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/7jVw98zh.jpg

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


To keep it from cracking again I bent shaped a 3/16" rod to fit inside in the corner out of the way of the felt clips. I only welded it to the inner flange so there won't be any "ghosting" of the welds showing through the paint later on.

https://i.imgur.com/iY1Zxq4h.jpg

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


Corner finished.

https://i.imgur.com/3kAyL4fh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/2nIH7tZh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/TfZu1bah.jpg

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

Digging deeper into the roof rust. This is looking from the inside over the door top.

https://i.imgur.com/Or6ZD8Gh.jpg


I cut out a section over the door to see inside better...

https://i.imgur.com/bJqIUR2h.jpg


Not good, so I started cutting the roof off. I trimmed right above the seam across the back of the cab to make easy access to the inner spot welds.

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

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


I cut higher up on the sides, this shows the layers as they are when the roof is assembled- nowhere for condensation to escape between the inner and outer layers, and once the seam sealer degrades water comes in and gets between the layers.

https://i.imgur.com/b6veCqah.jpg


After cutting the spot welds loose from the driprail. This wasn't far away from coming through.

https://i.imgur.com/YVMr6EBh.jpg


The driprail flange was also in rough shape so I drilled out those spot welds and removed the drip rails down the sides.

https://i.imgur.com/bD7AzDGh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8IZJl4lh.jpg



Driprails removed, ready for blasting and epoxy.

https://i.imgur.com/5HY6Dn4h.jpg


I never liked the crimped on joint cover connecting the front and side pieces, so I cut though it when I separated the side driprails from the front. There was rust under the outer corners of the front driprail so I cut those out too. I'm going to check out a free parts truck tomorrow about 45 min away, hopefully the roof skin is straight enough to use. I'm not too worried about rust in the seams like this one had, it'll be easy to replace the flat sides since they're easy to fab, and it needs to come apart like this one to get at all the inner rust between layers.

https://i.imgur.com/Gg70909h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wrVw4Cvh.jpg

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

Wow. This has be to running the bill up, How's the owner taking the news? I wish I had the money to buy a truck and take it to you and just say restore it. Then I'd watch on Facebook as it came together and enjoy seeing it get done so beautifully.

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

These setbacks do add to the cost, but are worth the cost for the peace of mind knowing there won't be any problems later on!


I posted a wanted ad for a roof or cab last week and had someone contact me about a '66 that they just wanted hauled off. It ended up having a usable roof and was only 45 min away. Got the roof cut off and separated the roof skin and drip rails from the inner bracing yesterday.

https://i.imgur.com/hOauuh9h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/OH2bveSh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/J4lN3Hrh.jpg


We decided to eliminate the seam across the back of the roof for a couple reasons; it's in the middle of the wing shaped body line in the b-pillar and takes away from that shape, and it'll save time compared to separating the flanges on both roofs, blasting, shaping the flanges so they both match up 100%, and then the time of evenly shaping the seam sealer during bodywork. I was able to trim the roof skin along that seam to take the minimal amount off, and I'll do the same on the cab, but that still means the roof skin will either need a filler strip or the roof skin needed to drop down about 3/16". A filler strip would mean double the distortion from warping so that's not a good idea. From cutting the old roof skin off, there was no way to cleanly separate the roof skin from the drip rail by drilling spot welds; there just wasn't enough flange material left after all the drilling and chiseling and prying. So I thought it would be best to trim the flange in the corner of the 90* bend and move up about 3/16" and tip the edge of the roof to make a new flange.

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

https://i.imgur.com/VQyot2ih.png


Roof cut off, flange still on the drip rail.

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


Removing the flange by grinding through the spot welds without disturbing the drip rail underneath.

https://i.imgur.com/mHK5q5Sh.jpg

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


Drilling the spot welds out, being extra careful to not bend or warp the flange when chiseling the two layers apart. I sacrificed the inner brace by hammering it away from the drip rail flange instead of pulling the flange away from the inner brace. I'm pretty happy with the way these came apart, they'll fit the cab nicely since they're not warped up from the separation process. I struggled to get the old drip rails off so I really took my time with the replacements.

https://i.imgur.com/q8ujnSTh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/jRv36bnh.jpg


Front section- the first pic is with the spot welds 99% separated so it's sitting there with it's own weight holding it in place- zero distortion on the flange. Again, really happy with these results after the driprails on the first cab didn't separate well at all.

https://i.imgur.com/Fm22AQzh.jpg

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


All off, ready for blasting and epoxy.

https://i.imgur.com/Kj0NBSGh.jpg

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

glad you found a good donor...

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

Sorry for the dumb question, but why go through so much trouble to save the drip rails?

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

Awesome work on ALL of the sheet metal repair & re-engineered areas.

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

Looking great John.

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

We were lucky to find one nearby and for free too!



It's not going to be a full custom build so we're not shaving everything. I'll be adding the holes for factory side trim and it's looking like it will probably be painted factory two tone colors. So I had to be careful removing them from the donor cab so they could be reused.



Thanks!


Appreciate it Jay! Looking forward to hanging out at shows once they're started back.

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

I'm loving it....I wouldn't want to drive it in raining weather without drip rails. Besides, they look funky without them....Nice work and as usual....I'm amazed!

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

They definitely don't look right without them. I had planned on maybe making a slightly shorter and more closely tucked in set of drip rails if we hadn't been able to find nice donor pieces to clean up the look a little without them being removed totally.

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

I blasted the inner roof rails and drip rails this week, taking care to get the pitted areas really clean. If you've ever blasted rusted metal that has deeper/thick rust pits you'll wonder why POR-15 and similar products are so popular... the really bad rust isn't growing on the surface where you're painting and a "converter" or "paint over rust" product isn't going to help anything at that point.

https://i.imgur.com/k9xnUsIh.jpg

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

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

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

https://i.imgur.com/oKKl4l0h.jpg



One big thing that I wanted to address while the roof was apart was to do away with the welded clip that ties the front and side drip rails together. The factory left this area pretty rough with the two sections misaligned.

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

https://i.imgur.com/KT1RY5rh.jpg



To start I used the factory line-up slots to position the front drip rail. The factory spot welds were also in identical locations between this cab and the donor cab.

https://i.imgur.com/ZUoLT9Lh.jpg



I cut a section out of the old drip rails and used it to lengthen the side rail.

https://i.imgur.com/wnu14N4h.jpg

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



Loosely assembled to mark the front rail for trimming.

https://i.imgur.com/Hkpj7KTh.jpg



The fit at the A pillar wasn't the best from the factory.

https://i.imgur.com/MIbIvc5h.jpg



I used a pair of end nippers to twist the end of the front drip rail into alignment with the side rail and tacked the two together.

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


Fully welded and welds smoothed.

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



I forgot to drill plug weld holes where the factory left out some spot welds, so I used the cut off wheel to grind small channels to plug weld.

https://i.imgur.com/0e7O4SOh.jpg



I used a rounded over chisel to tighten up the fit of the drip rail to A-pillar fit.

https://i.imgur.com/iF9GrIeh.jpg

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



Driver side finished. Having both pieces in-line and one piece now will go a long way in creating a clean and even door gap against the drip rail, and the seam sealer will look much neater with an even gap between the drip rail and the main roof rail.

https://i.imgur.com/jESK5Vxh.jpg

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

Details my man. You are CRAZY on the details. A discerning Ford person will pick up on that drip rail mod and be jealous. Not to mention it eliminates an area of water intrusion and rust formation.

Saying you do great work is really an understatement.

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

Like a surgeon....

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

never a dull moment on here...just more and more amazing work...

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

Almost missed this thread, thinking it was your other Ford truck thread. Glad I looked close. Fun watching your progress. Thanks for posting!

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

I'm surprised at how complex that area is, has a lot of pieces, but you definitely know how to make it blend and look perfect. The threads you post are always amazing to watch.

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

Appreciate all the comments! I'm still making progress, just been too busy to post lately. We have a good friend who's having to retire and move out of his shop due to health issues that recently popped up. We've been going over to help him sell off his tools/equiptment in the evenings so I've been getting home well after 10pm most nights. Just now getting a chance to upload pics for an update.

The new roof skin needed a flange turned to mount it to the drip rails, so I folded the edge about 3/8" wide.

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


Vice Grip pads had the right diameter so I used those to hammer against in the front corners.

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

https://i.imgur.com/7dR6j11h.jpg


Didn't take pics, but the roof was blasted where necessary and the outside was stripped by soaking the paint in lacquer thinner covered with plastic, then 95% of the old paint scraped off easily with a razor blade.

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


After stripping there were some dents to fix. I used wax and grease remover to make the surface reflective, and the overhead light's reflection as an indicator to show the damage for pics. I used a hammer/dolly, shrinking disk, and plexiglass sanding block to find the high/low spots.

https://i.imgur.com/X0FHnoSh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/JnCoTa2h.jpg


After initial straightening- overall shape is correct but was still wavy/choppy from smaller imperfections. Next few pics are from a few rounds of hammer/dolly and shrinking disk work. The shrinking disk really speeds up this process by shrinking down the high spots.

https://i.imgur.com/XLPW9Uhh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/aZ6Up61h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6MyvX8th.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/K9ayX6Xh.jpg


Rotated to check the reflection using the tree limbs outside. Pics don't show this but watching the reflection while moving around the panel will show high/low spots easily.

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


Waves found using the reflection check method.

https://i.imgur.com/8urbNF9h.jpg


High/low spots after blocking to show exactly where to hammer/dolly.

https://i.imgur.com/e4QL9Vqh.jpg


With the roof straightened I moved to fitting the newly shaped flange to the drip rails with the shrinker/stretcher. Quite a bit of difference in the beginning vs end shapes compared to the straight ruler. I also split the corners to allow the sides to conform to the drip rail positions better. Dropping the roof ~3/8" meant it needed to be widened slightly.

https://i.imgur.com/PG1HMIqh.jpg

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

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

That is awesome work.

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

Inner roof structure and drip rail flange coated with two coats of SPI epoxy.

https://i.imgur.com/kAKUM4Vh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/51C3jvLh.jpg


Roof skin mocked up to roughly mark the back edge for trimming. I cut out the original flanged seam, then clamped the roof back in place and scribed the edge of the roof skin for trimming with hand shears... good forearm workout.

https://i.imgur.com/f6mrYgyh.jpg

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


I also checked the fit across the sides and front while mocking up the roof skin and made notes to shrink/stretch the flange to fit the drip rail contours better. Lots of on/off and small adjustments to the the shape corrected.

https://i.imgur.com/2HrmfyGh.jpg


I noticed how rough the pinchweld was on the last '66 F100 we restored, and this one was no different. Most spotwelds were twisted and the edges of the flanges were very rough and uneven. I flattened the twisted areas with a hammer/dolly and ground the edges even and smooth with a 2" grinder. Also slightly rounded over the edge so installing the windshield will go smoother.


Before-

https://i.imgur.com/2YE9FFzh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/NrtS9Edh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BJrfhE7h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/VMK7Zv6h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/AJ7FIFyh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/KM5olNJh.jpg


After-

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

https://i.imgur.com/v5iChBxh.jpg

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

https://i.imgur.com/awjPV86h.jpg


The A-pillar to upper windshield frame fit was really bad, so I made a relief cut to allow for reshaping, then welded up the cut and seam.

https://i.imgur.com/xzh1k7Th.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/IaKGO7dh.jpg

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

https://i.imgur.com/O4nNPJuh.jpg

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

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


Same issue with the lower seams.

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

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

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

https://i.imgur.com/ZoY4Cnuh.jpg

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

Thanks!!

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

man ...you are a metal magician..

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

Initial fitting of the roof took awhile to get the rear edge lined up exactly flush with the lower part of the cab. Once it was in place I made a few tacks, then had to reshape the body line on both sides for a flowing shape through the two panels.

https://i.imgur.com/JBoWF85h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/R5Oi3kLh.jpg


The sides had uneven shapes meeting at the seam from top to bottom.

https://i.imgur.com/yRLpRU3h.jpg


Adjusting the tightest part of the roll in the body line.

https://i.imgur.com/h0dfcl6h.jpg


Fixing an overlap from the metal being stretched out due to reshaping.

https://i.imgur.com/Mnp6RlPh.jpg


The slow process of a row of tacks, then planishing the tacks, grinding them nearly flat, and repeating until it's welded solid.

https://i.imgur.com/IUPKa5zh.jpg


Welds flattened with 36 grit, taking care not to cut deeply into the surrounding area.

https://i.imgur.com/YiKG8Ezh.jpg


36 grit scratches removed with 100 grit.

https://i.imgur.com/W8kvTwWh.jpg


DA sanded with 60 grit to prep for epoxy.

https://i.imgur.com/F7C86Ieh.jpg

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

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

https://i.imgur.com/tycB5U4h.jpg

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

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

Details- the seam that was eliminated ran into the end of the drip rail, and the roof skin flange was overhanging the end of drip rail a bit. The inside corner of the roof skin flange also didn't fit tightly against the drip rail, or the lower panel.

https://i.imgur.com/zU99l55h.jpg

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


Inside corner tightened up with a rounded chisel and hammer.

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


Seam welded closed.

https://i.imgur.com/ufZT5VNh.jpg


I also welded the roof flange to the drip rail so they wouldn't have a chance of separating later and cracking the paint.

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


Initial smoothing with 36 grit and a cutoff wheel for the tight corner.

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


100 grit.

https://i.imgur.com/ndD09TBh.jpg


DA sander.

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

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

https://i.imgur.com/wQRvx9eh.jpg


Roof skin flanges welded via plug welds with a bit too much penetration.

https://i.imgur.com/YH9kNAjh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/8uNy7vIh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/wwp63eeh.jpg


Antenna hole was filled in.

https://i.imgur.com/vxZ0rxQh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/Xfa2LPbh.jpg

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

Man I could look at your metal work for hours. So cool to see the progress pics of the various repairs. You work magic, its like you were never there. The body and paint guys must love following your work #nofillerneeded.

Thanks
Marc

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

I love your attention to detail. What you do is absolutely stunning and amazing.

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

I love reading your posts, could be a how-to manual to teach body work. This truck is going to be beautiful. It's too bad that some of the work, like the windshield flange that you straightened, won't show.

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

John, beautiful work as always, especially that tipped edge. And sorry I was asleep at the wheel here, should have offered to send down my drip rail tongs for you to use... Holler next time you need such a thing.


https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...ure%203545.jpg

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...Picture621.jpg

https://hosting.photobucket.com/albu...Picture626.jpg

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

Thanks! It'll still need a skim coat to get all the shapes corrected 100%.



Appreciate it!



This is a big reason I like to do build threads, the owner can keep up with everything and all of the work id documented in case it's ever up for sale- anyone interested can know exactly whats under the paint. The pinchweld flange is something that'll show in the end result- the seal will lay flat and the inner lip won't be gouged from flipping the lip over the pinchweld when installing the glass.



Thanks Robert!

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

I want to assemble all of the sheetmetal on the frame next to start panel alignment. That means I need door hinges, and the old ones needed attention. The driver side upper was really worn, as was the lower and passenger upper. The passenger side lower seemed pretty tight but it was packed full of old hardened grease that could make it seem tighter than it actually was so I pulled apart as well.


Before- caked on grease, misshaped door check levers, and worn out pins and bores.

https://i.imgur.com/0Z74Sr1h.jpg

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

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


Stamps to keep track of the individual parts.

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

https://i.imgur.com/Inmco1hh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/ZHNtCe8h.jpg


New oversized pins. I bought a tapered reamer set which included a .3400 to .3740 reamer which worked well with .373" pins.

https://i.imgur.com/h97KNkph.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6iwxM3Uh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/L2LsrYrh.jpg



Blasted all pieces.

https://i.imgur.com/uSelns3h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/y2ARUk5h.jpg


Since the reamer is tapered I could set the inner diameter of the hinge brackets slightly smaller than the pins so the pin won't become loose in the bore.

https://i.imgur.com/94eRdi8h.jpg


The mounting flanges had a lot of raised edges from the stamping and tapping processes so I flattened those down.

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

https://i.imgur.com/Kz8QjPKh.jpg


The last F100 I restored had wide/loose notches on the stop arm which let the door move excessively on the stops. There was also a "ramp" shape on the stop to hold the door fully open which put the roller in a bind and made the door "pop" when closing it off the stop. These were the same way.

Original shape of the ramps-

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


New shape. I had to weld one ramp to get the shape corrected. The "V" shape holds the door tightly in each stop position with no free play, and the flat ramps allow the roller to smoothly come out of the stops without binding.

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


Another problem- the stop arm bottomed out on the hinge body, which let the roller separate from the ramps so the door moved freely. I ground away the edge a little to make more room for the arm to correct this.

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


Finished and reassembled, ready to test fit the doors.

https://i.imgur.com/Rr1oBnEh.jpg


Video showing before/after reworking the stop arm ramps.

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

The door bottoms needed to be cut out to repair rust damage, and to extend the flange. There are back to back 90* bends that are only 1/4" apart and my brake only does a minimum of 3/8" apart. The logical thing to do is buy a milling machine to help make dies for the Pullmax, then make door bottom dies... right?


We actually bought a Bridgeport about a month ago but hadn't set it up yet. So I bought a pallet jack to move it, a few things to get the mill up and running, and had to dissasemble and clean the vise it came with before I could start making anything with it.

https://i.imgur.com/1emySD3h.jpg


It came with a Kurt vise but it was filthy inside and out. Ended up having to boil it in Purple Power to loosen up the crud enough that it could be scraped off.

https://i.imgur.com/EO1pYwZh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/uS9Ynq7h.jpg

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


After deep cleaning, filing/stoning any high spots down, and repainting it.

https://i.imgur.com/E5atLYLh.jpg


In it's temporary spot, ready for work.

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


The Pullmax uses 22mm posts so I bought 1" bar and machined it down to size.

https://i.imgur.com/nSUJQi7h.jpg


I also cut a quick tool post alignment jig. I'll make a real one out of aluminum eventually.

https://i.imgur.com/ZRp7qQ7h.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/6e3LScKh.jpg


First lower die attempt. The right side is a plain 90 to hold in place a 90 that I pre-bent in the brake. The ramped left side progressively stamps the second 90. This design didn't have the correct shape ramp so it distorted the work piece.

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

https://i.imgur.com/JE7X32th.jpg


Version 2 using a twisted steel bar instead to fully support the flange being folded over. This worked much better.

https://i.imgur.com/Joex6ekh.jpg

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


For the test runs I stuck sandpaper on the test panel and slid it in and out by hand with the machine off to show any high spots on the dies. High spots thin out and stretch the work piece and cause distortion.

https://i.imgur.com/t9dsHqZh.jpg


The finished part with matching 1/4" offset between the 90's.

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

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

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


Welded in and welds smoothed.

https://i.imgur.com/oy5Sth7h.jpg

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

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

As usual, I'm amazed. The custom tooling and sheet metal work looks awesome and seamless!

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

"The logical thing to do is buy a milling machine to help make dies for the Pullmax, then make door bottom dies... right?" Totally logical, LOL. Now I know why I love this thread.

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

The last time the owner visited he brought a set of reproduction knobs and bezels for me to graft onto the Vintage Air switches.

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


The switches have M7-.75 threads and the original retaining nuts had a small enough ID that they could be drilled/tapped to match. The shaft of the switch is 15/64ths, and the new knob's ID were smaller with enough material so they could be drilled out to match.

https://i.imgur.com/2DR9fAOh.jpg


Retaining nut drilled/tapped, then shortened.

https://i.imgur.com/0oM2WFWh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/BY6dSSSh.jpg


Knob insert drilled oversize.

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


Test assembled on the VA-supplied backing plate.

https://i.imgur.com/IkE6Q3Gh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/B54we2Qh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/DEnjC2sh.jpg


The original switch holes were dimpled to clear the bulge on the back of the bezel. The new holes I made earlier weren't, so I had to add those.

https://i.imgur.com/OHG1ACLh.jpg

https://i.imgur.com/coBles7h.jpg


I used a large washer for the OD of the dimple, and marked the center of it with making tape to center it behind the switch hole. This was clamped in place with a plate behind it to set the depth of the dimple.

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

https://i.imgur.com/glOn8LUh.jpg


Another piece of tape with a center hole was marked to locate a 1/2" socket. I used a large C clamp to press the socket into the hole of the washer to create the dimple. A 1/8" hole was drilled for the locating tabs on the switch.

https://i.imgur.com/F4atT2lh.jpg

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


Switches mounted.

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