View Single Post
Old 06-18-2020, 03:43 PM   #96
theastronaut
Registered User
 
theastronaut's Avatar
 
Join Date: May 2011
Location: Anderson SC
Posts: 3,870
Re: 1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work

Getting started back on this one... The owner brought back the finished frame, that let me mount the bed and fabricate a filler neck, along with repositioning the center gooseneck stamping to use as a flat spot for the gas cap.

The frame- Coyote/Magnum T56 swapped with M2 front suspension and a four link in the rear.






I made a template to cut exact matching size holes in the ribbed section over the tank and the center gooseneck stamping so that they could swap spots without excesive welding gaps. Also bought extra thin cut off wheels and slightly thinned them myself even more for less kerf.




Double offset filler neck.




A normal gas cap would look to small and wouldn't hide the hole for the filler neck so I started looking online for larger caps with standard threads. Ended up finding an aftermarket billet cap for a BMW motorcycle that looked like a good fit for the truck. The tank is vented already so I removed the cap vent and drilled/tapped/plugged the hole so it can't leak fuel out onto the bed floor paint. The top was flat and sort of chunky looking to begin with but I liked the rest of design..






I used a mug (it was the right diameter ) and an english wheel anvil in the press to dimple the opening around the filler neck.








Finished up. I used the lathe to slightly dome the top of the cap and round the edge, then sanded it smooth up to 1000 grit. I used a red scuff pad for a brushed look, then metal polish to slightly polish the cap without losing the brushed look. It could easily be fully polished if the owner wants to but I thought this finish might hide fingerprint smudges and scratches since aluminum is soft and its an item that'll see a lot of use/handling.

theastronaut is offline   Reply With Quote