1966 F100 Short/Fleet Full Stock Resto Build Thread

[NONHOG]

Dang you have entertained me and maybe changed my mind about getting a beater old Ford someday. Not sure I could handle all that work at my age. LOL
Thanks for the great write up and of course the quality work! Love this build!

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by NONHOG

Dang you have entertained me and maybe changed my mind about getting a beater old Ford someday. Not sure I could handle all that work at my age. LOL
Thanks for the great write up and of course the quality work! Love this build!

Thanks NONHOG!

[theastronaut]

Shot the bed with PPG DPLF epoxy thursday night.





Masked and applied epoxy seam sealer Friday morning. Don't use blue tape for seam sealer, it's tough to get it back off without it tearing to shreds!











Turned the bed up so we could hammer/dolly the dents out of the bed floor.




Skim coated a few spots.

[theastronaut]

Right side bodywork roughed in and shot with Slick Sand.










Passenger side metal shaping finished.

[theastronaut]

Mud time, my favorite part of the restoration process!!


Skimmed across the seam to get both side dead even.






Then skimmed and blocked the whole side.






Started blocking the left side.





Rodney started working the inside of the bed.

[67ChevyRedneck]

If I ever win the lottery, I'm sending you every car I own.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

If I ever win the lottery, I'm sending you every car I own.

Sounds good to me!

[theastronaut]

Some details of sanding the primer. I sand the flat areas first, then hit the edges with guidecoat so I can see how much primer I'm taking off the edge, and also how evenly I'm blocking the edge. This keeps the diameter and shape of the edge even front to back.




Roll above the edge and the flat area below sanded first.




Shot with guide coat.




Edge blocked. You can see how far the new edge shape comes over into the upper roll and lower flat panel.




Sanding/shaping the bed side seam using a 1/8" welding rod wrapped in sandpaper.






Ready to shape the lower edge of the upper bed panel.




After sanding.




Left side blocked, a couple spots touched up, seams/edges detail sanded. Ready for blocking with 180 and shot with more Slick Sand.

[theastronaut]

Masked out the right side and shot a few coats of Slick Sand.

[plainred65]

Still checking in and following along, very nice work as always.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by plainred65

Still checking in and following along, very nice work as always.

Thanks!

[theastronaut]

Sprayed inside the bed, the header panel, and the left bedside sprayed with Slick Sand today.


Shaped a piece of foam to fit the bed floor ridges and glued it to a jitterbug sander to prep the bed floor before primer.




Some shots of the primer. This part of the resto gets kinda repetitive...

















Some shots while it was still wet.

[duallyjams]

spray sand spray sand spray sand are we there yet I gotta go

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

spray sand spray sand spray sand are we there yet I gotta go

That's about it, bathroom breaks and a stop now and then to stretch your legs. The bed floor was a back and knee killer, even with the rotisserie. Anyone got any low mileage arms and fingers I can borrow?
Posted via Mobile Device

[theastronaut]

More block sanding... Seems like this part never ends! We did this Tuesday and Wednesday, Rodney took the day off and I cleaned up and extra stall we weren't using. My arms needed a rest from blocking for two days straight.

I cut down and reshaped a Durablock to fit the bed floor grooves.




Then glued it to an inline sander. This saved a ton of time! I usually hate these things for any other kind of sanding but it worked well for this.




After blocking the top and bottom grooves, the edges needed sanding. Bottom masked off to keep the block from cutting stray grooves into the primer.






After sanding.




Fixing the high/low spots with a skim of filler.




Blocking the driver side... again.




Using PVC to shape the concave area.




Checking the reflection after blocking with 80 grit by wiping wax and grease remover over the surface. You can see how well the reflection carries over from the bed side to the bed corner.




The spot that was cut out and welded back in didn't need any filler, any distortion blocked out with just high build.

[duallyjams]

That's a lot of work on the inside of the bed hope it doesn't get used as a truck when your done.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

That's a lot of work on the inside of the bed hope it doesn't get used as a truck when your done.

We will be on an episode of America's Most Wanted if he attempts to haul anything in the bed...

[theastronaut]

Well, the inside of the bed is all been blocked out, and any high/low spots touched up. Just shot three coats of PPG K36 so we can wetsand and paint it. The outside of the bed bed is in Slick Sand, ready for what should be the last round of blocking.

[shok]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

We will be on an episode of America's Most Wanted if he attempts to haul anything in the bed...

I'd be so terrified that someone would toss something in the bed that I would make a clear Lexan tonneau cover!

[inovermyhead]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

We will be on an episode of America's Most Wanted if he attempts to haul anything in the bed...

[theastronaut]

Did some work on the door gaps. Welded up the edges with 1/8" steel welding rods to close the gap, then used a feeler gauge to get them all even.













Also made a new cab corner piece. It has a few bumps from hammering it out but it'll hafta do. These are unavailable.

[theastronaut]

Inside of cab corner coated with chassis saver and welded on. I left the bottom edge uneven to match the factory sloppiness.







Right door gaps mostly finished. Need to go across the bottom still, and can't do the front edge until the front clip is on.

[theastronaut]

Had to make the cowl drains since they aren't reproduced. Started with a paper template, the wrinkles show what areas need to be shrunk.



















Prepped the passenger side with Chassis Saver. Have to get the kick panel in before I can finish the drain for this side.




Fitted and tacked the driver side floor in place.




Then fully welded.







Kick panel tacked in place.

[theastronaut]

Haven't posted lately so here's the updates. We're finished with metalwork on the cab and doors and have them in epoxy.


Passenger floor fitted and welded in.




We drilled a couple 1/8" holes in each end of the hinges while the doors were bolted up and aligned. Next time we install the doors we can use 1/8" welding rods to easily align the holes, and the doors will be 95% adjusted on the first try.




The windshield and back glass pinchwelds were extremely rough and wavy.






After straightening and smoothing. The glass will be easier to install and the rubber will lay down evenly across the pinchweld.






Door skins were seam sealed from the inside out, and the drains were reopened with a dremel after the sealer dried.





Doors prepped for epoxy using PPG DX579 and DX520.

[theastronaut]

We mounted the cab on a rotisserie so we could grind the welds on the bottom side.




After smoothing the welds.




Shot with PPG DPLF epoxy.



















Won't take much bodywork to make the floor pan grafts disappear.




Doors shot with epoxy.