1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work

[Ol Blue K20]

As usual, your attention to detail and your skill set is awesome!

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

Someday in your future I see you doing some type of hands on in person instructional class.

I've had a few local guys ask if I'd do a basic metal shaping class, it's a possibility.

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

As usual, your attention to detail and your skill set is awesome!

Thanks!



I didn't post many details on patching the other side, so I'll be more detailed about this one. I formed the top to bottom curve on the slip roll, then added a bit of compound curve on the english wheel, then formed the tighter curved edge on the Pullmax. The brace and patches are 16g so they required more force to shape than thinner panels. I already had this die set that was a close match.




Clamped in place to scribe the trim line.




Precision trimming with the Beverly shear. It's possible to get a tight fit with minimal gaps or need for further trimming/grinding if the scribe line is accurate.




Welded and smoothed.





The overlapped areas didn't match up well so I used a hammer, steel block, and a rounded over air chisel to flatten out the areas that didn't lay flat on the lower piece.



















The flat areas weren't very flat and there were raised bumps from spot welds.






The height of the front edge wasn't consistent from side to side and it had random offset spots pressed in. Originally this edge had padding stapled in place to support the skin while allowing the skin to float on top of the brace. I'll either use similar padding or two part 3M NVH Dampening Material. Since this edge will be very visible when the hood is open I wanted to make it the same height all the way across, both for looks and so the padding or 3M NVH will support the hood evenly. I made a set of simple Pullmax dies from 1" steel bar to reform the edge into an even 3/8" offset.

Straightening an Inner Hood Brace Edge with the...

[MP&C]

John, you're just having too much fun now. Awesome details!!

[mongocanfly]

Nicely done...!

[regan wilson]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Nicely done...!

No kidding! I'm impressed every time I click on this thread.

[67C10Step]

I don't know why I keep checking on this thread. I guess to re-confirm my lack of metalworking skills.

As usual, very nice work. Wish I were closer for some mentoring.

[jhrusk]

Please let me know if you put a class on. I would love to learn. Awesome work.

[NONHOG]

Love the details of your work, also the details of your posts! Glad you are posting as I agree it is the best format. Having said that I do think you could make a bit of coin expanding your YouTube channel. I'd watch!

[ClydeDale]

Any updates?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by ClydeDale

Any updates?

Yes… making this hood fit has really been kicking my tail

I pretty much have the inner braces and the two new side pieces I made fitting 100% now, the new front pieces are welded in, and I’ve straightened the dents in the hood skin. Just need to mount the skin onto the braces and weld the two sides to the skin. The driver side cowl skin is fitting as it should now. I’ll post an update soon.

[joesscamaro]

I'm always looking for updates on this thread. I really enjoy watching and reading your progress and I'm always blown away. Don't keep us waiting too much longer, haha.

[theastronaut]

Getting started back with updates, I'll break them up into a few posts since I have a ton of pics for the work done on the hood and some of the forums I post to have a 20 pic/post limit.



A few post back I started making new pieces for the bottom edges of the sides of the hood. Before cutting off the old sides I made notes of how steeply angled the outside edge was bent every few inches.








I also made tape templates to rough in the shape of each end.










The rear edge had an offset area stamped into it to allow a flange on the brace to fit flush with the bottom edge. I trimmed a piece of scrap 18g to the shape of the recess and used it to define the edges and depth of the recess, then formed it with a rounded over air chisel tip and hammer.










The hard part- making all the pieces fit together with each other while making sure the edges were in the correct locations. Getting a piece too high or too low, or too far in or out, or too far forward or backward meant the gaps and flushness would be way off once its all welded together. At this point the hood skin was really cut up; both sides and almost all of the front were cut out so it was pretty flimsy. I decided it would be best to focus on getting the inner braces and sides fit together first.

With the front brace shimmed into the correct position and clamped in place, I started fitting it's flanges to the new sides. The sides were shimmed off the top of the fender the correct height to keep their edges in line with the bottom of the cowl.










I decided to shave the holes in the braces to make body and paint work go easier later on; getting paint shot through holes like this onto the inside of the outer skin is a pain and it never looks as good as you want it to. The outside edges of the holes had lumps on one end so I used a socket and mallet to cold shrink them down smooth.

[theastronaut]

To set the width of the rear hood brace and hood sides I first had to set the location of the rear of the new hood sides. I also needed to finish the left cowl bottom patch. I used magnets to float/clamp the aluminum C-channel in place down the length of the door, cowl, and new hood side. That keeps all the new pieces flowing well from panel to panel. String was pulled down the door's body line at the correct height so that the new bottom edge of the hood isn't too high or too low, which would throw off the body line and hood to fender gap.










Shape of the door transferred to a profile gauge, gauge used to check the shape of the cowl bottom patch.






Adding curve to the flanged ends until the shape matches the door edge. The middle of the panel was stretched to add shape by hammering on top of a slightly rounded dolly to add shape.






Low across the middle after tacking in place.




After planishing the welds, still not all the way back to shape.




Low again after more tacks. This was good enough to hold it together to finish fitting the cowl in place so the hood could be fitted.



With the C-channel and string in place I could accurately measure how long the lower flange needed to be made to make the panel sit flush with the hood and door. This flange won't be able to be added until the fender comes back off, and I need the fender on to set the hood's dimensions correctly.






The front edge of the hood had been cut out for rust repair, and to shave the recessed emblem mount. I made a template of the edge of the upper grill panel and marked that shape onto a 4x6" steel tube. I supported the rear of the hood with angle blocks, making sure to keep the hood level in all directions. I initially overlapped the new panels and tacked them in place, then doubled checked the fit on the truck to make sure the front edge was in the correct location.










With the fit where I wanted it I scribed and trimmed the edge and welded the new pieces in. The nice part of using tubing was that it kept the flange 100% flat.




The braces were sandblasted and shot with SPI epoxy. I also made captured nut plates for the hood latch and safetey catch.

[Rickysnickers]

I don't know how you learned all this body work, but your work is phenomenal!!!

[joesscamaro]

Updates and pictures appreciated. Always so nice to follow along on your builds.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

I don't know how you learned all this body work, but your work is phenomenal!!!

Thanks! I took collision repair at Greenville Tech but most of this kind of work was picked up from just doing it. Forums, Facebook groups, and Instagram have helped too; lots of guys more skilled than me post their work/tips/tricks.

Originally Posted by joesscamaro

Updates and pictures appreciated. Always so nice to follow along on your builds.

Appreciate you following them!

[theastronaut]

The hood brace was bolted to the hinges and adjusted back against shims to replicate the gap size and thickness of the outer skin. Also had to adjust the hinges some to get the angle of the brace corrected so the rear edge had a consistent gap along the cowl, and not tighter or looser at the top or bottom. Since the mounting pad swings in an arc I was able to move the hinges up or down to change the resting point angle. The overall height of the brace isn't that important since the rear flange is vertical; the outer skin can be moved up or down against the brace's flange as long as the brace isn't higher than the cowl, or too low that the outer skin's flange wouldn't reach the brace's flange.


Too narrow to match up with the hood side flanges.






Marking how much the brace needed to be bent outwards.




I clamped the brace to a table and made a mark in the center of the brace to reference how much I was bending the edges.






Double checking and making new notes.




After a lot of hammering and tweaking, the brace and sides lined up.




This area had a spot that fit too tightly against the cowl which would push the skin too close and make the gap too tight, so I laid a couple strips of tape parallel with the cowl edge.




With the first piece of tape removed I was able to set calipers at the correct width (silver mark), then scribe the rolled edge to mark where the edge should roll over, then hammer the edge back the correct amount.






The bottom of the hood brace flange fit too tightly against the hood side flange, so I used a ruler as a spacer/straight edge and scribed a line to trim to. Notice the 1/8" alignment holes drilled through both layers so it can be disassembled and easily reassembled in proper alignment. I did this to all of the pieces once they were fitting correctly.

[theastronaut]

On test fit #6,374 of the hood I noticed that the top of the cowl had a high spot along it's width, which created a weird transition from the cowl to the hood. Even the vents had a rounded shape.






I was able to flatten the vents by tapping them down, with a steel block laid across them to flatten them evenly.








To the left and right of the vents had the same bulge.




After a few passes with the shrinking disk.




The disc leaves the surface too smooth for primer to stick so I rough it back up with 100 grit on a 5" grinder, then 60 grit on a DA.








The shape after- good flow from the cowl to the hood that should be able to be perfected with a single thin skim coat of filler.






Same process on the other side.

[theastronaut]

More hood details. With the front and rear braces tweaked to fit better, I bolted the rear brace to the hinges, clamped the front in it's final location, and the new sides were spaced off the fenders and held in place with a couple of sheetmetal screws. I used tubing to make temporary braces to hold all of the pieces in place so I could begin fitting the skin to the braces and sides.




The rear corners of the rear brace had tabs that fold over the hood sides and spot weld into a recess. The old tabs weren't the same shape on both sides and were in rough shape from all of the spot welds being drilled out, then the tab pried up to separate the skin from the brace. With the sides mocked up I made tape templates of the new tab shape to match the recess size. Instead of welding across the straight edge of the brace I made a rounded patch so the tab could be bent along the crease without worrying about the weld seam cracking.






The recess didn't match left and right, so the new tape templates and tabs didn't match... I didn't catch that when I was making new hood sides using the original sides as templates. To correct that I trimmed both tabs to match and marked where the recess should end and reshaped it to fit the shortened tab.












I taped a piece of 18g underneath to use it's edge as a guide for reshaping the recess.






I relief cut the front corners of the skin to make them easier to reshape, and roughly marked the area that needed to be stretched to correct the shape.




Edges pulled out flush with the upper grill panel, copper spoon used to weld a temporary bridge to hold that shape.




Cardboard template of the upper grill panel's profile, tape template of the new hood corner.

[theastronaut]

New lower corner tacked in place, corner profile needs reshaping so both sides of the seam match.




Hammer on dolly stretching to raise the lower side.






Lower section opened up for a filler piece since the gap was too wide to weld.




Other corner fitted and welded.






Marking the inner flange to trim off the uneven edge.




I made a template of the cowl's profile from 20g bent 90* then shaped with the linear stretch dies in the pullmax and the hand shrinker/stretcher, then built the structure up top to keep it from flexing. I used it to check and correct the hood skin.








Lower edges of the cowl marked to match up the hood edges.




Hood hung at the correct height to match the shrinker/stretcher jaws.






Before/after correcting the hood profile.








Double checking the hood skin fit before welding the braces in.

[regan wilson]

Awesome work.

[mongocanfly]

X2..!!!!!

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by regan wilson

Awesome work.

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

X2..!!!!!

Thanks!!

[theastronaut]

The battery had exploded at some point and etched the underside of the hood, which left some rust pits that sanding didn't strip. I marked those areas and spot blasted them to remove all of the rust.








After blasting I washed the hood inside and out with Ospho to remove the fingerprint rust, neutralized it, wire brushed the inside to remove any flash rust, then DA sanded and shot the inside with a couple coats of epoxy.








I wanted to fix the worst areas while the braces were out for better access so I skimmed/blocked them, then shot white epoxy over the repairs and behind the braces since the truck will be red/white and the inside of the hood will be white.

[theastronaut]

That leaves the braces. I had shaved and roughly straightened them but for the level of detail I'm shooting for just spraying high build and wetsanding the primer smooth wouldn't be nice enough. So I roughed up the epoxy and started filling and blocking each facet to correct and smooth all of the stamping distortion, spot welds, and uneven corner radii.
















Tape used to set the width of the radius, and tape on the edges of the block to prevent the already-established flats from being oversanded.




















This is something I've had in mind for awhile but hadn't got around to making yet. Correcting shapes with filler like this means you spend a lot of time sanding an even radius into the edges, and they don't always come out 100% perfect. Since getting the Bridgeport and lathe and learning more about cutting tool geometry I had the idea to make my own corner radius tools to shave an even radius after blocking two facets to a sharp 90* corner. I started with a piece of 1x1" steel to check my idea and see what kind of relief angles it would need to work correctly. I ended up on a 7* inside back cut just along the front edge and 7* positive rake angle ground into the face. I used a 3/16" endmill on this one but bought a set of endmills from 1/8" to 1/2" to make a full set of radius tools, and I'd like to make a set for both 90* and 45* edges. I'll make them more ergonomic with a handle, this was just an proof of concept test piece. I did look around at some of the radius tools for woodworking but they didn't seem like they would fit between panel gaps to set the final panel edge radius after blocking the filler/primer.