1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work

[theastronaut]

The driver side bed corner fit pretty well at the bottom but stuck out past the bedside towards the top.






I was able to reach the spot welds through the taillight opening with an extended nose grinder and carbide burr. You can see how much I moved the panel inward to make the two flanges flush.







We decided to shave the stake pockets, so I cut out the flanged lip and made a filler panel that keeps and extends the seam so it looks like a factory panel.











I drilled a couple holes to plug weld the filler panel's flange in place like the rest of the corner's flange.




Coated the inside of the corner with epoxy before welding it shut.




Finished.

[mongocanfly]

That stake pocket cap and wheel tubs looks great!...

[Ol Blue K20]

It's looking great. You make it look so easy!

[jhrusk]

Work looks great as always.

[Russell Ashley]

You notice details that are so small that some of us would never notice they need fixing.

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by Russell Ashley

You notice details that are so small that some of us would never notice they need fixing.

Amen!!!! But now I notice them. Iwish I could fix them like he does.....

[Palf70Step]

Very nice work on the ole girl!

[theastronaut]

Thanks guys!!

The passenger side pocket was a bit more work since the seam was crooked at the top. I rounded off an air chisel tip and used that to move the edge of the long panel over to where it should've been.






After moving it over, still not perfect but much better than before.




Patch made, determining the right spot to make the bend so the gap is even.




Bent, fitted, and welded weld in.






The front bed pockets were opened up to get back to flat metal, then were straightened, spot blasted to touch up missed areas of rust, primed, and welded shut.

[theastronaut]

The second wheelwell came in so I started getting it ready to install. The shock notch was welded up first, then I had to narrow the mounting flange to clear the raised lip on the inner bedside.


I scribed a line on the patch, then trimmed with tin snips for a near-exact fit with no grinding needed. This saves grinding discs and makes less dust in the shop.










Difference in flange width.

[theastronaut]

I welded in the header panel using the original spot weld holes, but some of those were halfway off the edge of the panel so I used a copper spoon to keep the weld contained and the edge straight.






The upper seams weren't pretty from the factory and they won't really be seen once the truck is assembled. I welded them up and ground down the welds so that all of it would look decent once seam sealer is applied.

[mongocanfly]

Outstanding!!!....I'm jealous of your skills and how well your making that metal look....

[Ol Blue K20]

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

Outstanding!!!....I'm jealous of your skills and how well your making that metal look....

X2!! Very nice work

[theastronaut]

I''ve made a bit more progress, just haven't been posting. The hood, doors, and fenders are all stripped now. One fender is trashed too bad to fix, the other is in pretty good shape, both doors are pretty straight with the normal rust at the bottom edge, and the hood is really nice except the edge of the nose.















I also started the bodywork on the upper part of the bedsides. I'll wait to do the lower section once the bed floor is welded back in, it's too flimsy as-is.


I always block the "flat" sections first, first the top and then the side, leaving the rolled area for last. The flats need to be established first before rounding the curved area. I stopped blocking as soon as I saw epoxy showing through, continuing to block will result in low spots.






Once the flats are blocked straight I spray more guide coat on the flat areas then carefully block the curved section until it blends evenly into the flat areas. The guide coat shows how far you're blending the curve into the flats.








All work up to this point is done with 80 grit on a 3/8" thick acrylic sanding block. The acrylic has a hard surface force the sandpaper to cut the high areas down quickly and 3/8" is stiff enough to not flex. 80 grit is aggressive enough to shape the surface without leaving excessively deep scratches. Once everything is shaped with 80 grit I clean the surface well and apply more guide coat, then block it again with 180 to prep for primer. This round of blocking will show if you blended the curves into the flats evenly.








After spraying a couple coats of epoxy to seal the bodywork. You can see how straight the flats are, how crisp the edges are, and how evenly the curved areas blend into the flat areas. This will be further refined with polyester high build.

[theastronaut]

Same process with polyester primer. Flats first, more guide coat, then curves blended into the flats.









Same approach with the rear corner, except with thinner/flexible acrylic blocks.

[Ol Blue K20]

Looking good, your attention to detail is amazing. I also learn a lot keep it coming.

[mongocanfly]

looks great John..!!

[ClydeDale]

John, catch us up on this project.

[67C10Step]

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.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Looking good, your attention to detail is amazing. I also learn a lot keep it coming.

Originally Posted by mongocanfly

looks great John..!!

Thanks!!

Originally Posted by ClydeDale

John, catch us up on this project.

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.

Originally Posted by 67C10Step

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.

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

[67ChevyRedneck]

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.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

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.

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.

Pullmax dies - YouTube

[mongocanfly]

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

[MP&C]

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

[MP&C]

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

[Ol Blue K20]

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