1966 F100 Short/Fleet Full Stock Resto Build Thread

[duallyjams]

I would say I hope that the owner is aware of your attention to detail but I'm sure they already know, that's why they have you restoring there truck.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

I would say I hope that the owner is aware of your attention to detail but I'm sure they already know, that's why they have you restoring there truck.

They come by and check on it often, and we upload all of the pictures to our shop's facebook page so they can see all the details there. They've seen the '65 C10 and the '55 International, and also a buddies Jeep that I helped do the body/paint on.

[duallyjams]

Where's the link to the pics of the jeep.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

Where's the link to the pics of the jeep.

I didn't do a build thread for it, it was just a "quick paint job" doing all the bodywork/prep in my buddies garage... Spent a ton of time with a sledge hammer, 2x4s, and a porta-power getting all the inner braces in line so the outer sheetmetal could be straight. We used flattener in the clear for a matte look- most nervous I've ever been when spraying! One mistake and you let it dry, wetsand, and start over.


Here's what few pics I have of it.








http://i557.photobucket.com/albums/s...78B869C47C.jpg

[theastronaut]

I tore down the cluster after lunch and started restoring it. Need to find a speedometer or a speedo needle since the original needle is broken.
















Used florescent red paint on the needles.









Cut up translucent red sheets from Hobby Lobby to use as warning light lenses. I stacked four pieces together to make them dark enough. The outside piece that goes against the background plate was sanded with 2500 grit to knock the shine off and look more like the original dull lens.










Holding it up to the shop lights.





Test fitting the new bezel, lens, and background piece.




Prepped the gauge faces by lightly sanding to remove any roughness or oxidized paint, then cleaned them and used a tack rag to remove dust before applying the overlay.





Used a heat gun to make the vinyl stretch around the raised lettering on the gauge face, and a microfiber towel to help push the decal around the stampings.

[duallyjams]

on the cluster, nice plug on the glass shop.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

on the cluster, nice plug on the glass shop.

Thanks James! We have those notepads everywhere, had to do something with it!

[theastronaut]

Another spot on the bedside flange that needed repair. Lots of splits/cracks.




After welding/grinding.






Checking the fit of the bed corner flange.

[plainred65]

I'll bet that gauge cluster was a nice break from the bodywork. Looks great!

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by plainred65

I'll bet that gauge cluster was a nice break from the bodywork. Looks great!

That's exactly why I was working on the gauge cluster..

[theastronaut]

I finished the cluster today. Here's how the speedo decal went. Lining up the lines with the raised ridges was the first step after cleaning the face.




Working from the center out.



Keeping the edges pulled tight to keep wrinkles out.




Right side finished. Amazing how well the printed lines line up with the stamped lines, Jason got this right!






Speedo finished. Odometer cleaned, reset to zero and needle repainted.




Housing bead blasted inside and out. Outside was shot with satin clear to preserve the zinc plating, and the inside was repainted with white.








Masked out to repaint the two black areas.






Starting reassembly .




Making new bumpers for the lens edges.




Used 3M strip caulk to seal the edges of the light tubes.






Background plate and lens installed.




And finished.

[DouglasRaymond]

Perfection is not an accident. Very nice.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by DouglasRaymond

Perfection is not an accident. Very nice.

Thanks Douglas!


Friday we mounted the bed on a rotisserie to work on it easier.




The inner fenderwell was beat up pretty badly and the concave area was nearly flat.












After lots of beating with a sledge hammer, dollies, and wood blocks.




Flatter than it was, still not all the way there.






Bottom half smoothed up.




Flat bottom 1/2.





Made a new bedside flange since the old was was so beat up.








Reshaping the bed corner flange to fit the bedside flange using a shrinker/stretcher.

[theastronaut]

Tailgate ends were seam sealed with SEM epoxy sealer.




Letters were masked before spraying Slick Sand to preserve the stamping crispness.





Inside corner was blasted and shot with PPG DP epoxy.






Corner welded back on.




Floor welds ground smooth.




Checking the fit of the tailgate.

[duallyjams]

Amazing work.

[Frizzle Fry]

VERY nice work!

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

Amazing work.

Originally Posted by Frizzle Fry

VERY nice work!

Thanks dudes!

[theastronaut]

The bottom right bed corner didn't fit well at the seam against the bedside so we made cuts and re-aligned the two panels.




After cutting welding, and smoothing the welds.







The very bottom of the corner didn't fit either so we cut/reshaped it.






The rolled curve in the body line didn't match, same treatment.










Finding the dents in the left wheel tub with sandpaper and straightening them with a hammer/dolly.

[duallyjams]

Those body lines didn't look that from the factory.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

Those body lines didn't look that from the factory.

Yeah some of them were off quite a bit. The doors will be the same way.

[theastronaut]

We have the bed prepped for epoxy so we started on the doors. The top of the passenger door was pretty beat so we finally decided to cut the whole skin off to get to the damage better.





Checking the damage with a straight edge.






Skin off, more rust than expected. This would have come through in a few more years if not addressed now. We blasted the frame and welded up the pin holes.









The new emblem studs were slightly off from the original holes, and slightly larger. I stuck the emblems on and marked where the holes needed enlarging to make them fit properly.








Checking the fit of the clips.




Inside of door blasted and painted with Chassis Saver.






Door skin before straightening.





Finding the high/low spots by block sanding.





Door skin straightened above the body line.





Marking the location of the sunk in areas on the bottom skin.




Rolling on an english wheel to bring the skin up.





Sound deadener inside the door frame.




Ready to start on the driver's door next week.

[aussiejohn]

astronaut,

Great build, your work is excellent. Just a thought, now that the doors are apart it would be the right time to weld in some anti-intrusion bars, just like all modern cars. Heaven forbid that some clown would T-bone you, but they could save your life if that happened.

Regards from Down Under.

aussiejohn

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by aussiejohn

astronaut,

Great build, your work is excellent. Just a thought, now that the doors are apart it would be the right time to weld in some anti-intrusion bars, just like all modern cars. Heaven forbid that some clown would T-bone you, but they could save your life if that happened.

Regards from Down Under.

aussiejohn

Hadn't thought of that, good idea but we already have the doors tacked back together now.

[theastronaut]

Here's what we did yesterday and today. We moved the cab around to the stall we usually work out of since the doors were nearly ready for fitting.


Driver side door finished, coated with Chassis Saver and two layers of sound deadening. They don't sound like tin cans anymore!





Doors installed to check fit and rework the edges where things didn't line up.





Front edge against cowl box didn't fit the shape.





Heat shrunk to pull the edge down, then shaped with a hammer/dolly to match the shape of the cowl panel.







Back edge fit was decent already.




Bottom edge needed some straightening.




This was one of the two areas that fit terribly.




Difference between the door skin shape (red profile gauge) and the cowl edge.




Relief cuts.




Reshaped the edge, checking the shape.








Cuts welded and smoothed.




Fits flush, it looks a little off since the gaps aren't even yet.







This was the second area that fit really bad. The cab stuck out from the window frame by 3/16". Both sides were like this, tapering in towards the top.










After relief cutting the door jamb, aligning, welding, and smoothing.

[theastronaut]

We cleaned off the back of the fenders to see what the original primer color was... light gray. There was a very thin coat of Sahara Beige that would wipe off with wax and grease remover, we'll replicate this when we paint the fenders.






Mocked up the fenders to check their fit. The passenger side has a bulge at the bottom. We'll try to find another one since there are 5 long creases hiding under the paint; it's full of bondo.







The driver's fender was much better, it won't need much work to fit the door perfectly.





Didn't post this earlier, but we shot weld-thru coating on the door skin flanges.






Rust in the right rear cab corner.






Blasted, pinholes welded up, inner cavity painted with Chassis Saver. Used a long dauber to reach farther up into the cavity to get more paint in there.









Marking the door edge for cutting. I use 1/8" steel welding rods on the edges of the doors to reset the gaps.






Door edge cut back, inner/outer skins tacked together.




Nylon feeler gauge for checking the size of the gap.




Welding rod bend to fit the door edge, tacked in place.




Fully welded.




Welds smoothed. The gap is too small, but there is a full 1/8" of material to grind back without the edge splitting.