All Done

Here is the bed
Before:and after bolting in the wood.

Took the week off

I took the week off, and played with my Jeep instead of working on the Truck.
Just FYI, You really need to get EVERY BIT of rust off of your old vehicle! Most people just slap some bondo on top of the rust, and then sell the car! This type of repair will only last one or two years tops, while rust builds up and gets worse under the bondo. It is VERY difficult to remove rusty metal, weld in new metal, and sand off every bit of rust. But if you love your old truck, and plan on kepping it for a while, it will last 10 or 15 years instead of 1 or 2 years.


DON'T SAND YOUR FINGERS OFF WITH
THIS THING! IT HURTS!

Almost Done

Putting it back together.
I made a crane by stringing a rope up in the tree, tying it to a comealong, and rigging a 4 point on each corner of the bed. I picked up the bed with it so I could set it on the frame without scratching it.Here's A little walk around. All I need to do, is the exhaust and the rest of the wood in the bed!

Found Secret RUST!

Gotta love the neat things you find with a project like this!


There are places inside the doors, that were never painted at the factory. Needless to say, they have a nice thick coating of surface RUST! Ow. So, I been sanding (by hand, no tool will fit in these doors) and treating this rust for days!I have also been working on the window regulator for the drivers side. I guessed it would be much easier to purchase a new regulator from LMC truck, than to fashion a new gear. While I was there, I got matching ignition and door locks and some new knobs.
Another $230 - this truck is getting expensive!
The triangle windows latches were broken. Not reparable.

Lucky for me, I had two spare windows in my shed! I fixed em up good, and sanded off all the rust, and primed them. They are all ready for a nice color coat. Should I use white, black, or blue? Hmmmmm.Man, I am almost ready to put this truck back together. This thing is going to last 10 more years easy!

WARNING! do not spray paint in your eyes! It hurts! BAD!

Started the Doors

Oh man, I started on the doors, and only now realized that every single piece of rubber and felt is completely degraded. These things are important to a door. The windows rattle, the triangle windows won't shut etc...
So, I ordered all new rubber and window "anti-rattle" kits from LMC Truck. $435 dollars worth of crap. I am waiting for this stuff to arrive, before I can get back to work on the doors.
I didn't order the electric window kit, or the electric locks, and keyless remote. That would just be wrong, on an old truck like this :)
WARNING! DO NOT put your knuckles in front of the knife you are using to scrape off the old rubber!

More Body work

Get rid of that padded dashboard! Your cheap ass padded dash is all cracked and ruined after 40 years. It is nothing more than some foam rubber covered with cheap naugahyde glued on with some kind of contact cement.Underneath is some beautiful METAL! And the whole reason we love old trucks, is because they are made of real, thick, METAL! Sand it off, prime it, and then take a break and go have a beer and play with a Chihuahua for a bit. You might even have time to dress up the Chihuahua and make fun of it, because it takes about 30 minutes to an hour for the primer to dry well enough for sanding.

Now Cut out more rusty metal and weld in more good new metal, and bondo and Primer!Now go hang out with a witch for a bit, and make your Wife play with the dog, while you wait for the bondo and primer to dry!
WARNING! DO NOT sand the skin off of your fingers accidentally with the orbital sander. IT IS PAINFUL!

Body Work - the CAB

So now we are ready to get started on the cab. These old Ford Trucks always rust in the same spots. Above the doors and the floor boards. It seems like any place where two pieces of metal touch, you get rust.
The first thing to do, is take out the seat and put it in the back of your 52 Chevy Suburban: Don't have a 52 Chevy Suburban? You can get one from your friend Kevin. Here is a picture of me and my fellow BBQ Militia members, Skinny, James and Kevin: (the one with the air soft AK)
Take off the doors and put them next to your old motorcycle: Then take off the vents, rear view mirror, glove box door, the door hinges (because you need to stick your hands through the holes where the hinges go, and sand and paint some rust back there) take off the dash, and put all these parts aside for separate cleaning, sanding and painting.
Then start grinding away. I use the sandpaper disks mostly, but when I need to get aggressive, I use a cut off wheel. Grind away, and sand away all the rust. Cut out the rusty metal and make pieces of new metal to weld into the holes. Weld the new metal in. You don't have to be an expert welder. You can either be good with a welder, or good with a grinder, either one. Don't let the red hot metal sparks and drops of molten steel fall into your shoes. It will burn your feet! Grind off the pooky from your pathetic welds, and then use bondo on the seams to finish out the repair of each hole:Smooth out the bondo while it is still wet. It dries REALLY quickly, so you have to work fast with the bondo. It is better to put too much bondo, because you can always sand it down.

Next Week, We paint the cab!