'66 F100 Custom Cab Short/Styleside Factory Correct Resto

[jamesdfo]

The seller you are looking for is STILWELLSOBSOLETE, I remember seeing that same box side listed before, which is actually when I saved them to my savedsellers list:)
Even if it's not currently listed you could still contact them to see if it is still in inventory.....

http://www.ebay.com/sch/stilwellsobsole ... ksid=p3686

James

Keep looking. The one I saw was definatly a right side short box NOS body part. It was in ruddy brown or red oxide primer and had the part number in yellow stamped on it. I think 800 was the buy it now price. It comes and goes I have seen it probably 4 times in the last year. The seller has a ton of all kinds of NOS parts for everything.

[theastronaut]

I cut out and replaced the exact same section of bed floor in mine towards the front of the bed. Up and down and up and down with the welds over those ribs.

Welding wasn't bad... grinding them is going to be the fun part!

That is some very nice work there buddy!

Thanks!

I marvel at your bodywork skills... Nice job!

Thank you!

The seller you are looking for is STILWELLSOBSOLETE, I remember seeing that same box side listed before, which is actually when I saved them to my savedsellers list:)
Even if it's not currently listed you could still contact them to see if it is still in inventory.....

http://www.ebay.com/sch/stilwellsobsole ... ksid=p3686

James

Thanks James, I just have sent a message to the seller to see if they still have it! Fingers crossed...

[theastronaut]

Just heard back from them, the NOS bed side is gone.

[skidoorulz]

What? No progress today

[theastronaut]

What? No progress today

Caught us slacking! We worked on it yesterday, just didn't post. Uploading pics to photobucket now

[theastronaut]

Monday's progress. We finished welding the bed floor and header panel flange back in, and started grinding the welds.








Header bottom flange ready for welding.





Before welding the header flange on, we slipped a sheet of .060" aluminum between the bed floor and header panel to keep an even gap all the way across. This kept the weld from blowing through on the back side of the header flange, and will allow enough room for seam sealer later on.





Header flange after welding and grinding.




Tailgate bodyworked and shot with Slick Sand. I masked off the center section to preserve the spot welds, and also the details of the letters. Slick Sand is too thick for those areas. We'll mask off the letters themselves and shoot normal high build on that area.

[theastronaut]

I worked on the right bedside today while Rodney blocked out the tailgate and fixed any high/low areas that showed up.

This is the bedside after working with it for awhile using a porta-power, various hammers/dollies, and a shrinking disc. It's still popping in and out, but it stays out and has the overall shape back. With some more time we'll have it ready to shoot epoxy and skim coat it. Using a straight edge during the metal shaping helps find the major high/low areas. One the overall shape is there, I'll switch to using a long sanding block to find the high/low spots.






The seam at the bed corner and bed side was really badly repaired... they didn't even fix the inner spot welds that had broken loose! The only thing holding the bedside to the corner was the brazing in the seam. Once that was cut through the two panels came apart easily.








This pic doesn't show it well but the two panels weren't flush with each other.




Flange removed, this shows the busted spot welds.




These two show how much the bedside could move.






Straightened and blasted the corner flange. This is test fitting it to check the shape against the bed side.




After reshaping the flange with a shrinker/stretcher.

[skidoorulz]

Just out of curiosity what is your shop rate for this kind of work? Body work and paint?

[theastronaut]

Just out of curiosity what is your shop rate for this kind of work? Body work and paint?

We're currently at $50/hour, and we really need to go up to match the other local shop's prices. Everyone else around here is at $60-65.

[theastronaut]

Just received an early test sheet of gauge overlay decals from Jason at Greenback Decal. They'll be available soon if you're interested in buying a set. I've used them on a few C10 clusters in the past and they are great for making the whole cluster look brand new! I'll pull the cluster out of storage and go through it this week or next.

[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.

[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.

[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.

[kstones63]

Sweet. That really looks good.

Kevin

[Greg D]

OK guys,
got me on the wheels.
Oh well - what do you expect from a straight axle guy, lol?

I see you started repair on the rear bed section.
I have an 8' bed here I am cutting up.
Another member needs from the center wheel arch forward - the back half of the right side is straight if you'd have wanted to cut & paste instead.
Looks like I should have checked back in on your thread sooner.
I am cutting my frame and putting on a short bed - I only need the floor.
That gauge cluster probably didn't look that good new!
I seriously admire your solutions to some of the problems encountered - I've made a few of my own panels too.
I rarely restore but do hotrod/custom stuff though.
Gotta love the 3M strip caulk!

[theastronaut]

Sweet. That really looks good.

Kevin

Thanks Kevin!

OK guys,
got me on the wheels.
Oh well - what do you expect from a straight axle guy, lol?

I see you started repair on the rear bed section.
I have an 8' bed here I am cutting up.
Another member needs from the center wheel arch forward - the back half of the right side is straight if you'd have wanted to cut & paste instead.
Looks like I should have checked back in on your thread sooner.
I am cutting my frame and putting on a short bed - I only need the floor.
That gauge cluster probably didn't look that good new!
I seriously admire your solutions to some of the problems encountered - I've made a few of my own panels too.
I rarely restore but do hotrod/custom stuff though.
Gotta love the 3M strip caulk!

Appreciate that! We have the right bedside back 90% straight already, just need to get some of the smaller high/low spots out, didn't need to replace it after all.

[theastronaut]

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.

[FORDMANLCRACKEL]

Really great work man, and I have a question for ya. When ya turn off the lights, lock the door and head to the house. Do ya keep the project on your mind all the time till its finished? (like I do) Or can ya leave it in the shop till the next day?

Lonnie

[theastronaut]

Thanks Lonnie, I've got my own projects on my mind after work! I'm building a resto-mod/pro-touring '66 C10 for myself, and I have a '64 VW Bug that's my daily driver. I'm currently building a set of widened smoothies for the VW so those have been getting my after-work attention lately.




LS/T56 six speed for the C10.