'66 F100 Custom Cab Short/Styleside Factory Correct Resto

[theastronaut]

Right side bodywork roughed in and shot with Slick Sand.










Passenger side metal shaping finished.

[MadMaxetc]

Holy crap...Laser Straight! Nice work!

[theastronaut]

Holy crap...Laser Straight! Nice work!

That's just the rough bodywork... Haven't long blocked it yet or detail sanded the seam at the back. Still need to long-block the high build, fix any high/low spots that show up, and reprime/block again. This was the easy side, the passenger side was crumpled in so it'll take more work. Then we start inside the bed, lots of time consuming detail sanding in there.

[HiBoy63]

Its fun watching you do this immaculate restore. I wont be going that deep into my 2 4wd trucks as I enjoy driving them around too much. Its just great seeing someone go this deep into the detail as I am learning a lot just watching.

[theastronaut]

Its fun watching you do this immaculate restore. I wont be going that deep into my 2 4wd trucks as I enjoy driving them around too much. Its just great seeing someone go this deep into the detail as I am learning a lot just watching.

Thanks, glad you're enjoying the build thread! I feel the same way with my own truck, I'm not even going to paint it. It'll be driven and enjoyed without having to worry about getting it dirty or where I park it. After being around a couple of trucks we've restored like this, I realized that I didn't want that much upkeep!

[theastronaut]

Mud time, my favorite part of the restoration process!!


Skimmed across the seam to get both side dead even.






Then skimmed and blocked the whole side.






Started blocking the left side.





Rodney started working the inside of the bed.

[MadMaxetc]

I am not a fan of filler inside the bed, but on a restoration I guess you have to to get it really smooth.

Nice work in any case!

[rickairmedic]

Max I would bet most of that filler is between a 32nd and a 64th of an inch thick if its that thick .


Rick

[theastronaut]

I am not a fan of filler inside the bed, but on a restoration I guess you have to to get it really smooth.

Nice work in any case!

Max I would bet most of that filler is between a 32nd and a 64th of an inch thick if its that thick .


Rick

Yeah it's not thick at all, not over 1/16" anywhere. I can spread at about a 1/16", so it's thinner than that after sanding. We check any are that needs to be skim coated with a straight edge while straightening the metal for two reasons- one to get the metal as close as possible, and two, to make sure that the filler won't be too thick. The Slick Sand won't build that thick, but even if it did we don't need that much build thickness everywhere so we use filler. The wrecked bedside was 5/16 thick and it took years before it ever cracked... the newer fillers are way better than the old stuff and we're working the metal out so it doesn't go on thick; there shouldn't ever be any problems with it later.

[theastronaut]

Some details of sanding the primer. I sand the flat areas first, then hit the edges with guidecoat so I can see how much primer I'm taking off the edge, and also how evenly I'm blocking the edge. This keeps the diameter and shape of the edge even front to back.




Roll above the edge and the flat area below sanded first.




Shot with guide coat.




Edge blocked. You can see how far the new edge shape comes over into the upper roll and lower flat panel.




Sanding/shaping the bed side seam using a 1/8" welding rod wrapped in sandpaper.






Ready to shape the lower edge of the upper bed panel.




After sanding.




Left side blocked, a couple spots touched up, seams/edges detail sanded. Ready for blocking with 180 and shot with more Slick Sand.

[theastronaut]

Masked out the right side and shot a few coats of Slick Sand.

[MadMaxetc]

So much better than factory! Again...nice job.

Thanks for the details and steps too.

[theastronaut]

So much better than factory! Again...nice job.

Thanks for the details and steps too.

Thanks, here's a "how-to" post I did on detail sanding.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/show ... p?t=592011

[JOSHF100]

Very nice work! ...But you already know that.
Question... Would you do a post on how you grind/smooth your welds? Yours look like the don't even need any skim coat of filler.
Type of tools, grits and technique. If you have a post on this already would you please provide a link?
Thanks
Randall

[theastronaut]

Very nice work! ...But you already know that.
Question... Would you do a post on how you grind/smooth your welds? Yours look like the don't even need any skim coat of filler.
Type of tools, grits and technique. If you have a post on this already would you please provide a link?
Thanks
Randall

I don't have a "how-to" post on grinding, but a guy on 67-72chevytrucks.com has a great write up that explains the process very well. It's pretty much the same technique we use. We use the 4.5" grinder with a hard stone to knock just the top of the welds down if we're working on a lot of welds, smaller areas we use a 3" cut-off wheel with 2-3 wheels stacked to cut the tops of the weld beads off. We level out the remaining weld bead with a 3" air angle grinder with a 36 grit disc, taking care to not dig into the base metal. Then finish up with a D/A sander with 60 or 80 grit to take out the grinding marks. The biggest thing with making weld seams disappear is getting both pieces of metal exactly aligned before tacking them together. If the joint is off, no amount of welding/grinding will make it look right after the weld is smoothed.


Here's Nuke1's how-to thread:

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/show ... p?t=392824

[theastronaut]

Sprayed inside the bed, the header panel, and the left bedside sprayed with Slick Sand today.


Shaped a piece of foam to fit the bed floor ridges and glued it to a jitterbug sander to prep the bed floor before primer.




Some shots of the primer. This part of the resto gets kinda repetitive...

















Some shots while it was still wet.

[Shadow]

I'm Blown Away! Looks Like This Truck Will Be About As Close To Perfect As Is Humanly Possible. How Many Hours Will You Have Into This Project By The Time Its Completed?

[theastronaut]

I'm Blown Away! Looks Like This Truck Will Be About As Close To Perfect As Is Humanly Possible. How Many Hours Will You Have Into This Project By The Time Its Completed?

Thanks, that's what we're shooting for! I'm guessing 1500-1700, we're over 500 already. Still have a ton of work ahead of us!

[rickairmedic]

I know a lot of us really appreciate the insight into what it takes to get one as straight as possible . This may very well be the cleanest straightest slick out there when you get done with it .

Rick

[bird55]

Those last shots look like they have orange peel in them? Is that just some kind of high build primer or what is going on there? I know you know what you're are doing so can you explain? Does it flow out as it cures?