TOPIC: Starting the restoration of the '66 Ford...

I'm taking a short break from the boat work... I got tired of itching from fiberglass dust

Some may recall my '66 Ford, Which I bought because it looks cool towing my boats-



I decided a while back that I wanted to do some work on her- And when I started evaluating what needed to be done, the list kept growing and growing, until I decided if I was going to do it, I might as well do it right!

A few people here expressed some interest in seeing the restoration work progress, so here goes!

The cab had issues- The floors needed to be replaced, the cab mounts were bad, and there was a lot of Bond-o in the cowls. By the time I bought all the sheet metal, and did all the welding that would be required, I was talking big bucks and long hours, so I found a 'new' cab to replace it with. It's got SOME rust issues, but nothing that can't be fixed with a little welding



After the damage was cut away... There was a little in the door pilar underneath, too- I cut that out and made up a patch..



Starting to patch it up... I'm fabricating the patch panels as I go-



Welded up and ground down-

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The floors had some issues, too. This is a good southern truck- Unlike the ones you find up in the rust belt, it rusted from the inside out...



The underside looks like it just left the factory. There were some holes, so I cut the damaged areas out



Then fabricated patch panels, and welded them in-



The cowls had a little rust in them, and the drivers side had a NAST dent that was drilled (probably in an attempt to fix it) and filled with about a pound of Bond-O. I cut the damage away-



Fabricated a patch panel (this one was a handful!)-



Welded it, and ground/sanded it down-




This side is almost done now... Luckily, the drivers side isn't quite as bad. Then I've got a TON of additional paint to remove, then I'll shoot some epoxy primer on it all, then the bond-o work begins.

-Andrew

Andrew,
Excellent work my friend, that's going to be one good looking truck when your done. Not that it wasn't to begin with but she'll be good and solid now. I'd love to be able to do that eventually but I don't think that's going to happen. Great thread, can't wait to see it finished.

Bob

Thanks... It's going to be an interesting project! I've never attempted anything like this before, do I'm learning as I go! I just got my welder last week, so I'm still learning how to use it...

My intent isn't to do a museum quality restoration- but make it a good looking and very functional truck I can USE. I'm going for a more or less original look- I even plan to add oak "farm rails" to the bed, big west coast style rear view mirrors, etc. I want it to look like it came straight off the farm. But - she's got a bit of a surprise down under the hood- a big 'ol 352 v-8 with an aftermarket intake, 4bbl carb, headers, and some old school cherry bombs- plus all that power is routed through a c-6 automatic transmission rather than the 3 on the tree she came with. It'll be a bit of a surprise when I start her up!


I also scored one of the somewhat rare bedside tool boxes that mounts under the bed- they were an option, and not a whole lot ordered, and many of them just rusted away over time. I found a NICE one, but had it shipped from Alaska of all places! It was big and heavy, I pitty my mail lady

andrew,fantastic work,i cant beleive you are learning to weld,it looks so darn great,i cant wait to see the rest of the thread.

Your doing a good looking job there. I did that kind of work in my garage for 30 years in my spare,(sparce) time. That area is prone to small sticks , leaves and in my case pine needles that hold moisture. It's not bad considering the year. Up here in Pa. we hardly ever see metal that old that good unless it had a pampered life under cover. Notice the very rare F-100 unibody.

Andrew, what kind of welder are you using and what gauge sheet metal for the patches you're making? Looks like you're doing a great job of it, and I know from experience it is not easy.

My old GMC had headers and cherrybombs. After driving that thing as long as I did, the next mufflers were NOT gonna be glass packs! They can be very annoying on a long haul, even if they sound cool.

Keep us posted on your progress. I'd love to do the same someday.

Frank

A little more done today. I'm starting to like this as much as working with fiberglass!

The floor is more or less done, I've got a bit more grinding to do on the welds. I'm not trying to get it perfect, since it's going to have a layer of POR on it, then a layer of soundproofing, then carpet- so hopefully it'll never be seen!

I tackled the cab mount today- There was some rust on the drivers side mount- It started out like this-



I cut the first layer of steel away. It was rusty underneath, but not too bad.



I cleaned it up with a wire wheel, then cut a new piece to fit. I had some heavier sheet around the shop- It's like 10 ga or so, a little heavier than what was there, but I figured a little extra strength wouldn't hurt-



The test fit- Close. The holes even lined up! I rounded the top edge a bit on my anvil to make it conform to the curve of the original mount-



Then, I tacked it, and welded it in-



And ground it down-



You'd be hard pressed to tell that a repair was ever made. I'm happy with it, anyways.

I went through a 1 lb spool of wire and 80 cu ft of Argon/CO2 gas this week! I bought another spool of wire, this time it's Lincoln brand, and it seems to work better than the generic wire that came with the welder, Smoother feeding and it seems to result it a better bead.

-Andrew

Andrew, what kind of welder are you using and what gauge sheet metal for the patches you're making?

I just bought an Eastwood MIG 135. It's a nice machine, especially for the price! It's the first time I've used a MIG with shielding gas. I love it! I had an old flux core before, without all the adjustments this one has, and it doesn't do nearly as well.

I am using 20 and 16 ga for most of this. I have been told that most of the original sheet metal on these trucks was 19 ga, and 20 was as close as I could get.

John- Thanks... I haven't been welding too long, I've found that the right machine makes a lot of difference! I'm learning as I go. I'm not entirely new to metal work, I have been a blacksmith since I was 16 years old, I was an apprentice for a number of years with a great local blacksmith, and I have continued to this day, So I've done some steel work. This is one of my pieces-



Robert- You should have seen the mess of mud, leaves and crud I pulled out of there! I also had a couple of small fires while I was cutting it, from the sparks... Part of the rebuild includes leaving large enough holes to actually DRAIN this area so the junk doesn't accumulate down there any more- The factory drainage was woefully inadequate.

-Andrew

Robert- You should have seen the mess of mud, leaves and crud I pulled out of there!

You mean that little "rinsing shower" she went through on the way home didn't clean her out completely? He he Looking great up there Andrew, keep the progress reports coming! Very cool project, as always.

Forney wire is great too. The cheaper ones work but the better ones work much better. In this case cheaper is not better.

MarkS wrote:

You mean that little "rinsing shower" she went through on the way home didn't clean her out completely?.

Hell, I pressure washed it three times- I shot jets of water right inside all the cavities, and through all the access panels, and there is STILL junk in there!! I did find some interesting items, including a couple of beer cans, tools, and miscalaneous hardware. It was kind of like an archaeological dig

A bit of a break from the cab today, I decided to fix the 'new' drivers side fender I picked up this weekend...





It's in pretty decent shape, a few small rust issues to patch, one of the worst was under the reflector, where water has been trapped by the gasket that was SUPPOSED to keep water out!



I cut out the bad areas-



Cut a patch for both of them, and welded it in.

There was a bit of rust on the top, too-



I cut that out-



Then made up a patch... This one was a little tougher, since it was curved. Good thing I'm a Blacksmith, My anvil was PERFECT for getting the curve right. After a lot of adjustments, I got a good fit-



Then, Welded it in....

There were some dings, too- This crease was the worst of them-



So, I got out the hammer and dolly and straightened it out a bit... I've done some sheet metal forming before, but not on a fender... I think I did a decent job. It might need a TOUCH of Bond-O to make it perfect-



And, The finished product, ready to prime- I think it turned out pretty decent!



I did the inside, too- I took a wire wheel to it to remove the rust. The areas I couldn't hit with the wheel got hit with the spot blaster. Then, I used a rust converter/sealer on it-



I'm not sure if I'm going to coat the sealer- I've been told it's fine as long as it's not exposed to sunlight... If the inside of my fenders are getting exposed to sunlight, I think rust is the least of my problems

-Andrew

Excellent job so far, it's looking great. Great job with the learn as you go welding. I hope to learn on my Fourney arc welder I got for free. Plan to use it on the Century trailer. the POR 15 looks good o the inside of that fender. I got Gray so it would be easier to cover with White to match the original.

Bob

Thanks...

Arc welding is a bit different- I have done a little of that, too- But it's not really for sheet metal work, it'll burn through! I use a 220v arc welder at the Blacksmiths shop I work in all the time. There is a real art to it, for sure... Something I have certainly not mastered!

I didn't actually use POR on the inside, I used a MUCH less expensive, although not as tough, rust converter... This is Rustoleum. It runs $5 or so a can, where the POR would be about $15 for the same amount. For the inside of the fenders, where there really won't be any impact to worry about, I think it'll work fine. I plan to use this stuff to coat the entire chassis before I use chassis paint, too- That way I don't have to get ALL the rust off...

-Andrew

66's are a cool truck....still have mine....bought it in 1975....have rebuilt it twice since then and it needs it again....made some electric windows from 71 merc 2door rear window regulators and found that a 1974 or 75 power steering box fit fine with a little steering columb work....ditched the 352 and went with a 429 2v and picked up 2 more mph and a ton of more power...also did the cruse from the merc....a blank slate waiting to happen...nice start....good luck john

Excellent stuff Andrew. I only plan on using the arc welder for the heavy trailer stuff. Good for the thick metal stuff, frames etc, not the sheet metal of course It was free so what the heck right.

John, yeah I have to agree Would like to find a '60 to match the boat at some point but that will be way down the road probably.

Bob

A bit more today... I worked on the cowl on the passenger side. It started out a little nasty-



I cut away all the rusty stuff-



Then rebuilt it all with new steel-



I realized when I was doing the OTHER side that I didn't really have to make it the same as it was, since a lot of this is concealed behind the fender... So I simplified it a bit. You shouldn't be able to tell once it's all put back together

I also played with the tailgate a bit. The previous owner had filled a LOT of rust holes in it with bondo- Thick layers of it. Most of the metal underneath is in pretty good shape, so I cut away the damage, and made a patch panel. This was just a trial to see how close I could match the bend, it came out pretty well!



There are two more spots like that, otherwise it's in good shape.

No more work this weekend- We're heading down to Mt. Dora!

-Andrew

Looking good Andrew, have a safe trip.

Bob

Man o man Andrew, I love seeing pics of your work. Great job, and please do keep the pics coming. Provides eduactional entertainment while I'm at my desk job...

Frank

Slow progress- I have been working on the Lake N Sea, too... And took a break to go down to Mt. Dora..

I did some work on the tailgate, finishing up the patch I cut before-



I've gotten pretty used to bending sheet metal now, and can get fairly close to whatever shape I need now. I use a home made 'brake' in my leg vise, and do the fine tuning on the edge & horn of my anvil. I can get some pretty complicated shapes that way. I cut this part out of the top of the tailgate-



some previous owner had filled it with bondo- which had cracked. One good drop of the tailgate, and it probably would have popped right out! So, I made a patch and welded it in-



I'm happy with it- It's not dead on, but you have to look VERY close to tell, and it's got to be better than the Bondo.

I will be heading off to pick up a Core support on Saturday- It took me a while to track one down, but I think I finally found one for a '66 in decent shape! It's got to be better than the swiss cheese I've got under my hood now. '66 was a SINGLE YEAR for that particular part- No other year fits- And they are VERY prone to rusting out. I was lucky to find one!

-Andrew

Congrats on the find. Your metal working skills keep getting honed the further you go. Great work, between that and the Lake and Sea, they're going to be one hell of a combination!!!

Bob

I use the 10' method. If it looks good at 10' It's good enough.

Elgindave, that was hilarious! Andgott, remember me? We were talking about the Eastwood welder 135. I think I'm going to spring for that one. I think when it comes to the Lincoln, you're paying for the name. It puts my expectations for my projects, a little sooner. Your welding is coming out great. Some of those welds you can't even tell it was welded. When I weld, I use the "MY House" method. It looks good from my house.

One thing for sure on these old Ford pick-ups it can look like swiss cheese and there is still a lot more metal than new trucks. Give me the old one.

A little bit more done today, rain kept me from doing much on the boat or trailer.

I finished up the tailgate- There were a few more chunks to cut out and replace-





Looks a lot better now- Of course it's not perfect, but close enough for me-





All that's really left on the tailgate is some final paint removal from corners, a little sanding, and then epoxy primer.

I also finished up the cab roof-



I had a small area that had rusted through. It's amazing how spotty the rust is up there- MOST of it is fairly solid, but there are some areas here and there that are (or WERE) bad...



Whenever I cut a big hole like that, especially like the ones in the tailgate, I dig around a bit to see how bad the rust is inside. I also coat everything that I can get to with rust reformer- Hopefully it'll stop the corrosion from continuing on the insides, or at least slow it a bit!


-Andrew

elgindave wrote:

I use the 10' method. If it looks good at 10' It's good enough.

I have a LOT of 10 footers around

I figure that if it's going by you at 25 MPH, You can't see the finer points anyways! I'm not doing this for show, I'm doing it to USE it... If I do too good of a job, I won't ever want to drive it anywhere, I'll be afraid that I might break something

-Andrew

CraigLam wrote:

Andgott, remember me? We were talking about the Eastwood welder 135. I think I'm going to spring for that one.

I think you'll be perfectly happy with it, and save some cash too... You can get the welder, a cart, and a bottle of shielding gas and still spend less than you would for just the Lincoln welder. They actually show it in use side by side with the lincoln on their web page, and the weld is virtually identical.

A little more work here today- I had other projects going, so things are kind of slow.

I FINALLY located a 'new' radiator core support. My old one was basically swiss cheese. The core support for the 1966 is unique to that year. They are also one of the first things to rust out- The battery tray is mounted to them, so they occasionally get a 'bath' in battery acid, and they are right up in the front. So, they are a RARE part to find in good shape, and even rarer to find at an affordable price. It was worth the almost three hour one-way drive to get it!

After some Aircraft remover and pressure washing, it cleaned up pretty well-



I'm going to weld a few patches on the bottom, Then seal it all off, prime and paint.

I think I'm going to use POR, although I plan to remove a lot off the rust and there won't be a lot of "R" to "PO", it should bond well with the clean metal, and be pretty tough, so it resists future rusting...

I also 'scored' a working 1966 Ford factory radio, too! Well, It works NOW... When I got it, not so much. Took a little cleaning and tinkering, but it's making noise now.

-Andrew

Excellent, congrats on the radiator and radio score. I know they have the new/old radios but I do love the originals, much more authentic

Bob

A bit more work complete... I'm trying to balance out the work on my Lake N Sea restoration and this project. I've got a lot to get done this month- I'll be starting a new job and won't have as much time!

I got the bottom of the cab done- All the welding work is finished, it's primed, and I put a coat of undercoating on it-



I used an industrial self etching primer on the bottom- This is the same stuff I use on boat trailers if I've got them down to bare metal. It really stands up to abuse! I'll use an epoxy primer on anything that will be 'seen', but on the bottom I wanted toughness over looks. It's also a little easier than the epoxy is to work with.

Then, I cut the damaged areas out of the core support, made up some repair pieces, and welded them in place-





The damage was pretty limited, really only in two small spots. Then, I gave it all a good coat of POR-



It's the first time I've used that stuff- I like it. It went on pretty easily, covered well. I'll probably overcoat it with some black paint, though I suppose that I don't really HAVE to.

It hid the repairs pretty well-



If I'd have ground the weld bead down, you would be hard pressed to tell that there was a repair. But- You'd really have to be digging deep to see that area anyway, and I'm not building a show piece here, just a driver.

I also flipped the cab back up, and started to repair the corners. I was going to cut them out completely and use 'donor' corners from my other cab, but once I got looking at them, they weren't as bad as I had thought, so I made a patch panel... The passenger side is a little worse, So I might replace that-



-Andrew

Excellent progress Andrew! That POR is suppose to be good stuff, haven't gotten to the point to use mine yet. It isn't UV proof though, should be ok in areas out of the sun so you should be good to go. I'm top coating mine on the trailer.

Bob

Work continues slowly... I'm working on the Lake N sea and several household projects at the same time. It also doesn't help that some jerk in my neighborhood called the sheriff on me yesterday, and told them that I was making too much noise, and keeping them awake. It was 9:30 am- I always wait 'till at least 9 to start grinding for that very reason- Not because I have to, but because I am a nice guy. The deputy just stopped by, told me that there had been a complaint, and then told me that I could keep working if I wanted to since I was breaking no laws... Then, he saw the Lake N Sea sitting in the garage, and commented on her. He stayed and talked about vintage boats and trucks for about 10 minutes, until he got another call

I needed the cab corners from my old cab to finish up the 'new' cab, so it was time to pull off the bed. I had to cut the heads off the bolts in the bed, since they were pretty rusty. I managed to cut all 6 with very minimal colateral damage to the bed floor, Though I'll be doing a LOT of work on the bed so a little damage here and there isn't going to hurt much



Then, after finally getting the last two bolts out of the frame, back by the bumper (luckily they weren't rusted nearly as badly!), I lifted the bed off-



That gantry is the BEST $100.00 I've ever spent on a tool, for sure. It made the job super easy, even with only one person. Between the boats and the truck, I use it all the time!

Then, I set the bed down on a wheeled base-



The base was actually built for the Lake N sea- It held the hull while I rebuilt it. I built it so it would hold the bed, too- It makes it a lot easier to be able to wheel it around where I need it!

She looks a little different with a naked rear end!-



It is also going to be SO much easier to do the brakes, suspension, etc without having to crawl under this thing...

There was plenty of junk inside when I went to cut the corner off- Luckily, the brake fluid container was EMPTY. And, the whole 12 pack of bottle rockets was too wet to go off... That would have been a HELL of a surprise!

Oh- No one called the Sheriff on me today, So I guess it was a good day (so far!)

-Andrew

I was playing with photoshop the other day, when I was trying to be quiet so as to not offend the neighbors. I found some photos online of a few different trucks I liked, and combined them to end up with the look I am going for. I used the base color from one truck, along with the bed rails, and then edited in the Two-Tone, and the 'factory' wheels that I've already got. The color wasn't my first choice- But it was my Wifes first choice- Got to keep her happy



I kind of want that old farm truck look- I think this pulls it off nicely

Good looking paint scheme, wood rails reinforce the farm truck look... Wooden bed floor?

You'll have to get WOG to let you tow & launch the BF for him at least once!

Good progress on the Effie Andrew, sorry to hear about the neighbor. Sounds like we need to order a set of Cherry Bomb glass packs for her when she's done! (JK, of course.)

I like that photo shop rendition, looks very nice.

MarkS wrote:

Sounds like we need to order a set of Cherry Bomb glass packs for her when she's done!

She's already got 'em

Mark's right and glad she already has them!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Love the color scheme and rails.

Bob

Excellent choice for the truck. She sure is going to look good towing the boat!