1966 F100 Short/Fleet Full Stock Resto Build Thread

[CC69Rat]

Just checking in with you man. The truck is turning out fantastic. Your work ethic is unreal and seriously, youre one of the best I have ever seen. Check out my 69 (68.5) and if you'd want to paint it this spring I'd be interested to talk to you.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by BlueJeep

Looks fantastic as always.

Do you spray all of those little parts with a gun or with a spray can?

Thanks!! We use both, just depends on the part.

Originally Posted by CC69Rat

Just checking in with you man. The truck is turning out fantastic. Your work ethic is unreal and seriously, youre one of the best I have ever seen. Check out my 69 (68.5) and if you'd want to paint it this spring I'd be interested to talk to you.

Thanks Chad! We couldn't get to it that soon, have a couple jobs on the books after the International and F100 leaves. Not sure if you'd want to wait that long.

[theastronaut]

We finished the radiator support. Shot it with epoxy, bodyworked it, then shot high build over it, wetsanded with 220/500 and sprayed it with flattened single stage.

High build:






And painted.








Picked up some Argent paint from the local Ford dealership for the rear view mirror and sunvisor parts.




Wating on a couple parts to come in the mail so we can assemble the column.




Had a machine shop resurface the bearing area on the steering shaft.




They also rebushed the pedal pivots.




Blasted/painted the pedals and return spring.






Blasted/painted the tank mounts, and dipped the edge in Plasti-dip like the factory did.




Backside of tank painted silver.




Heater cables and bezels cleaned and polished.




Heater cable bracket blasted and painted.

[duallyjams]

A true ground up is a lot of work, even more when every little spec is perfect.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by duallyjams

A true ground up is a lot of work, even more when every little spec is perfect.

No kidding! I haven't added up the hours lately, we're into it atleast 1500 hours by now.

[theastronaut]

Few more updates.

Started cleaning up some of the wiring. We found new or NOS harnesses other than the tank and done light wires. We lightly glass beaded those and treated them with Duragloss






Front side of tank painted Sahara Beige.




Correct overspray on sides of tank.




Filler neck blasted, primed, and painted.




Found a NOS inside mirror but had to repaint it.






Mirror arms painted to match.




Fitting the dash pad.




Pedals and column assemblies installed.




Master cylinder, brake line, emergency brake cable, and clutch linkage installed.




Choke parts detailed.




Brake line clip repainted the correct green color.




Heater box lightly glass bead blasted and sprayed with satin clear.

[67ChevyRedneck]

What museum is this truck going to when it's finished?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

What museum is this truck going to when it's finished?

That would be nice! The owner has been talking about possibly building a garage just for the truck, along with his restored '55 Chevy and 600hp+ new Camaro Convertible.

[theastronaut]

We had to roll the truck out of the shop and didn't want to get the tires dirty so we wrapped them in cling wrap.





Marking all of the headliner screw locations to make installation easier.




Dome light wire duct taped to the roof to prevent rattles.




Gas tank installed and plumbed/wired.




Resprayed the dash pieces since they didn't come out good enough the first time (too glossy).







Dash pad glued in place, edges trimmed.




Installing the wiring harness.




Painted the kick panel vents.




Not bad for rattle can! Been really impressed so far when using Rustoleum for small interior pieces. This was a satin paint so it'll dry duller.





Inner fenders and radiator support installed.




NOS headlight harness before detailing. Has a "dry" look and dust all over it.




After detailing and installing, matches the sheen/color of the reproduction harness now.




We cleaned and reused the original harness tags on the reproduction harnesses.






Correct reproduction washer pump installed.




Heater and kick panel vents installed.






Was able to track down matching NOS Heat/Temp knobs for the heater control panel.




We originally thought that the area under the back window was covered by a headliner panel so we didn't prep or paint the area to save time. No need painting it if it isn't seen right? Well, that wasn't the case so we had to mask out the whole truck, wetsand the area, and shoot it since it would show.




Front fenders prepped and painted along with the header panel.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by theastronaut

Dome light wire duct taped to the roof to prevent rattles.

I actually have a chance to inject an opinion on such a gorgeous well built truck! I would peel off the duct tape and use aluminum foil tape (stuff used for duct work, it will never come off.) In a few years duct tape will become dried out and brittle from the heat, The aluminum stuff will be just as it was when installed.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

I actually have a chance to inject an opinion on such a gorgeous well built truck! I would peel off the duct tape and use aluminum foil tape (stuff used for duct work, it will never come off.) In a few years duct tape will become dried out and brittle from the heat, The aluminum stuff will be just as it was when installed.

Good call! I checked the tape today after you mentioned that and it's already starting to peel away from the Lizard Skin... might be the LS but I'll definitely try the aluminum tape since regular duct tape isn't working.

[theastronaut]

Had a piece of GM heater hose left over from the El Camino resto job so I stuck it in place, then posted on a couple Ford truck forums that we found "period correct heater hose". Of course we'll switch it out, but it's always nice to poke fun at the uptight Ford-forum guys...

[theastronaut]

Repro windshield washer bag installed.




Wire clips installed.




Found a pair of nice original defrost hoses (these aren't reproduced) and cleaned them up.








Glove box liner and ash tray installed.




Fenders wetsanded and buffed, stuck back on the truck temporarily.

[Low Elco]

Wow, this is nice. This guy better REALLY love this truck. What's your hourly rate?

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Wow, this is nice. This guy better REALLY love this truck. What's your hourly rate?

It was his grandfather's truck, so there's sentimental attachment to it. Currently at $50 an hour but we'll have to go up on the next one to cover overhead better.

[theastronaut]

Glove box painted.




Inside door panels painted.




Doors after wetsanding and buffing.






Door and fender installed and aligned. Check how the reflection carries over evenly from one panel to the next; that's why we went through the trouble of making all the panels fit during the bodywork stage.








Hood latch was blasted, soaked in degreaser, and worked back and forth while submerged in cleaner to work out all of the old grease and grit. This makes the latches/hinges work much smoother.






Same treatment for the door latches.






Front pieces starting to go together. The park light buckets were painted with fake chrome paint inside for better reflectivity.




Lenses were hazy so we buffed them.




Gauge cluster installed, and checked the wiring. Also installed the dash speaker to see if the radio worked.










Started installing the headliner.

[Ol Blue K20]

Absolutely beautiful so far

[Low Elco]

Wow, really nice.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Absolutely beautiful so far

Originally Posted by Low Elco

Wow, really nice.

Thanks dudes!!

[theastronaut]

A few updates. Been catching up on things like flasher relays (switched to the newer electronic relays for a more steady flash), crated and shipped out all of the aluminum trim for straightening/polishing/anodizing, and delivered the chrome and stainless to C.N.C Plating in Greenwood SC. Also dropped off the seat frame to be blasted and powdercoated, and picked up the manganese phosphate solution to coat the hood hinges and latch parts.


Hood shot with base colors. We used hooks in the ceiling and ratchet straps to suspend the hood, this way the fresh paint isn't laying on anything so there's no chance of the paint imprinting.







Inside painted, started wetsanding with 1000 grit.




Fender bolt covers installed.




Ash tray and glove box door alignment.





Radio face back from the chrome shop, decal applied to the old face plate, lens polished, and reassembled back on the truck.




Sunvisors and mirror installed.






Window regulators soaked in solvent, all old grease and grit flushed out, cleaned and packed with fresh grease. We bag them to keep dust/grit out until they're ready to install.




Manganese phosphate solution from Palmetto Enterprises.




Setting up to coat the hood hinges and latch parts, the solution has to be 190-200 degrees.




After coating the hood catch loop.




Hinges, latch pieces treated. Soaking in dish detergent overnight to take off the oil coating, then we shoot a thin coat of flat clear over them tomorrow to even out the color.

[Ol Blue K20]

Would love for you to explain the process for the coating.

[theastronaut]

Originally Posted by Ol Blue K20

Would love for you to explain the process for the coating.

We bought the concentrate from Palmetto Enterprises and followed their instruction sheet. Heat the water first, then add the concentrate once it's up to 190-200. Keep the water at that temp while the parts are dipped. It takes about 10 minutes for the parts to darken all the way. Then spray the parts with oil/WD-40 AS SOON AS the parts are removed, or else the mineral salts will dry on the surface (can't clean them off later). Spray/wipe until the parts are clean. That's all the instructions said to do, but we went another step farther and cleaned the parts in soapy water to remove the oil and shot them with a couple thin coats of flat clear. We soaked them overnight last night, and they were starting to rust this morning, so we had to blast them and start over. Just wash/dry them and shoot clear as soon as they're dry.


Parts glass bead blasted before coating.




Hinges in the solution.




Oiled/cleaning.




After cleaning with dish detergent and spraying with flat clear.

[NONHOG]

I have to go back and look at the first page now and then.
Just beautiful!

[60-66]

Excellent details. theastronaut, what plating? are you using on the bolts. Looks like silver cad ?

[Ol Blue K20]

Thanks for explaining the process, I think I'll try it. It looks great