F word project stands in the way.

[EVBuilder]

This is a build thread like many others. The differences are 1, Its a Ford. 2, Not trying to showcase the build as much as show what I have done/doing. for advice on doing it better when the 1963 build starts. This is my first attempt at body work on my own and any advice is more than welcome.

[EVBuilder]

So above is the truck as it was when I bought it. I am building to be a daily driver for my daughter. It is all stock with the exception of wheels and tires. The wheels are from a Ford Explorer. The tires are 31 10.50's.

[EVBuilder]

The first thing I did was remove the engine and get it clean and painted. I also cleaned the firewall and inner fenders and painted them. This truck came from the factory with air but most of had been hack out so I took the non-air parts from a donor and converted it to a non-air truck including dash controls. Also here in Ontario all emissions devises have to installed and working to pass safety so I added the A.I.R. pump back in and re plumbed it.

[EVBuilder]

My daughter and I both wanted it to be somewhat custom so I asked her to pick the colors it was to be painted. I held my breath as she looked through the chip book. She chose a two tone Black over all with a highlight of Big Bad Blue. I was relieved it wasn't pink or something. Anyway the engine was painted body color

[EVBuilder]

Another thing I did early on was checker boarded the grill with new colors. I thought it would look cool and different.

[EVBuilder]

So then it was time to move the project indoors and start working on the rust repair and mods I wanted to make. I had no idea what I had gotten myself into until the paint started coming of and closer inspections began. So here is a quick view of some of the worst spots. There were many more and there are more pictures coming to show individual repairs.

[EVBuilder]

So here are some pictures of that rear body cross-member that needed replacing. The last picture shows the finished repair. It isn't perfect but like I said in the beginning of this thread it will be a driver not a show car.

[EVBuilder]

This truck came from the factory with a swing out spare tire hanger on the back but it was missing when I bought it. I never liked them anyway so I decided to eliminate it.

[EVBuilder]

Lower fender lips are the first to go on any car here in the rust belt and this one was no exception so here is a before and after on one of them. For some reason I don't have an after picture on file so I uploaded the after picture from the other side. Both repairs were nearly the same.

[EVBuilder]

Body mounts are also a problem in our climate so here are some pictures of the repair process on the one under the left floor foot well.

[EVBuilder]

Here are more from that same repair.

[EVBuilder]

After these repairs I used 3M body sealer, Eastwood rust encapsilator and finally Box liner paint. to seal the area and hopefully prevent having to do it again for a long time.

[EVBuilder]

While I was working on the tailgate I discovered the handle to open it was bad and the latches were in need of help. Being those handles are hard to find around here as these things get crushed as soon as they hit a salvage yard I decided to go power. Here is the remote keyless kit I bought and some power lock motors from an Astro van to shave the rear gate handle. Then I thought with the remote having so many channels why not shave all the handles so I did here are some shots of that process too.

[EVBuilder]

Here is the welder I use for everything from body work to building my welding bench which is 1/2" plate steel and 1/4" wall 2" tube legs.

[EVBuilder]

You can just see a little bit of the bench on the left of the welder. On the right is a Matco plasma cutter. Which also comes in handy.

[McC_65_91]

looking good, i always loved broncos... almost got one before i decided in my 65 gmc

[EVBuilder]

Thanks for the encouragement. It's been a long slow process trying to get this thing straight and clean.

[wild one]

Nice work, I too have always liked these older small fords. I sold my 1986 Ranger XLT 4x4 shortly after buying my 1966 panel - no need for two trucks at the time. Good luck on the project and make sure to keep your daughter as involved as possible, she will appreciate the truck so much more if she has a part in the rebuild!

[EVBuilder]

She was in charge of scrubbing undercoating from door jams with Super Clean and a tooth brush. I am going to spray the whole truck with highbuild epoxy primer. when it comes time to block she is going to learn all about it.

[EVBuilder]

While the truck is in bare metal and the theme seems to be sleek and clean with no door handles. I am look for suggestions for mirrors. Do I stay with the bulky ones it came with or find something else? Attach links and photos of you ideas. Also thinking of doing some custom touches to the bumpers. like shortening them to better fit the body and plug welding the bolt holes shut. Only thing is cant afford to re-chrome them. So what do you think of body color bumpers? I am going to paint all the flat black window moldings in gloss black to better blend with the body.

[OARNGESI]

Nice build painted bumpers look good. Have you thought about a rear roll pan? And for mirrors i vote peeps

[EVBuilder]

what are peeps? I have thought of a roll pan but it will be driven by a rookie teenager. I was trying to avoid as much repair work as I can.

[OARNGESI]

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/MIRRO...Q5fAccessories HERE YOU GOOD YOUR PROBALLY RIGHT ON THE BUMPERS

[NONHOG]

This will be fun to watch ! I have welder envy

[EVBuilder]

OARNGESI: Those mirrors would look cool on there. I was looking for something that would have a long enough stem to be able to see with and these seem to be perfect in that respect. I personally love the flames too. I will have to see what my daughter thinks.

NONHOG: I had welder envy for years. My dad had a Lincoln Squarewave TIG 400 that I would have killed for.