My new Project

[bucks77ford]

If I had a garage, my truck wouldn't be Orange.....
I agree, nice garage to work in

It does beat trying to work outside and it is heated

You are making good progress!

Thanks Duncan. I was trying to get to a point of primer before it gets too cold so I wouldn't have to run the heat much, but I think I will miss that window.

Buck..Just tell the wife "priorities take presidence over the van...and yes dear ill clean the snow off your windows"....hehe

Ya, that's a must. Keep the van clean of snow.

A little more progress. I got the drivers corner cut out and replacement fitted. It took some hammering on the door jam side and I'll have to tack weld starting with the front and working my way toward the rear to get the rear to fit where it should be. Not too bad though. It's amazing on how much crap came out after cutting the corners. Alot of dirt, rust and even a couple of petrified baby mice. The metal on the passenger side looks pretty good. There is quite a bit of surface rust on the inside and on the very bottom on the outside. Seems solid, but I think I'm going to cut a section out below the body line and just replace it with new. I have to imagine that it won't be long before it rusts out, especially on the very bottom where crap sits. So for a piece of mind, I'll replace the small section. No need to cut more original metal than needed.

 

[me thumper]

cool!
awsome!
wow!

 

[fatherdoug]

Kinda wish I had a bigger garage. I've got the damn thing crowded. My wife hates it because her van has to sit outside.

The color behind the cab STILL really pops.. I had a '79 with the same colors, but the reverse scheme, and the colors were cinnamon and cream. I like those colors.

The gas tank looks really good too, unless you've cleaned it up?

 

[bucks77ford]

The color behind the cab STILL really pops.. I had a '79 with the same colors, but the reverse scheme, and the colors were cinnamon and cream. I like those colors.

The gas tank looks really good too, unless you've cleaned it up?

I've only just washed everything. Ya, the paint behind the cab on the front of the bed really looks good. I'd hate to even scuff it and repaint it. The color scheme is growing on me and have thought about keeping it. My wife hates it and I have heard from many others that they think it looks like a big brown yellow turd. IDK, I think it's classic 70s, but probably will change the color to a light tan or beige.

 

[fatherdoug]

I've only just washed everything. Ya, the paint behind the cab on the front of the bed really looks good. I'd hate to even scuff it and repaint it. The color scheme is growing on me and have thought about keeping it. My wife hates it and I have heard from many others that they think it looks like a big brown yellow turd. IDK, I think it's classic 70s, but probably will change the color to a light tan or beige.

Yes, but it's YOUR big brown yellow turd. My coworkers used to ask me who threw up on my truck..... They didn't care for it either.

I NEVER thought I would buy a black vehicle, but all the notions about being too hot, etc, etc, just disappeared when this black truck showed up in our driveway one day.

 

[Beach66Bum]

Great pic's Buck, I liked seeing the new cab corner in place! Your work looks very good, nice and clean cuts, awesome! I like the paint colors,

 

[bucks77ford]

Well, I figured I throw some left over chassis saver paint on the frame while I had the bed off which I'm working on now, but I did manage to get my drivers side cab corner tacked in place. I wasn't too happy with how it fit, but I managed to do some hammering and get it bent around the back. The panel just seemed like it was too long and didn't want to bend around the back very well, but the good thing is it's the rear of the corner and shouldn't even notice any flaws. The rest wasn't too bad. The body line did seem like it's a bit sharper on the repair panel than the original metal so it was a little difficult to make sure I had the panel in the right spot or at least close enough.

I did also manage to get the auxillary tank dropped and it's in really good shape. There is some old fuel in it so I'll see if any rust comes out when I get it dumped.

 

[BuzzGun79]

You did well Buck!! looks pretty darn close...Keep in mind replacement panels often differ slightly from originals,i dont care what brand you go with they vary.Basically you have to improvise and fit them the best you can..once the filler work is done & under primer/paint,only you will know the difference...others wont even notice it...

 

[bucks77ford]

Got the drivers cab corner pretty much welded up. Now for the fun part of grinding and then seeing where I need to fill in with weld. Killing some time to let metal cool, I started on the passenger side. I initially was going to just repair the rear of the cab corner and go, but decided to cut out a section and see what it was like. Good thing I did because after grinding down to bare metal, I could stick a screwdriver through no problem in some spots. You would have never knew by looking and it would have been very tough to see with the corner still on the truck. Rust is evil.

You can see where I stuck a phillips head screwdriver right through on the very bottom. Rest of the panel was in pretty good shape, but it doesn't take much and that panel would have been rusted through more in no time. I cut below the body line because I didn't need to cut much out. The rest of the metal is really good. It may be tricky welding that in because of the angle, but the metal is straight there and the body work might be easier. I'm just not going to cut out any more original metal than I have too.

 

[DNFXDLI]

Nice work Buck.

 

[bucks77ford]

Haven't had much time lately, but have managed to get the passenger side cab corner in place. I was going to cut more out and use a larger area of the cab corner to make it easy, but decided I'd just try and cut out what I needed and go from there. The seam is on an angle so welding is a bit trickier, but that way I didn't have to worry about getting the body line in the right spot. May or may not be the right way to do it, but it is what it is.

 

[bucks77ford]

A little update; some body filler on the cab corners and started to sand down the bed.

The original paint is a solid base, so I sanded with some 80 grit on most of it while taking the very bottom down to metal since there was some surface rust. I'll go over the rest with some 180 grit I suppose and then when I get that done, I go ahead and put some expoxy primer on it. I also started to weld in some holes on the top bed rails. I wasn't going to, but figured I would. The inside and top rails will be rhino lined eventually.

I also had to repair a rust hole on the the drivers corner of the front bed.

What I'll probably do is get the cab corners sanded down where I think they should be and maybe spray some primer on them and back the truck out and put a tarp over it and then work on the bed and get it painted. We are entering the coldest part of the season from now until February. I can probably keep my garage about 70 degrees to paint, but if it gets really cold I may not be able to. I'd like to get the bed all painted and done in the next couple months (sooner if I get some warmer weather) and then work on the cab which will take awhile.

 

[primetime]

Looks good. Keep on doing what you are doing and it will look fine.

 

[Beach66Bum]

^X2!!

 

[fatherdoug]

X3. Looks good.

 

[bucks77ford]

Just been doing some fine tune work lately getting the bed ready for primer. We some good weather up here lately and I was going to try and primer, but hurt my back, so I haven't done much. I have fiddled around with some wiring and I just had to laugh at how some people do their wiring using crappy connectors and expecting things to last. But all in all, the wiring don't look too bad except where the brake controller was added. More clean up than anything. I'll get some updated pics later.

 

[DNFXDLI]

Bummer on the back, good that the wiring is mostly ok, it never ceases to amaze me what people do with wiring and expect it to last and work.

 

[bucks77ford]

I'm gonna just clean up the wiring and add a small auxillary fuse box under the hood for some possible add-ons later.

BTW, any tricks to getting out the philips pan head bolts holding the tailgate latch brackets on. The PO must have tried to do something cuz the philips heads are all rounded out. Not a big deal cuz I'll just tape over and paint the best I can there, but It would be nice to get them out.

 

[DNFXDLI]

You could try drilling them out or use a reverse drill bit. I've had some luck with using a new philips tip and heat...they suck once they get like that.

 

[bucks77ford]

You could try drilling them out or use a reverse drill bit. I've had some luck with using a new philips tip and heat...they suck once they get like that.

I may end up having to drill them out.