1966 Ford F100 Project

[Highboy4x4]

Morning all, Thanks for letting me in. The main objective of my post is to introduce you to my "therapist!" This beast will someday help me stomp in the woods chasing my dinner!! In other words, it will be a hunting truck when it grows up and never a parking lot queen. The history of my adventure is located in my blog. I suggest if you want the whole story, look at the archive section.

I started this project in 2017. A lot has changed in 6 years, I retired from the Army, sold everything and moved to South Florida to care for my wifes aged parents and now I have no garage to work in. SO.....I hate the moisture of FL.
MTF if you care to know....

Now my next task is why I came to this site. I have metal work to fix and replace the crap job someone else did. Alas I am not a welder. 35 years ago I took autobody class in HS but little welding since. I believe that I am capable but the finer points of welding and creating metal to fit is a little nerve wrecking.....

**Both cab corners, inside and out, need to be replaced. (have panels)
**The inner deck of the fuel tank location is stressed and cracked and needs reinforcement. This is from the fact that the chassis is a 1976 F250 frame with a 66 body. (didnt know this when I bought it but what a surprise and a blessing as I got the best tranny/xfer case/axles possible for a 4x4)
** The floor pans were replaced by a "not so" professional autobody man and I need to grind down the welds and inspect.
** The door "j-panels" were replaced by that same iDIOT and the driver door is way off.
** Numerous other areas of the floor needs massaging but they are minor.
** The drip rail has pin holes and I really dont want to cut that out like it should be done. I am thinking of POR to stop the rust and then fiberglass? not sure.
This is not all the areas but my focus on the cab is needed.

Thanks for listening and this is only the start of the conversation! If you are interested in educating me on any of the tasks at hand, I welcome it.

What do I have for tools?
Lincoln 180 (220v) welder with gas
oxyacetylene tanks
plasma cutter (china junk but cuts fair)
I tried out a cheap stick welder from Rural King but that is another story.

[drivejunk]

Roof nearly rotted off seems like a more accurate description of the "drip rail pin holes". Good luck and enjoy your project. I have done 41, 51, and 61 Fords that each cost me a chunk of my sanity but they were show trucks. Stuff with antlers won't care about looks though.

[drivejunk]

You could trim the roof shag, clean out the drip rail and slip an angled strip under the roof edge then plug weld. As shown in sketch below. That might last twice as long just fiberglass. It could be buried with fiberglass too, but the main thing is that method would allow better cleanup of the shaggy pinholey area.

[MP&C]

Russ, John Glenn is a member on here that has a build thread (elsewhere) on a 66 Ford pickup. He had similar issues as you do, although perhaps not as far along. He fixed his roof by cutting just above the rust, refolding the flange, and re-welding in place. Essentially chopping/pancaking the roof slightly. I think yours is in worse shape where that might not be an option but rust-free cabs and sheet metal are available still (I have a contact in AZ)

Here is the link to John's truck build, he does have some over the top metalwork that he's done, but this may give you some ideas...

http://www.spiuserforum.com/index.ph...int-work.6831/

[Jaroslav]

Robert, please describe this method. It is interesting..

[MP&C]

Busy tonight but I’ll try to put something together in a new thread tomorrow

[Jaroslav]

Cool.... I love simple things that work. I'm looking forward to that...

[drivejunk]

I agree cutting the whole lid off is best, even if the same one is put back on. But the OP does not seem to be interested in adding meticulous complexity, according to their post. Theres really nothing shaping-related to it.

[crystallographic]

Originally Posted by drivejunk

I agree cutting the whole lid off is best, even if the same one is put back on. But the OP does not seem to be interested in adding meticulous complexity, according to their post. Theres really nothing shaping-related to it.

Agreed, here. The re-lidding would be rewarding, functionally.

Also - got to think that a good cab is laying out in the western deserts, already half sandblasted.

Not a hard job .... like looking for a big window effie.

But... then again .... cut, fab, fit patches can be a whole bucket of satisfaction.

[Antoine_P]

Looks like quite a lot of work ahead but hey, the journey might be the goal and you will learn a lot during the project !

Antoine