Here are a couple photos I took today of general interest.

First, my "new" tailgate which James got from a wrecked truck for $85. It is in basically pristine shape, including the handle and mechanics. In all the junk yards I've been looking at I've learned that nice tailgates are uncommon and those that exist get snatched quick. So I consider myself fortunate he found this one. Here it is being prepped for paint:


Here is a photo showing one of the patch panels James is putting on the rear of the bed, I had rust through the sheet metal on both sides of the truck in the same location. I gather this is a common place for such problems:


Here is a photo of the front panel of my bed. We originally thought we might have to replace this entire panel, and it does look kind of bad. But the rust is not deep and James feels like the metal is thick enough yet we can salvage it:


I'll be meeting him again on Monday or Tuesday so maybe I will have some more eye candy to show then! Even though there isn't much to post for you guys today, I did have a good visit with James myself and we hashed through several issues and small details so it was beneficial for me personally.


Luke

 

Sounds like your getting a quality paint job, looking forward to seeing it when he's done. Even though our trucks aren't new or classics doesn't change what a good quality paint job cost. Is he doing a 2 stage job, base/clear coat? If he does you'll find extra clear coats are a good thing to have. My cousin did 5 or 6, can't remember for sure, on mine and it still looks new after 8 years parked mostly uncovered in the sun.

 

Your attention to detail is awesome, great job on the rebuild and the thread! Thanks for being so thorough. It's threads like this that help the rest of us when we need it. Nice looking truck too, it looks like you have no interior sheet rust. I'm jealous, I have a nice sized hole in my floorboard.

 

Hey Kedwin, yeah, this will be a two stage paint job. There are more details in a previous post but basically the painter told me he's planning to do 4 coats of clear. I don't know much about paint, but I do know that's about 4 coats more than the truck has now, so it will certainly be an improvement.

Today I went back to a nearby junkyard for what feels like the hundredth time. I know every truck in that place... and it always seems like they stick the Fords way back in the back forty. Goal for today was to get a front, passenger side wheel well. I had my truck all picked out from when I was there a few weeks ago, but failed to remove it on that first visit with the tools I had with me at the time. But I got that sucker off today and it only cost me $15 and a sunburn.

The reason I got this well is that the one on my truck has a hole burned into the side of it about six inches long - not really sure why, or what caused it, but it looks like someone took a torch to it. Or maybe there was an exhaust leak at some point? Anyway it's not really a problem but little things like that bother me, and since we have the truck all apart anyway, I figured it would be easy enough to replace.

I also picked up another bottle jack. In my various trips to the yards I've noticed there is really a variety of different bottle jacks. Same goes for tire irons. What I also noticed is that in my truck, the guy who sold it to me kept the tire iron, and the bottle jack that was under my hood was quite a bit smaller than some I had seen in the yards. I intend to always carry a hydraulic floor jack with me but it never hurts to have a reliable backup, and the bottle jacks are so convenient because they have their own spot under the hood where it won't take up any space that you care about.

Anyway this jack I got today was the biggest I found, it looked dirty but oh boy did it clean up something amazing! This sucker is so blue it looks like it came from a baby shower. I found rust when I extended it but that can be cleaned up, and the metal re-polished.

I've never actually used one of these screw-type bottle jacks before, and they seem like they might be a bit tipsy for a lifted truck. But they have no hydraulic system to leak or go bad and the construction appears bulletproof. So I think it is an item worth having.



RIP ol' Ford! I like to take pictures of trucks in the yard that I've gotten parts from. And no matter how dirty or beat up a vehicle gets from sitting out in a yard, you can still always tell which ones were well cared for by their owners in their previous life. This truck is such a one, and I've taken several parts from it over the last few months. Today you can see the wheel well that I just removed:


Dirty bottle jack:


No, I did not paint it, that's just how bright it looks after a cleaning! It's an incredible shade of blue.

 

4 coats should be more than enough. My cousin did the extra because of where we live, central Arizona. The sun down here kills paint jobs. And seeing the level of work your doing I'm sure the new paint will be well taken care of.

Love to find a bottle jack that clean for mine. Got a floor jack but like to put the original style jack and handle back in it also.

 

I do not think the factory jack was one of Ford's better ideas. I found a small hydraulic bottle jack that just fit into the same bracket (the base fit into fender slot) as the factory jack. The replacement also had about 2 inches higher lift. I stored the handle beside the lug wrench in same holder.

 

[QUOTE=Luke76;11772281
The reason I got this well is that the one on my truck has a hole burned into the side of it about six inches long - not really sure why, or what caused it, but it looks like someone took a torch to it. Or maybe there was an exhaust leak at some point? Anyway it's not really a problem but little things like that bother me, and since we have the truck all apart anyway, I figured it would be easy enough to replace.

The wheel-well on my '80 F100 has exactly the same damage! How difficult was it to remove the wheel-well? Also, I see your bed is on a stand; can you tell me how the side bed panels attach to the head of the bed? It looks to me like the side panels are secured at the tailgate via the hinge and latch hardware.

 

Emgee,

Strange that we both have the same damage on our wheel wells... I will try to get a picture of mine next time I'm over at James' place. The wheel well is not too difficult to remove, but (assuming we are both talking about the passenger side) you need to remove the battery tray brackets first (there are two), unclip some wires that are secured to the well, and take off any other accessories bolted to it.

Then there are about 10 small Phillips head screws and maybe three or four bolts on the underside that go up through the plastic well piece and into the body. On all the trucks I saw in the yard, the screws heads were full of dirt so it was hard to get a screwdriver into them. You don't want to strip any screws so bring something to clear out the dirt. On my second trip I brought a small can of WD40 which I sprayed on the screw heads to dissolve the mud and then I cleaned out the Phillips heads with a fine scribe, but a small dental pick or the like would work.

The biggest problem I had was with two bolts that are on the underside of the well at the very front, they screw up into the radiator support area just behind the front bumper. The bolt heads are very small and on all the trucks I saw, rusted to the point that a socket was just going to slip. I recommend bringing a cutoff wheel to cut the heads off those bolts, that's what I had to do.

By the way, once you have the plastic well unscrewed, you can drop it down to the ground to remove it (so long as the tire is off) rather than pull it up through the engine compartment, which might be more of a hassle if the engine is still in the truck.

As for the front bed panel, I am pretty certain it is attached to the bed sides with tack welds because I seem to recall mine had popped off in several places due to the previous owner throwing logs up against the panel. Maybe someone else can confirm... but I will try to get a picture of that area next time I'm over to see the truck.


Luke

 

Hi guys,

This might be boring to some but I'm posting this here also for my own future reference.

I am not actually repainting and scrubbing every last screw from the interior, as I earlier implied. Larger bolts are one thing to clean up and paint, but many trim/dash screws are too small to clean by hand. Unfortunately, in my truck, many of these small screws were also too rusted for me to want to use them again.

When I was dis-assembling the interior I noticed that some types of small screws were used repeatedly in various areas. I identified 4 types that probably account for 85 percent of all the small trim screws. I gave them names (Types 1-4) but I just made those up, it is not an official Ford designation. I tried to find replacements for all four and here is what I've come up with so far. I'll update this post in the future if I find better alternatives.

Each of the photos below compares my old rusty screws to the suggested replacement, and in some cases, multiple possible replacements are shown.

Note: All the replacements I've purchased have been from The Cliphouse Nationwide.



Type 1
Size: #8 x 1” Phillips oval head screw
Qty: ~25
Use: Primarily to secure plastic cab trim pieces, such as the A-Pillar trim, but also to secure the sun-visors. If you have an extended cab, you will also find these screws in the rear bench seat.
Replacements:
Black oxide: AV10167
If you want Chrome: AV2713



Type 2
Size: #8 x 1/2" Phillips washer head screw
Qty: ~30
Use: Mostly to secure plastic cab trim pieces
Replacement: AV12213
Notes: This screw looks a lot like the TEK screws shown on some sites. Here is one, but there is a minimum $10 order with a $6 surcharge added to orders under $100, PLUS shipping. I'm not willing to spend $20 plus for just this one type of screw.
More Notes: This is the one screw which I have had the most trouble replacing. The suggested replacement here has a slightly smaller diameter flat head. In many places Type 4A replacements might also work, they have the opposite issue that the washer head is slightly larger in diameter than the original. Both are shown in the photo:



Type 3
Size: #8 x 7/8" Phillips oval flush head SEMS screw
Qty: ~20
Use: Mostly to secure plastic cab trim pieces
Replacements:
Chrome: AV2775
Black Oxide (a bit longer, 1"): AV12957
Notes: I can only find this screw in the exact 7/8" length in a chrome finish. That's fine for some trucks with lighter-colored interiors. If you have a dark or black interior like mine, you need black oxide. The closest length available in black is 1", but the difference is minimal and I believe it will work fine in all cases (not yet tested, but that's what I'm planning).



Type 4a (and 4b, 4c)
Size:
Type 4a: #8 x 1/2" Phillips washer head screw
Type 4b: #8 x 3/4" . . . .
Type 4c: #8 x 1" . . . .
Qty:
Type 4a: ~70
Type 4b: ~15
Type 4c: 2
Use: Primarily within the dash
Replacements:
Type 4a (1/2" long): CP855898
Type 4b (3/4" long): CP855899
Type 4c (1" long): CP855900
Notes: There are scores of the 1/2" version of this screw all throughout the inside of the dashboard, and it is the single most numerous screw in the entire cab. The less common 3/4" length is found holding the heater controls to the dash, and the instrument cover. I only found two 1" screws of this type, one for each of the plastic kickpanels.

 

Reps to you for that, Luke! It sure would be nice if this post could be a sticky, or part of a sticky.

 

Hey Luke,
How did you refresh the trim on the vent registers and dash bezel, back in post #9? I am going to need to do that to my truck before I put it all back together.

 

hey one thought on cleaning all the little screws and bolts is using an ultrasonic cleaner.. you can buy them from harbor freight for about $40 for a good one...we use them on brass for reloading rounds.. and on tattoo equipment, knives..well ok the list can go on and on..but hey it might be worth a shot... i am willing to bet money it will work.

and it only takes about 10 min to clean something on a full cycle

 

Gary,
I was thinking your fasteners spreadsheet should also be part of a sticky somehow, I stumbled across it on your website but it would be great if it were part of FTE (if it already is forgive me, but I didn't see it). Maybe a thread for fasteners in general should be created and our combined fastener information could be put there in a single place... along with any other info we come across going forward. This thread is kind of all over the place so it might not make the best sticky.


Ron
Good question about the trim paint. It was pretty easy. I bought some Testors Aluminum paint, you can get this at any hobby shop, Michael's, Hobby-Lobby, etc... You should also invest in a nice flat sable brush, it pays not to use a 50 cent cheapo. I think my brush cost about $7-$8. Get some Testors thinner while you're at it, if you want to clean and reuse your brush in the future. The wide flat brush shape allows you to cover a lot of area quickly. Don't put too much paint on your brush or it will run off the edge of your "trim lines". Just dab the brush on the edge of the bottle (or sometimes I wipe it on a paper plate as I'm working) to get rid of excess, but you'll quickly figure out the amount to use. All the edges on the dash pieces are raised so it is not too hard to get a good-looking result. Unless you're better than me you'll find it impossible to actually do a perfect job, but more than two inches away, you won't be able to tell.


In the photo above I thought I'd also show the small bottle of needle paint I used, I purchased this from Hi-Po Parts Garage, I got the Fluorescent Orange economy glass vial. (They also sell LED lights but that will be the subject of a future post).

The needle paint is very bright but is also quite thick and I found it weird to apply (don't use the same brush as above). lt kind of wanted to gunk on the needle and didn't spread very well. However I found that after it dried it looked ok, but I had to do two and sometimes three coats, allowing it to dry completely in between, before I got a full color.

I have read you can't just use any old bright paint for your needles, it takes a special kind of fluorescence to reflect the light. So I figured it was worth the hassle of using this weird paint, but in the end after several coats and all was dry, they do really look nice.


Im2Tall
That's a very good idea about the ultrasonic cleaner, I actually have a small cheap one I got from Amazon, don't know why I hadn't thought to use it...


Luke

 

Amazing build. I have probably gone through this thread 6 or 7 times so far. Definitely jumping the gun here, but what are you planning on doing wheel/tire wise?

 

Luke - A link to my fasteners spreadsheet is in my sig, but I'd be happy to have it in a stickie. But, it should be in a state of flux as we find additional fasterns to document, so would need to be in a form that can be edited/updated. Don't know how to do that, but maybe Chris does? And, maybe that's the impetus for the other format, Chris?