OK, I've tried in vain to search this so I'll just ask. How difficult is it to replace the inner fender apron in a 72? I just found major rust issues under the battery box. I found the part at Dennis Carpenter but I've never done any body work before and it really intimidates me. Is it bolt in or is there welding involved?

 

It's a bolt-on affair. Go for it.

 

Be careful when removing the bolts. If they're rusty you can damage the panels with too much force. Use lots of penetrating oil and patience. If a bolt begins to sieze, turn it back in and oil it again and repeat as necessary..

Mark the driver's side hood hinge location before you remove it. That will get one side back where it belongs when you reassemble it. The passenger side hinge will get a new mount on the new inner fender so you'll have to find the right location on that side to get the hood to fit right. You'll see how the hinge location can be adjusted when you remove the hood.

All the sheet metal is off the front end of my truck. Hope there's a "how to" somewhere on aligning all those panels.

 

This is great news, I have the same issue and looks like I'll have a go at it too!

Hey Jack, I've the same year/size truck, do you have a part number for the inner fender apron? Or is it just a pretty general part

 

Align the body parts before taking it apart. Then drill a 1/8th-inch hole where parts overlap each other (hood hinges too). Upon reassembly, use the 1/8th-inch drill bit as an indexing tool to align the body parts.... works great.

Body parts are aligned from back to front... doors first, then the inner fenders, outer fenders, then the grill shell to set the width, and lastly the hood. Leave everything snug but no super-tight because you will be going back to reset some gaps. Patience is a must.

You'll go nuts getting all the panels to align...it's not like manufacturing back in the day had the exacting tolerances like today's vehicles. Be prepared to clearance holes, hammer and dolly, and use new hardware. Oh, if ya need to replace the body caulk, use 3M Strip Caulk... something like 20 yards per box.. enough to do the entire truck and then some.

 

That sounds like great advice. Wish I'd read it before disassembly and the alignment holes were there.

 

CARCHUB I just looked it up on the Dennis Carpenter website.

 

FoMoCo & Carpenter part numbers: C7TZ-16054-A Right & C7TZ-16055-C Left .. Inner Fender Aprons.

Applications: Right side: 1967/72 F100/350 // Left side: 1967/68 F100/350 & 1969/72 F100/350 except with Power Pac (optional Onan generator).

C9TZ-16055-A .. Left Fender Inner Apron / 1969/72 F100/350 with optional Power Pac / Obsolete ~ Not Reproduced.

Call Carpenter @ 800-476-9653, ask for a 1967/79 truck repro parts catalog...it's free.

 

Thank you!

 

If you go with anything less than factory be sure to run a tap through the hinge holes....ask me how I know. Makes it really fun to adjust your hood after it's all put back together and one nut is fubarred. Oh... and you can't just use a wrench.

 

2x..^^^ ... one of the worst designs (Thanks Ford engineers! ) are the captured nuts to which the hood hinges mount. I had one bolt seize up and it spun the nut in its cage. I had some rust in that area to patch anyway so I just cut out the whole dang thing, replaced the nut, and fabricated a tighter fitting cage out of 16g steel.

 

Might as well buy the other side while you have it apart as it will rust out right at the hinge attachment area from the inside of the tunnel. That was where my 72 rusted out on both liners. My 70 260 CC's liners are in good shape as it doesn't seem to rust here in interior AK, plus it was dealer undercoated which prevented any rust.