Well I'm thinking of making a large molasses tank to soak the bottom 8 inches of the cab and afterwards the rest of the parts. This should save time and labor since most all of the rust is at the floor area bottom.Tractor supply has a 6' galvanized tank and sells the molasses for $26 a 5 gal bucket. Maybe $ 400 for it all. The problem im going to have is getting it in and out. Remember when you called a few friends over and lifted the heaviest things. Well at our ages that doesn't work any more.

 

I don't have a picture, it's at the paint shop, but I built a version of the engine hoist cab lifter. One person can lift the cab and maneuver it around with no problem. I realize a COE is taller, but I can't see a reason this won't work.

Here is a picture of the one I copied:

 

That's what I was going to recommend. I've always moved my cabs solo using the engine hoist thru the door opening. I just criss crossed chains from the seat and cab mount bolts. It's heavier in the firewall especially with a windshield, but work smart, work slow, and git er dun.

 

It wont work unless it can slide under because of the legs of the hoist. i will have just a round tank under and no place for the legs

 

I've dropped mine straight down onto the ground and blocked it up on the hoist side to slide it out. Then muscled it off the blocks. I'm still fairly young so not too much a challenge for me.
If what you're wanting to set down on doesn't allow the legs to pass, maybe you can substitute a different support under it? Maybe some 4 by's spanning drums or something to keep it up off the ground yet let the legs roll under?

 

I picked up my 4x8 sheet of 16ga had it sheared to 1- 8'x13" a 35x36 and a 35x60"
we put a 90* 1" bend on the 8 foot piece. Winter will be here soon so i working on my cab dolly made from push carts to get the cabs inside. I bought 3 of them for doors, cabs and all the other things i need to move. working on cleaning the garage and trailer tomorrow.

 

Why 16 gauge? Body sheetmetal is all 18-19 gauge.....16 is really hard to work with.

 

I have 18 gauge coming, but 16 gauge was the thinest i could put on his shear. I am planning running boards,flooring,brackets,and the side structure fill ins if i do the 4 door. I keep hearing differant thicknesses on hoods, fenders and such. Were they differant on the 48 than the 51? What are the netal gauge on those pieces?

 

Most everything on these trucks is 19 gauge except braces, cab mounts,structural pieces, etc. The 16 will work great for that. nice to have both on hand....
Carry on, and post pics of progress!

 

Now that i think of it, how would you cut the 19ga sheet thats coming. I must cut it all with a cutting wheel. but I want to bend it while its there. It will be the roof ,fender patches, hood patch door bottoms and rear corners.

 

"bend it while it's there" ? You mean bend it on a brake while it is at the metals supplier, There isn't many places you might want to patch that aren't compound curves which can't be bent on a brake. If you are talking about the outside skin when you say patch the door bottom, then you might want to have a 90* bent along the edge of a couple pieces of metal to start the bottom turn hem. (IMHO I would highly recommend buying repair panels for the door skin bottoms and/or rear cab corners, they are difficult to fab pieces. The doors may look flat, but they are not, they are shallow compound curves.) You are going to have to invest in some metal fab tools and learn how to use them. The small number of straight bends you might need can be made with a rudimentary inexpensive brake such as this one for 59.00: 30" Bending Brake (altho if you have the funds then I'd suggest their 36" floor brake for 234.00) or you can make a simple brake out of MDF board and a table saw or even from an MDF shelf board if you lack the tools to cut a straight cut. A lot of curved bend shaping can be done with a shrinker stretcher: 30" Bending Brake and are well worth the investment. You will also need a set of plastic or wood torpedo mallets and a sandbag or two. (Sand bags are typically made from leather, but you can make some for nearly free from blue jean legs and a needle and thread. I would also highly recommend you buy Ron Covell's (Ron Covell Creative Metalworking Workshops) excellent DVD: Basic Techniques for Working with Steel I still go back and rewatch it and learn something from it each time. You will also need some good body hammers and dollys (good ones can be bought used over on ebay for less than the import junk ones and less than 1/2 new price, ask if you need help). You can do a lot of metal cutting with cutoff wheels on a 4 or 4.5" angle grinder.
Have you read my MIG welding tutorial yet? https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...-practice.html Gotten a spool of 0.23 ESAB Spoolarc Easy Grind wire? I have also made many posts about doing body work, shaping metal patches, rust repair and so have others. Do an advanced search on this forum (if you don't know how ask) on my user name and/or key words like body work, metal shaping, patch panels, cab corners, rust repair, etc

Do you have wood working tools: table or portable circular saw, router, belt sander, portable jig saw or band saw?

 

Yes, metal working tools will make the job easier for sure...I have a stomp shear for cutting straight lines, but still fall back on the cutoff wheel and snips for more intricate cuts. A jigsaw will also work in a pinch.
I agree with using premade patch panels if possible....much cheaper and easier in the long run.
Using junk doors, hoods etc for their curved pieces also works.

 

See post #97 on pg 7 to see how a complex shape can be reproduced from several pieces. using simple L shaped bends curved with a shrinker/stretcher and a filler piece all welded together: https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...e-built-7.html

 

I cut a lot of metal with a cutoff wheel (hint: when using a cutoff wheel on sheet, lower the wheel into the metal like a chop saw, pick it up, move down the line and lower it again, repeat, don't push it along the line like a circular saw, it will almost always grab and break the wheel.) I next bought a portable shear like this: FREE SHIPPING — Klutch Electric Shear — 4 Amp, 18 Gauge | Cutting Shears| Northern Tool + Equipment It cuts straight lines and curves, but does waste a 1/4 of metal along cut.

I buy my cutoff wheels in 50 or 100 quantity from here: 100 4"x1/16x5/8" Cut-off Wheel 4 Stainless Steel & Metal Cutting Disc /Type 27 Much cheaper than the big box DIY stores and much higher quality than the import ones from HF etc. much less shatter prone.

 

You can improvise, make, alter materials into body tools (like my sandbag example) I've made torpedo mallets out of broken baseball bats, soft dollys out of hockey pucks and hard dollys from sections of heavy metal bars and large ball bearings, anvils out of RR track and I beam sections, slap hammers from sections of spring leaf, bullseye picks from conduit and bolts. I've refaced ball peen hammers into body hammers. When I go to the recycle yard, I look at all the bits and pieces and say: "what can I make out of... or use that for?"