I haven't got to much done on it since the last pictures other than the rear passenger door. It is the only issue of rust I have to deal with. I ended up cutting the lower section out on both side and replaced them with some pieces bought from LMC.
With a little more grinding and a little bit of bondo and it will be good as new.
I still have to roll the bottom edge over. I drilled some holes in the edge to make it look like a spot weld once it is rolled over.
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_____79 F-250 429 36" Cepeks____79 Bronco 400 35" Cepeks_____
____________79 F-250 4x4 Crewcab, under the knife____________
Here is an update on the crew. I finished the welding of the lower door and spread some bondo. I still have a little more work to do on the outside but the inside is done and ready for primer.
I've also started in on getting the rest of the body ready. Today I got the bed unbolted from the frame. Over the last week I have been going at it with a sander.
I really didn't want to sand thru the feather fill but I wanted to know what was hiding underneath. Now I'm glad I did, found a couple of holes from a dent puller that I welded up and some rust starting to form. Wheel well is all metal.
How it sits now. Good thing for torches, all of the bed bolts including the 2 phillips head bolts came right out after a little heat on the nuts. Also had to unbolt the fifth wheel hitch, not sure if I'll put that back in.
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_____79 F-250 429 36" Cepeks____79 Bronco 400 35" Cepeks_____
____________79 F-250 4x4 Crewcab, under the knife____________
More progress today. Here are the tools of choice, a longboard, a straight edge and a hand pad. If your thinking about using a DA to do this don't waste your time. If you want it straight it is going to require doing it by hand.
1st thing to do was spread some bondo. I then hand sanded it with 40, 80, 120 and then 320. I applied 2 coats of bondo and 2 skim coats of a finish bondo. After sanding the top of the bed I sprayed some black lacquer paint on and then hit it with 320 on the long board. If you see black still on after sanding that means you have a low spot.
Just a little bit of black left, so minor that once it is primed and block sanded it will go away.
So with the topside done I started on the lower side. I'm hoping that this is the final coat of bondo. I have used about 2 quarts of bondo on this side of the bed and probably have a quart of sanding dust on the ground. It is a lot less bondo than what the previous guy had used.
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_____79 F-250 429 36" Cepeks____79 Bronco 400 35" Cepeks_____
____________79 F-250 4x4 Crewcab, under the knife____________
Thank you guys. Work has been very slow so I've been hitting it hard the last week or so.
I found out that formica countertop is going to make a great base for my new headliner. I can get it in one piece so I won't use the center trim piece. Here is a test piece that I cut.
Finished one side of the bed, hung the door back on to remove a small dent and align.
I also talked to my neighbor, Advanced auto body and he said I could use his spray booth to paint!! That made my day.
Next on the list was to get rid of the $2.00 Taiwan cab lights. There were also 2 holes for some antennas that are now gone. Welded up all of the holes and then covered them up with more bondo. Plenty more hand sanding here. I am going to find a set of stock Ford cab lights to put back up on the roof.
Passenger side of the bed is 95% done. I have a small spot on the lower rear that needs to be finished. It had a couple of small dents but not as bad as the driver side was. Best part about it is both of the wheel wells are solid with no rust.
With any luck if progress keeps going as it is I should be able to get it painted in another month or so.
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_____79 F-250 429 36" Cepeks____79 Bronco 400 35" Cepeks_____
____________79 F-250 4x4 Crewcab, under the knife____________
you have waaay more patients than I for this stuff. I'm not a body guy by any means - especially because my trucks will be used and abused and open to mexican pin striping and possibly rock rash. I can't justify the time it takes to make them perfectly straight and nice just to destroy them again.
If anything my stuff will get a 20/20 paintjob...
Doesn't mean I can't appreciate the time and effort spent on making these things look nice though - and yours always look nicer than most!
__________________ Have you flown a ford lately? 1938 Ford Pickup = hot rod
1970 Ford F250 long bed & 1974 Ford F100 Supercab - 2wds
1974 Ford F250 4x4 Crew cabthread in "motor swap" forum 1989 Ford Ranger= Never gonna be done...
1972 Alfa Romeo GTV & 1999 Toyota Tacoma 4wd = DD
Doesn't mean I can't appreciate the time and effort spent on making these things look nice though - and yours always look nicer than most!
Thank you Chase.
The most work my crew is going to do is maybe pull a trailer with the Bronco and 250 on it to a car show. I have probably got close to 15 hours just in the passenger side of the bed making it straight again. This truck has led a hard life from what I can tell from the body abuse. It is a major pain hand sanding it with a long board but the end result should look good.
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_____79 F-250 429 36" Cepeks____79 Bronco 400 35" Cepeks_____
____________79 F-250 4x4 Crewcab, under the knife____________
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1978 F600 Bronco 4 door "Centurion"
