Hey Mike, don't get too discouraged. We all make mistakes, our "D'OH" moments. Bodywork can be instant gratification when everything goes well, but when you goof, it is instant dumb azz!
You will get it right the next time, and the great thing is that you will make sure it is up to your same high standards you've insisted on for this entire build.
Keep on truckin'!

David

 

I say you need to pat yourself on the back for catching it only hours after the goof-up was made, rather than finding it a year from now after it's been painted!

 

I know it's already been said Mike...

But don't get down on yourself. Those TV shows have what everyone calls "TV Magic" where they take hours and hours and hours of mistakes, cut them out, and only show the big ****-eating grin and the after-math of correcting those mistakes.

You'll get it. We believe in you. Most of us thrive off seeing projects like yours. Just keep at it! Cheers Ford Brother.

 

Thanks again guys. I won't let it get me down. I just wish I could snap my fingers and make new cab corners appear .
My plans took a sharp turn today.
This morning after my last post, I was getting ready to work on the ol' girl and the phone rang. I saw on the caller ID it was the owner of the company I work for . He said he needs me in Phoenixville, PA (NW of Philly) 7:30 Friday morning. The kicker is I've got to bring some equipment with me so I have to drive, not fly .
Long story short, right now I'm in NC and hopefully I'll be back home Sunday evening.
On the bright side, maybe the new cab corner will be home waiting for me when I get back .

 

Always look for the positives!

Have a safe trip.

 

Flying sucks anyway.
I've given it up.
Drive safe, enjoy our country.
Good luck with the job.

 

Mike you've provided so much inspiration to myself and I'm sure others that you need to just walk away for a while and then come back. Your determination and work ethic is an inspiration, hang in because we love the journey and look forward to the next chapter.

 

This raises the question of what to do between the tire and the metal inner fender. In 1977 Ford started using formed plastic barrier that attached to the fender protecting these nooks and crannies from accumulating mud etc.
I’m thinking of using these on my 76 F-100 and F-150.

 

And they don't work that well. Took out my plastic liner parts to repair the rust above wheel wells. It was a California bed, rust wasn't that bad, but plastic liners did nothing to prevent it from happening. Plastic guards just succeed in keeping you from getting the wand at the car wash in there well enough to really give it a good flushing out.

Better idea, once the area is repaired spray some kind of protective coating over the metal. I've heard of some guys spraying that area with bed liner. If nothing else, cut out a good size part of the metal wheel well liner so you can get a hose or wand in there to give it a good blasting to wash out any residual dirt or other stuff. Also heard of guys squirting oil into the drain holes to cover the metal with a good layer of oil.

 

I would beg to differ that plastic guards do nothing. Consider that fact that if absolutely nothing is in place to prevent mud and water from wetting thrown upwards into the cavity of it side of the bed, it will do just that.

Now, I agree that a plastic liner in each wheel well isn't exactly perfect, but if you spray in some sort of protective coating like Bedliner or the heavy duty stuff (POR-15) and use it in conjunction with a plastic wheel well liner (plastic because it won't help anything rust and can be easily removed), then you'll have the best protection possible.

On my 79 bed I have completely POR-15'ed the entire underside. I plan to do the same on my cab. After that, I'll be producing some special clips to have some heavy-duty aftermarket plastic wheel week arches put in by some company like CAP-IT.

I think this approach will give long-term results in preventing rust from forming... And of course... Always keeping it washed and clean.

Using oils to prevent rust isn't always practical. Oils attract dust/dirt in the air. Dust and dirt are the beginnings of rust when combined with water...

 

Well, I made it back home today. Surprisingly, I was only gone a few days for a change.
Yeah Marc, I agree. I'd much rather be at the controls than sitting in a seat. The only thing I ever liked about commercial flying were the takeoffs and landings but now even that isn't any fun. It's too much of a pain just to get on board anymore. All the fun is gone .
Well, no cab corners yet.

 

POR-15 costs about $160 per gallon, correct?
What my 76 has now is a few bits of rubberized fabric that covers the far back of the front fender area. It's more of a fig leaf than any real protection.
So, what about seam sealer and the less expensive undercoat/sound deadeners?

 

Not to hijack Mike's thread, but yes. Roughly $160 a gallon. If you do use POR-15, DO NOT apply it generously... It goes further on a brush than you think it will.

Just a few dips of my paint brush in the can and I had the entire front of my frame (bumper to engine mount) completely coated... Twice...

Just remember that if you're going for cheap... You get what you pay for.

 

When I had to leave last Wednesday I was getting ready to post some pictures of the fubarbed cab corner.
In the first picture you can see how thick the metal is supposed to be and in the second you can see (kinda) how it went bad because I ground way too much metal down. I was trying to smooth out the welds and went a little too far.
I ordered a new one and cut the opening in the cab about a ½" higher to get back into solid metal.
The side benefit of all this is it was a lesson learned and wasn't a very expensive mistake. The labor is free (me) and the corners are only $13.30. The most expensive part of this lesson will be the UPS charges. That's going to be $18.00.
Hope my "skills" improve on the next corner.

 

Hey Guys, time for another update.
I got the cab corner from Tabco the other day, this one doesn't look quite as good as the first one did. Overall the initial fit wasn't as close as it was on the first one. It's kinda like there's a 'twist' or 'warp' to the panel. To get it to fit I had to sorta force the twist out of it. Another thing, at the bottom of the cab corner there is a styling que, a peak in the sheet metal. Right where it meets the back edge of the door the peak is kind of blunt. It's just for about 3/8" but it's right where the panel meets up with the back edge of the door so it's something that I'll have to fix.
All in all, the Tabco panel is still a good panel, just not as good as the first one I got.
I decided to get off my lazy a$$ today and start installing the cab corner. This time I spent more time fitting and trimming the panel. When I was done, it had a better fit than the first corner did.
I had to do several tweaks to make the panel fit but this is probably normal for aftermarket panels and nothing that was very frustrating.
I haven't started the welding yet, that will be tomorrow. I ran out of weld through primer, I'll pick some up tomorrow morning.
One thing I did do. I cleaned the inside of the corner then sprayed a couple of coats of primer and a couple of coats of plain old enamel to seal the inside. Hopefully the corners won't ever rust again.
One thing I see is I'll need to do some work to get the panel gaps looking good. These are genuine Ford NOS doors, it's pretty obvious that really good panel fit wasn't a high priority when these trucks were built, after all they were just trucks.
Here are some pictures of my (progress?) .