Need advice on bodywork.

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Oct 13, 2011 | 12:29 PM

Sleepy445FE

Thread Starter

Fleet Mechanic

Joined: Nov 2010

Posts: 1,501

Likes: 1

From: Axtell, TX

Need advice on bodywork.

First off, I'm not a body man so forgive my most likely rudimentary questions.

My truck has a lot of little dings and some slight waves. I know little stuff should be a simple fix but they have to add up. At what point is it better to be looking for new panels/doors/etc. than to fix a thousand dings? It just seems like it would be a God awful amount of work that at some point is going to cost more than a replacement (not talking cheap aftermarket trash sheet metal). What is that point? Does anybody have any pics of what is feasibly repairable and what isn't?

I don't have much rust to deal with so that's a plus. I do have what looks to be at least 1/8" thick paint to blast off though lol. I bet I find 3 layers of paint jobs including primer when I start sanding!

All help is much appreciated.

Oct 13, 2011 | 12:36 PM

sled250

Junior User

Joined: Feb 2011

Posts: 93

Likes: 0

From: Hilo, Hawaii

Im in the same boat as you. Not so much dents but more rust i am cutting out and patching. Good luck with your body work adventure.

Oct 13, 2011 | 12:55 PM

Grubbworm

Cargo Master

Joined: Apr 2010

Posts: 2,936

Likes: 9

From: Acworth, GA

I too am doing body work right now. I took my truck to a body shop and had them do a dent in the rear bed corner, and replace a cab corner. I did not feel comfortable doing those repairs yet. I am going to attempt the cab floor repairs myself though. I was told it would be cheaper to replace my fenders than to repair them ($99/each). So, I bought them both and replaced them myself. I have also replaced my cowl panel with one from a newer model. Currently, I am working on sanding, some bondo for the hail dents, and priming the truck. I have some pictures here; https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/9...build-log.html
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9; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0in 5.4pt 0in 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0in; mso-para-margin-right:0in; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0in; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} </style> <![endif]--> Personally, I don't want to have to worry about using my truck like a truck and driving it places where trucks naturally like to go (mud, dust, gravel, etc). I know it might be crazy but I left some dents on purpose. I feel like the truck earned some of those dents and should wear them proudly, like badges of honor.

Good luck with your project, and please post plenty of pictures.

Oct 13, 2011 | 02:23 PM

hasteranger

Lead Driver

Joined: Mar 2010

Posts: 5,250

Likes: 10

From: West Virginia

panels I would replace before I would repair: grille, hood, fenders, doors. Panels I would attempt to repair due to difficulty in replacing: cab corners, bed sides, roof.

decent panels for these trucks are not too hard to find yet, so you are probably better off replacing what you can. You will probably save money in the long run, and you will have a straight panel that doesn't have filler and welds, which tend to not hold up as well over time.

Oct 13, 2011 | 02:31 PM

HIO Silver

Fleet Owner

Joined: Dec 2009

Posts: 20,678

Likes: 82

From: NorCal

I like hammer & dolly work.. I find it therapeutic bumping metal....

Heres' my criteria to determine whether to bump, fill, or replace.

Bumping: The backside is accessible, the defect is relatively shallow, and the metal is not overly stretched.

Filling: Area is inaccessible and I dont' have a stud pulling gun (Yet!), and is less than 1/8-inch deep in a small area.

Replace/patch:. severely crunched or previously repaired/bondo'd panels, rust holes, and the time needed to patch is waaaay more than to simply replace the panel. Gotta weigh it out.

In the end, I try to save as much OEM metal as possible or use the same gauge patch. Sometimes there's no choice because either the part isn't made or it would take too much input in terms of time and headache. For example, I recently concluded that I will cut and replace the roof of my 70 because of roof rail rot...and yes, that is less work than replacing the cab.

Oct 13, 2011 | 09:20 PM

grinnergetter

Cargo Master

Joined: May 2010

Posts: 3,365

Likes: 12

From: NW Indiana

Decent panels are almost never without their imperfections. Although that would depend on your expectations of the finished product.

They all need a little work.

Rough bodywork is the easy part (fixing all those little dents). Making it straight is a *****.