I started work on my cab today, which is the first step in my restoration. I was waiting on my new MIG welder, and now that it's here, I don't have any excuses!

The plan is to get the cab done, then remove the rest of the body, fix the front clip up a bit (new fender, sand & prime the rest), then repair the bed. This is FAR more extensive than I had originally planned, but once I found out that I was going to have to replace the cab, I decided that since I was taking most of the truck off the frame, I might as well just take it all off and do it right.

I've never restored a truck (or any land vehicle, other than a bicycle!), my area of 'expertise' is boats. So, I'm learning as I go. I'm sure I'll have TONS of questions. And, If (or should I say WHEN) I do something stupid, feel free to smack me.

I figure the easiest way to go about it will be to strip and fix any issues on the bottom, including the floors, first- then flip it back up and do the rest. So, first I flipped it so I could work-



There was a lot of black 'gunk' on the bottom- At this point, I had already let some stripper sit on it for a few hours, then I knocked off most of it off. I'm not sure what it is, it seems like tar of some kind, it's semi-soft, and is a real treat to get off... But, it is probably what kept the metal protected and relatively rust free.

Once it was off, I could see the extent of damage to the floor. This is the drivers side- There are a few holes, but not too bad. The passenger side is MUCH better. I can see I'll be welding a few patches in, but it's far better than what I had before-



And, after a bit more work-



It amazes me what can hind behind paint! Some areas that looked fairly solid were, in fact, not-



Up on the cowl, there was a spot that had loads of bondo... At it's thickest, it was almost 2" thick! I'm going to cut it out and replace the sheet metal, it's pretty nasty.



The cab mounts are, in general, good. There was a bit of rust in the bottom of the drivers side mount. I'm not sure how I should handle it- Weld over it? Cut it out and patch?



-Andrew

 

Finally got the gas cylinder for my MIG welder, and got some practice welding sheet metal. A friend of mine gave me a beat up fender from a '67 f-100 to do some practice on, so I could build a little confidence in sheet metal welding before I tried any 'real' work.

After a few practice welds, I got brave and decided to try to tackle some of the real work... I welded up the hole in the transmission tunnel-



Then I moved on- I think this is called a drain panel, It's on the front of the door pillar on the cowl-



As you can see, it didn't drain too well, and there was a lot of rust down at the bottom. I repaired it in sections, cutting away the bad stuff, leaving anything that was still good.



There was a little damage in the front of the door pilar- Which I also cut away... The welded on nut was also missing, which has been remedied!

I made a replacement piece-


And welded it in-


Then, I patched the rest of it up-


And ground it all down-


It doesn't look perfect, but it works! I'm happy with it...

I'm going to put some larger drain holes in it, so hopefully the thing will actually drain! I had a few small fires when I was cutting the old stuff out, there were a lot of leaves and pine needles hiding in there.

-Andrew

 

I will follow your progress with great interest, I have a barn find 1966 that I am doing the same thing to. I have started a thread which chronicles the progress on a weekly basis. Like you I have no Ford truck experience and hope to learn from your posts. Please continue to post pictures of your progress.

 

Good job guys it's a great hobby and everybody on here appreciates the dedication !!

 

Great work; Just a suggestion; I would recommend on the cab mount to use a large flat washer form it to fit and weld it once the old bottom rot area is remove to the size of the washer! Get up the good work.

 

Looks like you got it under control, but Im having flashbacks to last summer......

I would probably just cut out the old bad section from the floor, and replace with some 18g. The front cab mount, using a washer is a good idea, but I think you would be better served just cutting out a larger area and replacing the bottom with some 18g. The big dent in the side I would probably see if you can get a piece made for right there kind of like what I did.

Those drain panels are a treat?

 

nice work i also will be watching my ride is a 64

 

After building up my confidence in welding on inside stuff that will never be seen, I decided to try to tackle the cowl... It was is pretty bad shape, dented in, drilled, and filled with about 5 lbs of bond-o...

I cut away all the damaged and rusted areas-


The first rough test fit of the new panel- I had already welded some steel in behind the repair area.


Cut to fit- I left as much of the old steel in as I could.


And, After some grinding-




Not perfect, But it's pretty good... It'll need a little Bond-O to get it completely smooth, but nothing like the huge chunk that was on the old panel! I'm good with filling and fairing, since I do a lot of work on fiberglass boats.

I started work on the floor, too. The passenger side is great, there is only one small hole. The drivers side isn't bad, but it has a few issues... Ironically, all the rust is on the INSIDE- And most of it was hidden under a thick layer of black tar-like 'gunk'. This is the worst damage-



I decided that the best way to deal with it was to cut away the bad section of floor, and replace it... I drilled out the spot welds from the cab mounts, then cut away the floor, being careful not to cut in to the cab mounts.





I've got the new section partially fabricated, Hopefully I'll get it installed tomorrow.

-Andrew

 

I can only imagine- With the nightmare you were working with this probably makes you twitch to see!!

Mine is in fairly solid shape, especially compared to yours... But, Your decision to fix yours helped influence me to try to tackle the project.

Thanks for the suggestions on the cab mounts- I think I'm going to cut away the damaged areas, then weld in some new steel, just for peace of mind. The drivers side is the only one that really needs it.

Funny- On this cab, the drivers side is FAR worse than the passenger just about everywhere!

-Andrew

 

Twitch is not quite the right word And the crappy thing is, I still got a couple of days of work to do on it once I get it back from the blaster.

Anyway, your repairs are looking good. The welding gets easier as you weld more.

 

Looking good!!!!

 

I got most of the work on the floors knocked out today. I'd probably be done with them if I hadn't run out of welding wire! My Argon tank is also a little low, but hopefully it'll last till Monday...

In addition to the area below the firewall, there was one other area on the drivers side that needed removal-



I made up a patch panel-



Then I welded... I got the big patch in, as well as most of the smaller holes filled. The smaller patch is tacked in, but not finished, since I ran out of wire!

All that's left now is the cowl on the passenger side, which upon further inspection is a little worse than I thought, a bit of work on the drip rails to fill some small holes that were hidden under the seam sealer, and the cab corners... That SHOULD do it, unless I fine more hidden away. I'm thinking that I probably will

-Andrew

 

you're definately a brave man, good job and keep the pictures coming.

 

Ill be attempting some of the same things you are doing on my 63 in the near future. Great work.

 

I don't know if brave is the word- More like stubborn

No work done today, I went to pick up a new drivers side fender up in Nashville... Still looking for that core support!

-Andrew