Thanks John. I figured there might be some work but I'm hoping I can leave them pretty close and make the truck fit to them. Either way I'm sure it'll help. I figured on the mounting I'd weld studs to the bottom where they'll hit the frame supports and nut them on from underneath. But I'll worry about that once the shell is done and I get fenders hung.

Chris thanks for the feedback. I do realize how nice it is now to have the internet and how fortunate I am with all the restoration products available. When my dad and I started our 65 mustang rebuild the internet was a baby and certainly didn't have companies mass selling products. Glad I can be of some inspiration and hope you get another project in the works. I really am enjoying the metal work on the truck. Never done this much but it's nice once I've got the welder going. I guess it's similar to riding a motorcycle. You really don't think about anything other than what you're doing.

There will be more progress pics to come this week.

 

Here's a couple pictures of what I did with mine, the bolts I used are called elevator bolts. The mine I worked at used the for fastening the ends on conveyor belting. If you decide to do something along this line and can't find the bolts let me know..

 

Did the running board need the additional support in the middle? The one on display seemed pretty solid And I can get those bolts at the hardware store here. I'll figure that part out when the time comes.

 

The original boards had that support bracket on them and why I put them on and the ribbing on the originals I thought would have been stronger than these smoothies..

 

Went to start to weld in my new floor supports today and came across some measurements that are a little worrysome. I was measuring from the rear of the front doors near the floor to the back opposite corner at the rear doors to see how square everything was. Well I'm 1 inch longer on one side than the other so 1/2" each side basically. Not sure if it was this way before I started all this work since I never thought to measure that kind of stuff.

What is interesting is that the wheel wells are still dead center on the tires, rear doors fit perfect and so do the front doors. Also seems the truck sits off center of the frame a little. Biggest issue with that I feel will be the running boards and mounts lining up correctly but that can be moved around some.

I doubt this is something in did during all the fabrication because everything has been braced and everything still lines up. The roof seem has been welded now so I know that didn't move around much either. When I did the front floors and rocker panels I did one side at a time and the rear floor was still in place. Just confused.

This isn't really an issue anyone will see once the truck is assembled but figured I'd see if anyone had this issue or even noticed. I can't imagine Ford made a truck that is this out of square.

 

Well after measuring and scratching my head and moving metal around and measuring 10 more times I got a good bit of work done today.
Made my frame stands for the floor support, got the frame tacked in, finished welding the passenger side roof seem and got some duraglas on that, made a cowl panel patch and fit it but haven't welded it yet. Getting dark to early now and the shed isn't big enough to work in with the truck in there too.

 

Not sure why the pics didn't load last time.

 

Spent the last week or so body working the ps body seam. Got it close enough to put a couple coats of high build primer on it tonight. Still miles of welding and metal work to do but had to do something different and kind of see a result. Blocking and priming a few more times should do the trick and be ready to paint. Trying to get the entire roof and upper side panels in primer by the end of the year. The roof is in excellent shape from what I can tell now before blocking. Only found one ding in the middle.

 

Great progress.

 

Looks Awesome! You did great work on welding and covering the body seam. Good to shoot some primer at some point makes you feel like somethings coming together.
I have heard a lot about this high fill primer. Never shot any yet. Guys said it would fill in hail damage dimples if you applied three localized coats during priming?
Still debating on a project. You guys just might nudge me over the edge! You make it look real easy peasy! What are the welded blocks for? Frame to body supports? Nice work. You can weld!!!

(Hey I have to go play in the snow for a while. I need to dig out the Super Duty and the goose neck from 24 inches of snow. The grandson just bought a new play toy, a early 70's Dodge 2 wheel drive pickup. (Mellow yellow or Old Yellar? Not sure which, but it sure is yellow! I know, he is not a FORD guy yet! So he is going to pick it up tomorrow. I may tag along for support. Maybe run the winch since the tranny is out of it.)

Keep up the good work on the Panel build! What are your plans for the front lower portions of the panel body repairs? Do they make replacements or do you start from scratch?
Regards,
Chris

 

Easy peasy isn't exactly how I'd describe the work haha. Definitely takes dedication to the end result. Doing metal work feels so slow to me as I rarely have a full day to put in to it and even when I have you have to move around so much as to not over heat any one area and warp it. Somedays I'm motivated to work on it and some I couldn't care less. The forum definitely helps since so many people have a wealth of knowledge so its good to see and hear other ideas and ways of doing things I hadn't thought of.

For the lower portions of the panels in front of and behind the rear wheels on both sides I am going to either have to try and find a donor truck somehow or more likely just build them from scratch. That's part of the reason I've started on the top of the truck and working my way down. I figure it gives me more time to try and find another panel that may be able to be cut up or figure out how the easiest way to go about replacing them would be.

The high build primer was nice to spray and laid out very well. Two coats and I can hardly see the 80 grit scratches in the filler. It'll take atleast a few more rounds of blocking and priming to make it as smooth as I want it but at least blocking primer feels better than doing filler. One step closer every week. It'll get there.

Thanks for the encouraging words. It really does give me more motivation to get at it.

 

Id like some more pictures of the 65.

 

Here are a few. It was a little dirty in these pics as I hadn't driven it in a while. Just has a 302 from a 1968. It's fun to drive.

 

I really like those wheels on it Steve, what make are they..?

 

It's Scott. And I'm not sure who makes them or what they're called. I bought them back in 2005 or 06. They're 17's. they also have center spinners that can be put on but I wasn't feeling the look last time I had the rims off.