Bought a 1955 F100 panel truck a few months back and I finally have some time to make a post about the progress.

This thing is RUSTY!!! No way around it. But with that being said there is enough solid to make it worth redoing.

I plan to use this truck as my work truck for my handyman business when its all complete. Figured I get to enjoy driving it everyday plus its way cheaper in tags and insurance each year and will be super advertising.

Here are some pics of it when I got it.

 

Nice save. Love all things panel! Any plans yet, motor...etc?

 

Stephan, welcome to FTE, the best Ford truck website on the World Wide Web. It looks like you got an unmolested truck but you got your work cut out for you as you will have a lot of rust to cut out! You even have the original drivers seat.

This is the place to get your questions answered. Good luck and keep us updated with pictures as you progress.

 

I plan on doing a restomod on this truck. It was absolutely unmolested with the exception of the motor. Although it looks original and untouched the numbers don't match up. it was a 292.
I have sold the motor, trans and front suspension off of it so far. I'm doing a frame off restoration of it and using a 2003 crown vic as a donor for many of the parts. I'm just not 100% sure if i'm keeping the 4.6 yet or eventually going with a new coyote crate motor.
I already have the crown vic ifs installed in the truck. That couldn't have gone much easier seeing that those cars are almost 50 years different in age.
I got the panel for $1200 in the middle of no where Kentucky and picked up the vic running and driving for $800 a lot closer in Daytona. Figure that was a good price for a running engine, rebuild trans, front and read suspension and possible using the brake booster and abs setup as well.

 

For body mods I'm going to remove the front and rear bumpers and do smoothed roll pans but build in a structural bumper behind them out of sight.
I really want the look of the truck to be fairly stock, or what could have been stock if these werent build as work horses.
I have filled in the roof line seam where it meets the side panels. I will also be cutting out the drip rails and smoothing those areas.



The body line is filled with panel bond and smoothing of upper side panel has been started.





this is the ash tray door. Can't decide what color this truck was originally. Doesn't really match up with aquatone blue or seasprite green. And the glove box tag is missing of course.

 

This is a small sample of what I plan to do with the paint. Once I can find the original color that is as close as possible. This spray paint is just the closest I could find.
The top above the body line will go gloss white and stay clean and everything under the body line will get a black primer, red oxide sealer then the original color. But then I plan to wet sand through the paint to the sealer and primer to "weather" or "patina" the body then spray it all in a flattened clear.

 

You have your work cut out for you. Looks like all the parts are there, running boards will be a tough task to find or redo. There is so much metal to these panels the body work surpasses the construction. Good luck and keep showing pictures of progress.

Gerry

 

Luckily for the running boards my rear 1/2 to 1/3 on both sides is useable and I was able to get a set thrown in to some other parts I bought from a pick up truck that has good front sections and bad rears. So once I get the body done and get fenders mocked up I will figure out where to make the cuts and get them spliced together. I am debating getting the frame blasted and will probably have the running boards done then too just to give me a somewhat decent start on repairing them. Otherwise a guy on ebay has a set for $1600 for sale haha.

 

I hope you'll take this in the positive light that is it intended. I love panels and the last thing I want to do it discourage you. If you are OK with the truck being rusty then disregard the following.

I would stop what you are doing now and have it media blasted. Actually I would sandblast it myself but you have to be careful to avoid warpage. Lay some metal etch in the seams and clean it up best you can. Then a couple wet coats of true epoxy primer. That stuff is amazing for controlling future rust on damaged areas provided you get it clean first. Decent and affordable epoxy is available online. You can bondo over epoxy. I prefer a quick scuff with coarse paper to give the bondo something to physically grab. Otherwise, anything you do over and around what you have now is going to rust back faster than you would ever imagine. "In weeks, not years". Hopefully you have a MIG welder and the commitment to weld in patches after that. Anything can be fixed, but if you don't do it somewhat right your labor will not be rewarded with any sort on longevity your labor hours should have justified.

Option two. Find a cheap flat paint you like and be prepared to repaint it annually if you care about rust.

 

Here is a pic of a 55 F100 that I painted some time ago. The owner had an "original" paint sample that I used to color match the new paint. The paint is a BC/CC and the base is PPG DBC brand. Others have asked me about the paint code and at the time I couldn't locate it, but when I finally did find it I put it in a safe place just in case I needed it. Here is the code "TPC 0421210 CHUCK LT BLUE", this is a TriCity Paint (TPC) formulation, TPC is online and should be able to mix this color and ship it if you are interested.

 

Thanks for the color Charlie. That is probably pretty close to the color from the looks of my truck. I've got a local paint shop that can mix up anything for me so I'll keep that code handy and see what they can do with it.

Fatfenders, I use to work in a body shop and have restored a handful of cars. On the areas of the truck that are rusted I'm using the eastwood rust converter and encapsulator then doing body work over that. It works really well and I have had good luck with it in the past. The panels that are too far gone are getting newer sheet metal and donor metal from parts I have come across. For the rear fender lips I got a set of rear fenders from a pickup and have cut the lips out and shortened them a few inches to fit and welded them in. I've got a good millermatic mig welder and am pretty well versed in using it and finishing metal. Here is a pic of the passenger rear wheel lip and passenger side rocker panel, frame mount, cowl side and floor pan:

 

I like those pics a lot better. I saw 2000 hours of futile bodywork without buying some panels and a lot of welding. You won't get out of the welding and grinding part obviously but the work you have done so far looks good. I look forward to the progress pics. Keep us posted.

 

I bought two used fenders but one of them apparently was run over by a truck previously and had about 20lbs of bondo on it. The other one is good so I only will replace the bad one, new hood, new doors. Then I just have to fix the rear panel doors since those aren't available but mine aren't all that bad really. The skins are ok just inside frames are a little rotted but I'll get that cut out and replaced.




Got the frame out from under the body and ready for a clean up and the crown vic rear end and triangulated 4 link





body off the frame with one of my neighbors wheels just to see what it would look like





rear floor under seat cleaned up and rust prepped

 

Keep up the good work?

 

I remember the days, nice to see another panel saved from the rust gods.