My last thread had to do with putting the bed floor in and re-installing the bed. I got several good comments to my thread.
After spending all afternoon in the shop today trying to get the bed lined up it dawned on me that I could have my cab a little out of alignment. I just have the cab snugged down. So, that started me to thinking that I am going about this all wrong. Probably putting the fenders on will help assure the cab is sitting on the frame correctly.
I now am thinking that I need to assemble the front and put the doors on ....then install the bed last. Doing it this way I could make sure the entire truck is lined up.
I am looking for any suggestions on how other folks go about keeping everything lined up properly and what reference points they use.
Thanks
rsh1966

 

When I get around to putting mine back together it will be cab, hood, fenders then bumper. On my elcamino there is little side to side adjustment with the bumper and it wraps back on the fenders, and you want to keep the gaps between the fender and bumper close to even on both sides. I imagine it is the same on F100. I don't have a front bumper yet. I don't have to worry about the box alignment with my Unibody but my rear fendesr are off and it will be fun putting those back on.

 

I have done it a couple of times like this: Cab, rad support, inners, fenders, grille assembly (assembled!), filler panel, box, doors, hood. I left everything loose for adjustment; the cab pretty much determines where everything has to go. Make sure the hood hinges are good; if they're not, everything will seem wrong.
The first time I did this I tried to correct an interference between the cab and the box by adjusting things countless times - and paying $$$ to have the truck checked on a frame rack - but it turned out the box mounting holes were off, courtesy Ford of Canada. The truck I have now I have not disassembled but I see that it has shims between the left-side inner and the cab. First time I've seen shims on a '66 body. You might need some.
You will need four guys, and masking tape if it's painted. Beer won't hurt.
Eric

 

You really need to put the doors on and get them adjusted and marked if you are going to remove them to paint them. I made the mistake of only putting my doors on once during the body work and I only checked to see if they would close. Bad mistake! After it was all done and too late to change anything I discovered that the passenger side opening needed to be jacked about 1/4 inch. Now I'm going to have to live with a poor fit on that side. I looked at the pictures I took before I took it apart and sure enough the passenger side needed jacking even then. I think the misalignment didn't show during the body work because the cab was not torqued to the frame. By the way the torque specs for the cab are in the door adjustment section of the shop manual.

 

These first two replies are exactly what I needed to read. I think I will start at the core support and work back to the cab. The comments about shims and bolt holes not always centered are something that we all need to consider.
I will start next week and keep everything on the loose side in order to make adjustments.
Thanks very much for your comments.
rsh1966