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1973 - 1979 F-100 & Larger F-Series Trucks Discuss the Dentsides Ford Truck
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panel replacement/ proper welding

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Old May 9, 2018 | 06:32 PM
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panel replacement/ proper welding

hey everyone. i hav had this 1977 f100 for a couple years. has an ifs and a 5.0 thats tired. as well as a few rust issues. i just bought a new truck and shes no longer my daily driver.... i also recently build a shop. so i thought this would be a good chance to rip her completely apart and build a weekend hot rod. the plan is to fix the rust issues and drop a coyote 5.0 in it with a 6 speed manual. my toughest part is trying to figure out how to get this rust handled. i have the floor boards and the tunnel all covered my min issue is the cowl. i had water leaking into the cab for a where the seam sealer the factory used crumbled and cracked away. my question is what is the best way to weld the cowl back on after i fix the rust issues, as well as painting the cowl and not ruining the paint when welding it back. i wanted to tig weld where there was seam sealer but i dont have access to that seam when the cowl is on. any recommendation would be great.
 
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Old May 10, 2018 | 05:40 AM
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That is going to be a tough one to seam seal after welding the new cowl in place. My first thoughts are to clean up all the rust on the body and replacement cowl.Use a rust inhibitor of some sort on all the cleaned up rust areas and seams.Use a good weld through primer on all spot weld areas/seams.(I use SEM- good stuff!). Weld the new cowl on.Yeah,I know,you just burned thru' some of your prep work spot welding but you have no choice,the cowl has to go on. Inner surfaces can be undercoated now with a nozzle poking thru' vent holes,antenna hole, etc,etc, until you undercoat the back of all inner seams. Grind /finish the outer weld spots,prime ,paint. Inner painting before hand and then retaining that paint in all areas is going to be a problem I would think. It took 40 years for the rust to get to this point ;whatever you do should outlast all of us . Good luck! gary
 
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Old May 10, 2018 | 07:39 AM
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To seal the seam you know that spray n seal on TV they used on a screen door to make a boat, use that with a nozzle thru the vent slots.
I would use that after spraying a rust inhibitor again sprayed with a nozzle.
You can also paint in there the same way, nozzle. You want protection but who cares what it looks like as you can't really see in there.
Dave - - - -
 
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Old May 10, 2018 | 09:56 AM
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I would lean a bit more towards an undercoating designed for this actual type repair. I use a MMM 08883 (if memory serves me right) black,paintable ,sprayable with its little long nozzle in tight places. It has a rust inhibitor claim also and dries very nicely.I have used this for years on a zillion customer vehicles. My 2 cents. gary
 
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Old May 25, 2018 | 01:14 PM
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I have another question regarding this. Before I weld the cow back on I need to paint the surface where the two metals overlap to stop from rusting. Is that correct and what product do I use?
 
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Old May 25, 2018 | 06:26 PM
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What about using panel bond epoxy adhesive instead of welding?
 
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Old May 25, 2018 | 10:40 PM
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Originally Posted by Zacbkennedy
I have another question regarding this. Before I weld the cow back on I need to paint the surface where the two metals overlap to stop from rusting. Is that correct and what product do I use?
Weld-through primer?
 
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Old May 26, 2018 | 05:40 AM
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Originally Posted by 1320stang
What about using panel bond epoxy adhesive instead of welding?
That is 1 way to do it thing is I hear the gun to lay the glue down is $$ ??

Originally Posted by meangreen92
Weld-through primer?
That is what I use. It is the white spray paint looking stuff.


Non-AC to AC fire wall swap

On the floor, rockers & fire wall I used seam seal, first from a calk gun tube, let it dry then brush on type.
When dry I then did 2 coats of brush / roll on bed liner top & bottom.



Some reading on how I fight rust in this post.
https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/1...st-repair.html
Dave ----
 
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