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Didn’t get as much done today as I had hope to. Had to take a break and work on my 2011 F250. Talk about a bad design. Bolts are a pia to get out. They have tons of lock tite on them. Have to heat them to get them moving. Here’s what the cab mounts look like.
Pretty sad my 66 body mounts look better. New poly bushing will be here in a day or two. Heres how much the body line was off.
Ok a littl work on the 66 starting with the hole in the pass door step.
Then welded up the cb antenna hole.
Little welding on the cab corner holes
Little welding on the back of the cab to fill in some holes
Then finally filling in the Swiss cheese floor pan. Still a little more welding to go on the drivers side now.
I'm ready to get a little primer going, make it feel like I'm getting somewhere with the cab. Or at least a little coating on the floor pan. Almost cleaned the gas tank just to have something coated and finished. 1 more day of welding on the cab and it should be ready for a little filler/sanding, then primer.
From what I read 06-16 SDs all used the mounts to make them ride better, but they just don't last and have to be replaced a lot.
Finally got back out to the truck for a little more cab work. Welded up a few more holes and finally tackled the radio cut out. Decided to just go with a standard radio cut out vs an older style. Also welded up the extra holes in the dash. Then finally coated the floor and firewall. Need to get some more gas so I can weld up a few spots on the front of the cab. Then it’s time for some primer.
The steering shaft has a tapered bearing up by the steering wheel and a locking collar with a set screw down by the rag joint. There is a spring that goes under the steering wheel that pushes on the bearing and keeps everything tightened up. You can adjust where the locking collar is to set the gap between the steering wheel and the column.
I would suggest you look at sanding or stripping instead of sand blasting. A warped and ruined 50 year old fender makes for a bad day.
I'll check out the bearing and locking collar. I didn't notice any play until I removed it and pulled it out.
Planning on bead blasting vs regular sand blasting to avoid as much warp as possible. But might strip what I can to help mitigate that as much as possible. Little at a time and I'll eventually get there. Once I get the cab primed I will start in on the fenders, hood, and bed. Right now keeping them outside to save shop space.
Little more welding and grinding and welding and grinding today. Drip rail took awhile to do but came out really good. Then welding under the fenders where no one can see it, don’t have to grind as much. Filled in a few holes and rust areas on the inner fenders as well.
Started on the second side. The front patches are welded in, still need to grind them down smooth. Then need to fix the backside still. But it’s starting to get there little at a time. I’m no body or metal man so takes me a while to get all the pieces cut and ground to fit enough to weld up.
Finished the second side. Came out pretty good. Should last a long time now once coated.
Started looking at cab mounts. The front 2 bolts were pretty much rusted through so it was just sitting there. Only the few bolts and radiator hoses were holding it onto the cab.
Well at this point I think I might as well go down to a bare frame and start from the ground up. Wasn't planning on going that far but might as well do it right. So I'll build me a stand/cart and pull the cab off, finish up a few things on it and go ahead and get primer on it to keep it from developing any rust. Then I'll focus on the frame tear down. So be a while before the rest of the body get stripped. Leaving it painted as long as I can so it can stay outside. Going to have to get my small loft cleaned up to get some of these parts off the floor and stored a little better.
