Starting a new build, I bought a 1967 F100 flatbed ($600) that the previous owner said he built a flatbed for and swapped in a chevy "heavy duty" rear end. He said the front suspension is worn out but the 302 and automatic trany are still "good". I have a 1972 F250 chassis with all stock running gear so the plan for now is to put the 67 cab and flatbed onto the F250 chassis. I started by hunting the rust spots these trucks are known for and fixing what I could as I wait for my parts orders to arrive from NPD, LMC, & DC. Here are a few pics...





I have patch panels for the fenders and floor panels but I was surprised to find really bad rot in the driver side cab corner. I don't have a picture of before so you'll have to take my word that it only looked like surface rust but turned into a complete corner replacement.






There were a couple dents on the back of the cab corners so I used my pin welder to pull those out.










I found a good cab corner on my parts cab, cut it off and cleaned it up. Started fitting it to the 67 after cutting away the floor and rotted corner.









After a bunch of trimming I got it fitting where I wanted and welded it up.








Did a little grinding to smooth it out and started to prep the floor.






I will have to build a patch panel for the rusted out kick plate and then trim the replacement floor pan to fit.




So that's what I've done so far. I hope to be able to work on it a little each night and have something to show off by the end of the summer but only time will tell if I can make that happen.

 

Nice work and a cool truck.

 

Very good rust repair. Always great to have a donor vehicle for parts!

 

thats nice work, hope youre gonna make a headache rack for the flatbed so you can avoid those dents in the future

 

Thanks! Yeah that's the plan, still kicking around a few ideas and looking at flatbed designs for inspiration.

Thanks, yes the donor truck has come in handy a number of times. Well worth the space it takes up for now.

Thank you, yeah to be honest I haven't been much of a flatbed fan most of my life but this one is starting to grow on me and if I can pull off some of the ideas I think it will look really good.

 

Didn't get as much done tonight as I'd like to but the drivers floor is in and one piece again. I used my cut out section as a templet and screwed it to the patch panel. Then cut along the edge to create an almost perfect copy. Still took a bunch of trimming to fit right




got it lined up after a couple tries and then welded it in.





Still need to grind the welds and do some more welding on the underside but that can wait until I unbolt the cab and lay it back for easier access. Now onto the kick panel patch and then passenger floor...

 

Thanks for the inspiration!

 

Thanks for showing me how it is done. I have all this work to do myself on my rusty basket case someday. Your work looks great!

 

That's a nice truck and a bargain. Great work so far!

 

Some shiny things showed up today!




So of course I had to try on the new shoes...







With 2 projects in the shop it can be a bit cramped so I'm really liking this huge extra work bench

 

Christmas in July! well at least it's felt that way with a number of my parts orders showing up over the last few days...








I have 2 trucks that I'm focusing on but 5 trucks over all (oh and 2 parts trucks) so figured now was the time to stock pile some parts and get motivated to get them done! Still waiting on a few more orders from LMC and DC. Anyway not much else to report at the moment but I am heading back to the shop so we'll see what I can get done.

 

Don't ya just love unpacking goodies?

 

What coating are you using on the cab support to protect them from further rust? _ Tony.

 

Yes very much so... gives me the good ol kick in the butt I need to get one of these trucks finished.

Any spot that has bare metal sealed up or near impossible to get to after welding them together I coat with Weld-Thru Primer first then weld. The cab corners can still be accessed kinda so I will coat them with POR-15 the best I can through the hinge hole.






I made up the kick panel patch out of the left over floor pan metal. Lots of trimming later and I got it to fit.








The panel has a sight little curve or curb for the weather stripping to sit against so I pounded that into it an it fit much better. Welded it up but that is not a fun spot to have to weld in. Very cramped and I almost removed the steering wheel after hitting my head/welding helmet so many times.






Nothing to pretty and I have some pin holes to fix but the rust is gone so moving on!



​​​​​​​

 

Great work so far!