I have a 1978 F100 that I am in the process of working on. The body is in fairly decent shape except for a few rust holes and some surface rust. There is a hole in the bottom corner of the cab and some splintering over the wheels on the fender (see pics). There are also a few holes in the bed, one that is rather large. I think the bed will have to be replaced. The previous owner attempted to use body filler, but I don't think it was done properly. I don't have any welding experience, so I can't weld patch panels. My goal is to clean up the truck and get a nice coat of paint on it, so I can start driving it; nothing too fancy. I would like to do most of the bodywork myself and I see the truck as an opportunity to learn. Judging from the pics, do you think I could use body filler or will the panels have to be replaced?







Thanks in advance for any help.

 

If you can get rid of all the rust, you can repair those areas with fiberglass. Just make sure that the rust is completely taken care of or it will come back on you.

 

U could use body filler to fix them holes u got on ur truck.The type I'm using on my 73 F-100 cab is called "marine tex" u have to buy it at a boating supply store.U buy the marine tex and u buy a catalyst to mix with it to make it hard.What I like about it is when its wet u can shape it like bondo and make it nice and smooth.And then it takes a few hours to dry and get hard but after that u can sand it easily and its hard as steel u can drill holes in it or whatever.
Plus it was built to fix boats so it resists water alot better.Give it a shot its good stuff.

Dan

 

I have the same problems on a '73 super camper special I just bought. And, I am a complete novice. I understand this process for the rear of the truck. It make sense what I should do with the bed and gate, for example. How do you deal with rust on the fenders? It seems pretty complicated when the metal is very brittle and working with it may make it worse. Is this a "find new fenders" situation? The worst rust is underneath, right behind the tires.

 

OK
1 if the truck is bought for learning then learn to weld and do it right. It is not hard and what better way to learn.
2 To get rig of rust grind the area to get rid of the paint and knock off loose rust. Then apply Phosphoric acid to the area and let it work this will eat the rust away, then apply a rust convertor to take care of the rest.
3 If you can find it spray on a weld proff primer.

Now you can use what ever fix you wish, I would weld it but if you do not wish to then as said fiberglass would be my next choise, filler was never made to fill holes it was made to smooth minor imperfections only and it will pop out. If you can not get to the back of the panel then fiber glass is going to trickey. So here's a cheat, tie a string through a stiff metal screen cut to a little larger than the hole then stuff it through. (make sure the back side is clean) then rub some JB weld on the surface and pull the screen against it, you can put a loop and wind a stick to hold it tight, when the JB weld dries you will have a half decent baker. Fill the screen with body filler if you want but it will not last for to long, the filler with fiberglass strands will be you best choice.