I managed to get the majority of the rear half of the floor tacked together. Still need to trim all the corner pieces I made and get them tacked in. Still a few pieces to be made as well. But it's looking like a floor, though!



Here is how the corners will be used.


Dave

 

Been doing a lot of thinking about the hood. The floor continues to progress and as I move forward, I will get to the firewall. It looks like it will need to be made narrower to keep the nose narrow. So, some reshaping will take place. About the hood, it always bothers me to see panels not fitting right, but on these old trucks, they didn't even fit together well from the factory. I look at the struggles my brother has gone through to get his hood aligned and then keep it from flexing and flapping. I am thinking of making a framework for the hood, like a modern vehicle has. It will be more work, but should be a big benefit in terms of how the hood fits. So, that means that not only does the firewall need to be narrower, I need to leave enough room for the framework to reside. That means that I will need to rework the cowl, too. I have an idea for the firewall, too. I want to smooth the firewall, but I want everything to be easy to work on. I hate vehicles, even show vehicles, that you can't get to any important parts without first spending an hour getting shrouds and covers out of the way. I think I have come up with a way, but I guess I will have to try it out to see if it works.

Dave

 

I've reached a point in the sheetmetal where some decisions have to be made. So, without the frame dimensions that I need (early Dakota frame width near the front suspension, for example) I've decided to play around with the overall look. One thing that I've been tossing around is the fenders. Just for kicks, I set one of the existing front fenders next to the cab. Guess what... I kinda like it. It requires moving the front axle centerline forward about 5 inches from where I had planned it, but I think it'd be okay.



Dave

 

Dave you sure go to alot of trouble to make things, dies etc I take my hat off to you! The floor in my cab had holes through it so I went to a wrecking yard and got the floor out of a HZ Holden (GM) sedan colomn shift. I used this because there are no joints until halfway up the firewall, 70s Ford Falcons have a joint about where your feet are.
Are you going to make the cab tilt?

 

Thanks Steve! The reason for the press dies is for repeatability. That, and I have a tough time holding a straight line in the bead roller, even with a guide. When I start on the exterior, things are going to get a little more interesting. Well, pretty boring to watch, but interesting from a scratch-my-head-and-try-to-figure-out-how-to-form-this-panel point of view. Then I'll start with the e-wheel, hammer/dolly, bending over the knee, etc.

I'm not making the cab tilt. In fact, the motor isn't really going to be under the cab. (I know that technically, that makes this NOT a COE, but I'm okay with that. I WILL be able to work on this truck as needed. My experience with other show trucks is that they are near impossible to work on because you can't get to anything - all in the name of looking good. Not this one. I'm a technician by trade, and hate it when something was made to go together easily, but can't be gotten to to be fixed.

The steering is going to be a bit of a challenge, but the Dakota puts the r&p in front of the crossmember so I don't have to bend the steering rearward. It's helped by me moving the front end forward a little bit. I am told that the Aerostar front end will work too, but there isn't much in the way of aftermarket for it, so lowering or any mods later would be much more difficult.

Stay tuned... more to come.

Dave

 

Awesome metal working! I wish you could come to my house and help me with my Mustang. I'm a total noob when it comes to metal working.

 

Thanks 70! Bring your 'stang out here and I'd be happy to help. I have a friend that has a '65 needing new shock towers and a rear end. One of these days, he says, he'll bring it by. Another friend has a '69 SS Camaro that needs a little bit of work done on it. I suppose they'll both show up at the same time right as I'm getting really involved in something. But hey, helping others makes me happy.

I spent another couple hours in the garage tonight, mostly just scratching my head. But I did get some work done. I cut the right fender down a little. Didn't get it welded tonight, as I need to make another cut and it was kinda late for that much noise. I like the look even more now.

Here is the complete right side.


Here is the area where the fender meets the door.


I was concerned about this area, but as I cut the fender and moved it around, it opened it up a little bit. I think the door will open and close just fine and there should be ample room to get in and out. I am going to have to do something about tire clearance, as the fender is sitting on top of the tire in this pic, but the cab will be about 2" higher in the end, and I may even go another inch. Doing so will require letting a little air out of the tires to get into the garage, though. Still thinking about that. I could also move the fender up an inch, but then I get into the door opening again and after finding this extra room, I hate to give it back up.

We have July 1-5 off for the holiday and I don't have kids this year, so I am going to try to spend a lot of time outside working on this. I need to have a complete vehicle if I want to put something in the September car show this year. I've been saying for the past 3 years, ...rolling by September. This might be the one I meant.

Dave

 

Slow progress still. At least on the cab. I did get some stuff ready so I can build another mockup frame. Then I need to get the pieces out of the parts car so I can start figuring out what to do with all of the body panels and how they'll fit together.

I tacked the fender back together after cutting out a few inches.


Here is the whole fender. I like the new shape.


Dave

 

With the weather cooperating for the first couple days of the (long) weekend, I figured this was the time to get the motor out of the donor car. Also pulled the bigger rear-end to use.

Went pretty smoothly. This thing is a monster! I sure wish the spindles and UCAs weren't so high up. If it wasn't for that, I could use this front end.

The engine and transmission...




The 8.8 IRS...


Dave

 

What is that? A 4.6 from a Crown Vic or som'n?

 

Yeah, it's a 4.6 out of a '95 T-bird. Waiting for a break in the rain so I can go pull the seats and ECU.

Dave

 

So, I'm jumping around a little bit on this thing. Today, the weather was nice and I've been doing some thinking about some thumbnail dies for shrinking. Decided to get off my duff and just tuck shrink it for now. Spent about an hour tuck shrinking this and got a pretty decent shape out of it. Still needs to be run through the planishing hammer or wheel, and then will probably need a little more shrinking, but it's taking shape. Bob, Tony, and all the other folks at MM, thanks!

This is the piece that is welded to the grille. It was a nice idea, but the PO didn't work out any of the dents before hand, and the weld isn't very good.


Here you can see about an inch has been folded back all the way around. Since the radius over the headlight isn't super tight, I can shrink this successfully.


Here you get a better idea of the curve that forms above the headlight.


This shows how much I've had to shrink. The whole edge is folded over almost 90 degrees.


Make no mistake about it, tuck shrinking is work! Still not 100% convinced that this will be the "right" piece. Might just be a prototype. I've also cut a piece of 18 ga that I could roll the lip down instead of what I've done here. Basically folding the other edge over instead. That would make the tucked and shrunk side hidden behind the grill so it wouldn't have to be quite as perfect. Guess I'll try that piece and see which I like better.

Dave

 

MP&C did a great write up on shrinking metal.

post 19.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...ith-metal.html

 

I have seen that tutorial, but don't entirely agree with it. I am not saying that his method is "wrong", just different, and I don't follow it.

I do not agree with heating the metal when tuck shrinking, for example. As you can see in his pics, the HAZ extends up into the "flat" portion, or the area that presumably should have a consistent profile. This will cause that lower portion of that face to shrink. If working stainless, shrinking is almost a futile effort, but it can be done. SS work hardens much more easily than mild steel, though, so annealing is required often. Then a torch would be useful. More often though, it is more effective to stretch SS rather than shrink it. I have never had to anneal mild steel due to work hardening. I did the entire shrink on this piece without any heat. Obviously, I still need to work the edge a little bit and planish it, but again, this will be done without heat. Heat can be used to shrink, but in this application, I do not agree with its use.

Also, his tucking tool is handy, and I have something similar, but it is not capable of providing a very deep tuck. I find that the best results are achieved with a tuck that has almost vertical sides. This way when the tuck is pounded flat, the force is actually driving the metal into itself a little better. His method of marking the workpiece and placing tucks at those marks is good for keeping a fairly smooth radius. However, experience will eventually teach you where you need more of shrinking and where you have over done it.

Just my 2.1¢.

Dave

 

One of the reasons that heat becomes so helpful in the tutorial is that the tucks are not deep enough to be crushed on themselves without it.

Dave