I like that. Very nice

Holy smokes, your metal work is fabulous! I've seen very few people with this level of skill. Even volunteering at NASM Garber Facility back in the day there were very few men capable of doing it. A joy to watch and thanks for sharing.
-Peter

Awesome work......

Got the metalwork and rough bodywork on the bed floor finished and sealed with a couple coats of epoxy.


I used the rear rib section that was over the gas tank to fill in the section where the round stamping was.

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I knew that the ribs were all different heights, but I didn't realize they also changed shape from front to rear slightly. I thought I could make a spreader for skim coating each rib to simplify spreading filler, but the shape of the ribs ended up being wider or narrower from end to end. This also meant that I couldn't make a sanding block to fit the intended shape, so I had to manually block the bottom/sides/top of every rib.

My attempt at making a spreader-

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Tons of blocking later. This was a chore to shape/sand the width of base of the floor, the angle and height of the sides of the ribs, and the width of the top of the ribs consistently, along with keeping the radii of the corners and edges consistent. There are a few small imperfections I need to touch up before I shoot it with polyester primer, then more blocking to make it 100% straight.

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We were able to buy a Pullmax P7 since the last update. We had heard about a local Pullmax awhile back and had inquired about it but they weren't interested in selling it at the time. The owner contacted us a few weeks ago and said that they were ready to sell it so we made the deal and moved it to the shop. I'm looking into VFD's to run it at the moment, and have started cleaning it up. It came with a fence, circle cutting attachments, louver dies, center and offset tool holders, doming dies, nibbler dies, slotting dies, flanging dies, a beading die, and an offset flange dies, and a really neat dovetail extension that bolts to the side and swings out of the way when not in use. This will be a big help in allowing me to expand my metal fab capabilities.

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Excellent work as usual. That machine is a monster. I would love to see some pictures of it in action.

Thanks! I'll be sure to post pics/vids of it once it's set up and running.

I let the epoxy sit a few days to dry, then touched up the imperfections that I could find and shot a few coats of polyester primer.

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I made a block from three pieces of plexiglass that can flex to fit the sides of the ribs and flatten the bottom at the same time. All of the ribs are at slightly different heights so all of the sides are at different angles; I couldn't shape one durablock that fit all of the ribs like I did with the last F100.


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Getting deep into the details of the bed floor... The stamping details left a lot to be desired. The ends of the ribs were all different; the angle of the "ramp" was uneven from rib to rib and the radii of rounded edges were inconsistent. Having all of the surrounding surfaces blocked dead flat really makes this stand out, so I got out a foam sanding block and 180 to round everything over and sanded until the guide coat was gone so it wasn't as noticeable.



Just kidding! I scuffed up the ends, masked out the areas that were already blocked to the correct shape, then skim coated the ends to reshape them.



Inconsistent shape of the "ramp" part of the ribs.

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Masked and scuffed with 180 to prep for filler.

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One down.

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I only did a couple at a time so I could do all the shaping while the filler was soft and sanded easily. This slightly clogs the paper so I use a brass brush to clear the out the stuck on filler. The tape on the end prevents the block from digging into the surrounding areas that are already flat and shaped correctly.

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I used a longer block made from 1/2"x1/2" aluminum to block across a few ramps at a time so they're all at the same angle.

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Final product- flat flats and sharp, even edges. I'll slightly round over the edges when I go 180 grit to smooth out the 80 grit scratches.

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Filler hole details. The circle around the filler opening was sanded flat and level with the base of the floor between the ribs, but the transition from the flat circle to the rounded parts of the ribs needed truing up. I used a compass to establish a perfect circle for both the lower and upper edges of each rib, then filled and sanded until the sides of the ribs were the correct shape. It's hard to sand the inside of the corners to the correct shape though, so I pulled fine line tape and used a razor blade to shave the inside corners to the correct profile.

The end of the razor was taped to prevent that side from cutting what was already correctly shaped. The other end is up against the fine line tape; this shows how much the inside corner is off from only sanding.

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After shaving down the raised corner all the way to the edge of the fine line tape.

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Then the tape was flipped and the other half of the inside corner was shaved to the correct shape.

https://i.imgur.com/h2fcXwBh.jpg


This left sharp angles at the transition between the straight edge of the ribs and the rounded edges around the filler neck.

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Calipers used to establish a smooth transition shape.

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Finished transition.

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Beautiful work.

+ a bazillion. :-X06

Thanks!!


I started the metal modifications on the dash. There will be an air vent taking the place of the original ignition switch, so the switch needs to be moved over below the gauge cluster. The AC controls will be on the right side under the cluster so the original holes need to be filled in.

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This side needs three 9/32" holes so I'll weld in a solid panel and redrill new holes.

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I made a new switch opening on a larger panel for less welding. I haven't decided if I want to try to press the new panel with the same indentions as the old switch holes or if I'll just graft them in, it'll probably be faster to just graft the existing pieces.

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The speaker grill conveniently had round holes stamped in the corners which let me use a hole saw to make round corners for the new panel being welded in. Round edges on patch panels keeps the panel from having concentrated shrinkage on the weld seam in two directions like a 90* corner has so it's easier to planish out the weld seam later.

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The dash was low on one side of the opening compared to the shape across the rest of the dash, so that was reshaped before welding in the new panel.


Correct shape-

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Low side:

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Straightened:

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New panel made slightly oversized, then clamped in place to scribe the trim line.

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Minimal gaps.

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After grinding and initial planishing.

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Beautiful work as usual. I noticed you started this one over a year and a half ago now. How many hours do you figure you have into this one so far and how many more to finish do you imagine? Were you able to raise your rates any this time around? Even at $65 an hour you'd still be an affordable choice. Most shops here are at $105 an hour now. I get a deal since I've known the guy since Kindergarten that's doing my truck right now but it still adds up very fast.

Thanks! I haven't kept up with the total amount of hours so far, I just turn in my hours for each project weekly. They'll have all of the invoices in the office and they would be able to total them up. The owner checks in here; he can answer the costs up til now if that's something he wants to discuss publicly. I also haven't turned in/billed for all of the hours spent on the bed floor so the invoiced hours won't quite match up with what it's actually taken to get to this point. The original estimate was figured based on using tinted Raptor Liner inside the bed and I've slightly :D exceeded the amount of hours needed to prep for Raptor Liner since deciding that the truck would be too nice to not be painted inside of the bed. So I've done the "next level" of paint prep pretty much for free to try to stay reasonably close to the original estimate. I'm planning on doing metal work only after this one is done, so this will likely be my last ever body/paint job; I want to do my absolute best at it and the truck deserves better than Raptor Liner in the bed. We're at $70 an hour now. As far as estimated hours to finish, the cab is in much better shape than the bed with very minimal rust, we'll be using new fenders, the hood is very straight, and the doors are pretty straight with only the usual rust at the very bottom so the rest of the metal/body work needed should be much easier to deal with than the bed was.