Making me really itch to paint mine. Looks really good so far man.

 

In the '90s today, so I pulled the old truck nose first in the shady (limited) door way, 2 fans running in my shop area, and it still got damn hot as I taped off my paint and tried to polish out the white milky grille shell before installing the grill egg crates. 4 hours with "Semi Chrome" paste.

It looks much better, but it's not perfect, it wears the scars of 45 years use & sitting out in weather, but somehow the grill shell works with the front bumper, bumper guards, and egg crates. I still can see some spots up close, but I'm trying to keep things real, so resisted the urge to buy a new one.




I'm pleased.

 

Thank You Sir!
I'm still thinking that's what I'll do too, but first I want to get my "dent" upper and lower lines
alligned as near perfect as I can.

If not lined up, striping in the "dent" will emphasize any mis-alignment.



Up dated 07-18-2022 ... My deep dish beauty rings are nicely polished stainless steel, the center caps on the truck are chrome steel and I found a few specs of rust on them as I was starting to put the rings on. I polished it off of the chrome, but I can read tea leaves. I ordered a new set of caps in polished stainless steel, I'll wait and put the rings on then when swapping to the new caps. I think it'll look way better that way as polished stainless steel and chromed steel look pretty different close together.

I'm just waiting on some other items as I made lower rear blocks to more "level" the truck too before striping it, it'll still have about 5/8" rake from rear to front if measuring by the dent edges then. Stock blocks have it with 2-11/16" rake. Stripes will look better nearer horizontal I think.

 

Your grill sure looks tidy. Nice efforts.

 

Picked up truck 06-10-2022, he wouldn't name a number total I owed right off. Tuesday 06-28-2022 after he had not called to tell me what I owed him, I drove it over to his shop with my Wife. I caught him doing so work for his eldest grandaughter's race bike. She must weigh 80 pounds, no wonder that 600 gets it done on the track.

I asked straight up how much I owed him if he knew. "How does XX sound?" he asked when pressed. I was happy. I wrote a check for $X,X00 for all the work, etc. He said he was happy. I know he put a lot of skilled work in it, I am pleased as punch.

Today he called me as we had been interupted on the 28th by two other of his customers. Check I wrote cleared ... I made sure ... but I acted surprised at that (I was the one that brought it into the conversation).

Truck is Ford color code "YZ" which is "Oxford White", it is a two part "base coat / clear coat" polyurethane. So far, I haven't found any drips or runs ... nada ..... zip.

I mentioned strange little dark spots that come off easy, he said he liked white but that flies would land on it and poop. Like he, I guess we just don't notice the poop on darker colors, they are so small.

Monday I take the truck to the glass shop for yet a third windshioeld rubber, but this one will be just solid black. Well Monday came and I had it there by 8:30am, then went to town with my Wife, headed back home after 10, truck was parked out front, no broken glass ... solid black windshield rubber looked great. $100 included cost of rubber.

 

Lining up the dent can be a challenge. Where to start? New cab insulators or go with however the stockers have settled?

 

It wouldn't take a lot of shimming, I have measured compressed bushing parts, if I can get just 1/8" shim between cab rear floor and bushing top washers on the cab right side bushing, and more like 5/32" on that right middle (and maybe the right rad support) that would do it. I thought they had settled, but in looking at some old pictures, it has always had a very very slight lean that I guess I had just gotten used to, accepted even.. It was only after I was putting doors and fenders on and thinking of tape that I started noting the lean of the cab.

I have a black poly set, bought pretty cheap from a fella whom never used them. I'll bet those 7/16" bolts are gonna be a biot** to get loose in the middle position there at the front of the cab, not sure how there is "swing room" for a big breaker bar.

07-28-2022: I did get the rear pulled down with lower blocks and new U-bolts yesterday. My "fender gap" is virtually the same front and rear now. but there's that "dent offset" at bed to cab meeting just glaring at me?




Anyway ... I am gearing up for a bushing swap soon ... but I am really liking the "all white idea", and focus on hard parts like wheel well trim & liners, drip rail trim, paint protection on hood front, fog lights, ventshades, steps, seat covers, hand grabs, & etc. I might yet find the perfect hood ornament too? I might use some clear Scotch tape to hold some red & blue stripes in place and just look at it though, to see them with shadows, etc.

08-12-22:
Yesterday was a year since starting this thread, truck looks great, still have a few things to do though. I'm glad I took her advice.

 

Shiming body bushings above bushing top washer:

Looking at the picture in my previous post on this thread, I can see that my efforts worked in getting the cab level. It was just the one right rear most cab bushing that was low, and after loosening the bolts, I slipped in two 3" OD round shims above the right rear top bushing steel washer. It was always slightly off on the right but until this go-round, me trying to get things aligned, my body guy fretting because he thought he messed up a bed side, ... I had I guess accepted it or overlooked it for all the years. I thought those shims were about 1/8" each, but stacked together they are just a hair over 3/16", not quite a full quarter inch. And it's fixed. They are cicular in shape with a round 1/2" center hole and a 1/2" wide slot cut from the hole to the edge. I'm sure they were punched out of a sheet of steel, then plated.


Today I tightened up all my seat bolts after putting them in yesterday, restocked my storage boxes, and the humidity was fearsome again. Heaviest thing I lifted was a bottle jack I carry. I was wringing wet.

 

Nicely done. Looks spot-on.
A lot easier to look at now, eh?

 

I got to talking to the Wife, forgot already posted once ... MY BAD

 

Interesting past year plus: I bought new bed sides and other items through Ford in the '90s, they were all aftermarket from Taiwan except for the tailgate (it is Ford). We put them on my '77. We put new inner arches from bed side to inner bed side, reinstalled all braces, some few welds, bonding, etc to support as original. My aftermarket Taiwan bed sides, doors, and my newer purchased Taiwan front fenders too ... all measured the same as the OEM pieces we removed. The steel used might have a different mix though? All of the pieces came electro primed, we added to it for painting purposes. Once in place, the Taiwan AM pieces are plenty fine and every bit as good for use, they are not butter.

Out with the old wardrobe:



I cut the OEM bed sides in half and I cut the window frames off the doors to make easier to toss up over into the county scrap metal dumpster. There's all of the old bed sides, tailgate, front fenders, and two doors ... minus trim. Lots of rusty sharp edges, didn't want to scar something, it ain't but maybe 2 miles each way, so the trailer will do nicely, it all even left room for kitchen & household trash bags.

Also, those body lines I was fretting over compared to before.


As close as can get them. Actual shim was 0.228" thick as I recall, was two big 3" OD washers with slots. Shims slid in place above bushing washer under cab floor after loosening the body bolts a few turns. Then retighten them.

 

Interesting to look back a year like to post 26 ... I was just then dealing with the doors.

I'm just tired tonight, maybe some bored too maybe ... after today's spent working on a new solid mount on my house to move my Sat dish to, out of the danger zone of snow sliding off the metal roof. I should have stopped the installer putting it where it is, but it'll work out ... but I wasn't prepared for this new type mount he used. I went over the wood siding of my house carport this week with matching metal, gonna get logs cleasned and restained in spring I think. I dodn't get up and down ladders like once I did. It looks great so far, will look better when the logs are done ... logs and metal. All the metal is over solid painted wood, but some of the wood was weathering with delaminations. Idea of wood covered by steel started after new roof in '17. Anyway ...we like the mix.

I've had quite a few comments on the truck from friends, 100% say "NO STRIPES" ... not even one pro-stripe comment yet. I must say ... and I maybe said it earlier, I agree. I still have them new seat covers and a set of full fender liners and wheel opening bright trim to go on, bought another hood to cowl seal that uses plastic push pins instead of metal ... and one day I'll put that complete Ford turn signal switch in with OEM cancel cam. I have a couple old CB radios, might see if they work, maybe the caps aren't 'sploded .... Here's my truck picture:




This is the front of the house as seen by all in the holler below ... but my driveway, etc is on the "other" or woods side. That DirecTV dish will almost be hidden once moved by the post it's mounted on now ... and protected by a roof. It points outwards some, so it'll see satelites still. (update 10-27-22 ... moved the DirecTV dish today after remeasuring all angles, even found a pair of not tight bolts, surprised I can only get 95% signal so looks like fine tuning is in order.)


We thought about painting the cinder blocks black then putting on brown or tan vinyl "latice-work" like sheets, like many have used to cover open crawl spaces. A covering of that man made stone would look good too.

Yep, a year brought changes.

 

Yesterday I put the OEM large coverage front fender liners in, really hugely cured the excessive wind noise as windage from going down the road is diverted away from access to the doors through the front fenders. My truck did not have the flap style flexible seals that just act as a wall.



I have tried getting those aftermarket rear fender well liners in place but they just do not want to co-operate with me. They were bought from JCW 25 or 30 years ago, I have no idea what they cost me now. Maybe it's the colder temps fighting me making them too stiff. I have new bed sides, new upper rear wheel well arches over to the bed inner wall tubs, and everything is seriously protected by Iron Armor bed liner. The middle bed rail pockets are covered so no water is gonna get in there above the fender openings. My OEM rear flaps that were there are still good except for one tear.



I might try these full aftermarket ones again in warm weather like this coming Spring ... unless I catch warmer weather here soon like last year when I was messing with door swapping and then fenders, etc..
Maybe sitting out there with a heat gun to assist, or prewarming them near a portable heater. Instructions say they will extend below the body 1" in front and about 4" in back of the wheel opening, like a short flap I guess. I'll start with the center and work my way to the front and rear from there.



UPDATED 06-05-2023:
Twice now I have spent a warm afternoon dealing with those 1 piece rear fender inner tubs I bought in the '90s. I think possibly if I had two buddies helping with the extra hands, might could get them in place. But as they are, they just do not want to fit my wheel openings without buckling. I might have to do some creative trimming on them. Today,I gave up as they just aren't fitting like I want. I put the originals back in place today.

I have bright wheel opening trim to go on too

 

Just a Idea I've been toying with. I have the three colors in tapes and that top layer of aluminum is 3/4" wide 1/8" thick, be easy to remove and cover and then put back with tape wrapped to back.

How is now, just polished aluminum top layer.


Added a little color. I also changed some fasteners and made new, higher pockets.



Looks good from here. I made a couple very slight changes in November 2024. The higher pockets are more useable, and they let me or my Wife store something out of view down low. You can see those hand grabs I attached to ease entry too.

 

Last night we had a round of storms blow up and come out of West Virginia. I have never heard it so bad. It was sudden and heavy, but we got off lucky, stones only about 3/8" that we got, but it was like the whole bucket was dumped at once, every second. West of here, I heard they got up near quarter size, some said baseball size. My '77 in the back yard, I worried about so as soon as it stopped I went to look. This morning I took another look, all is well, cab roof and hood show no dimples. Paint looks fine too. ​​​​​​​It was the first hail storm to hit our metal roof ..... talk about a racket.​​​​​​​

In the late '80s we had a similar hail storm, a near new Thunderbird suffered some dimples, it was beside the same truck. I was working that evening, so I didn't see the hail that did that.