1966 F100 Short Bed Styleside Metal/Body/Paint Work
- Thread starter theastronaut
- Start date
ct71rr
Promoted Users
Thank you. I weigh mine out when I mix it.
theastronaut
Promoted Users
Got the cab and bed on the frame for final fitting. The engine had a power steering reservoir relocation kit mounted to the driver side but it interfered with the inner fender, so I had to remove it to fit the inner fender. After talking with the owner we decided to hide the tank under the inner fender, with the lid coming through at the front.
I initially was just going to cut a hole and have the lid pop through, but that looked out of place/unfinished, and the metal at the front edge was pretty stretched and loose, so I made a recessed circle on the Pullmax and welded it in which shrunk the loose metal and it looks way better.
To make the recess I used a set of dies I already had that were meant to roll the edge of a panel. I took the backstop off and made a shorter flat piece to bolt in place of it, and set up the circle cutting clamps in the throat to make a perfect circle.
To roll an inner flange I tacked an old bearing race on the back and used a mallet to fold the flange in.
Welded together.
I initially was just going to cut a hole and have the lid pop through, but that looked out of place/unfinished, and the metal at the front edge was pretty stretched and loose, so I made a recessed circle on the Pullmax and welded it in which shrunk the loose metal and it looks way better.
To make the recess I used a set of dies I already had that were meant to roll the edge of a panel. I took the backstop off and made a shorter flat piece to bolt in place of it, and set up the circle cutting clamps in the throat to make a perfect circle.
To roll an inner flange I tacked an old bearing race on the back and used a mallet to fold the flange in.
Welded together.
theastronaut
Promoted Users
The radiator support is a reproduction '65 support that needs some mods to fit a '66, no one makes the correct '66 support. The original support and inner fenders were rusty and had crash damage so I used the inner fenders from the same parts truck we got the roof from. '65 inner fenders and the mounting flanges on the rad support were different, so I needed to rework the flanges to fit the '66 inner fenders and have more room for the '66 radiator.
Difference in angle of the lower flange.
Spotwelds drilled to remove the '65 radiator brackets.
New lower flanges.
The donor inner fenders were better but not perfect so I had a few areas to straighten out.
I slightly rounded off the sharp corners on all of the edges.
On the back of the mounting flanges, I ground the outer edges at about a 15* angle to bevel the edges, once it's painted the edges won't dig into the firewall and chip the paint underneath.
This area was dented and I couldn't really tell what the original shape would've been, and after knocking the dent out the area was floppy/loose. The rest of the inner fenders have sharp, straight bends with flat areas in between and this area was rounded so it looked out of place. I made marks with a straight edge and hammered in creases with a chisel and hammer over a sandbag, then used the shrinking disk to bring the rounded areas down until they were flat.
After-
All of the original wavy edges were flattened, and I trimmed back the areas around the new crossmember to make more room for getting in there with tools to align it, and room for the power steering reservoir hoses.
Extra holes welded up.
Difference in angle of the lower flange.
Spotwelds drilled to remove the '65 radiator brackets.
New lower flanges.
The donor inner fenders were better but not perfect so I had a few areas to straighten out.
I slightly rounded off the sharp corners on all of the edges.
On the back of the mounting flanges, I ground the outer edges at about a 15* angle to bevel the edges, once it's painted the edges won't dig into the firewall and chip the paint underneath.
This area was dented and I couldn't really tell what the original shape would've been, and after knocking the dent out the area was floppy/loose. The rest of the inner fenders have sharp, straight bends with flat areas in between and this area was rounded so it looked out of place. I made marks with a straight edge and hammered in creases with a chisel and hammer over a sandbag, then used the shrinking disk to bring the rounded areas down until they were flat.
After-
All of the original wavy edges were flattened, and I trimmed back the areas around the new crossmember to make more room for getting in there with tools to align it, and room for the power steering reservoir hoses.
Extra holes welded up.
123pugsy
Member
theastronaut
Promoted Users
Ask and ye shall receive.
The hidden ribs and 3/8 shorter roof with the seam eliminated really cleans up the back of the cab. The ribs visually shorten the area under the window, the 64-66 roof skin was a lot taller than the 60-63 skin so the proportions look weird on stock 64-66 cabs.
The original roof for comparison.
theastronaut
Promoted Users
I never was able to get the front bumper fitted due to the old frame being bent too badly for the bumper and filler panel to bolt on. The bumper that was on the truck was a later 67-72 style with squared ends, but the parts truck had a painted 64-66 bumper with the correct angled ends so that's what I started with. It had been hit on both sides so there were some buckles and bends to work out.
The overall shape was way off after getting the buckled spots worked down flat.
I used a come a long and vise plus heat, hammers, and a 24" adjustable wrench to get it back in shape.
Linear stretching a spot I over-shrunk.
Decided to use an aftermarket filler panel, the factory one I had was rotted, so I got the overall shape pretty much matched up with the new panel.
The overall shape was way off after getting the buckled spots worked down flat.
I used a come a long and vise plus heat, hammers, and a 24" adjustable wrench to get it back in shape.
Linear stretching a spot I over-shrunk.
Decided to use an aftermarket filler panel, the factory one I had was rotted, so I got the overall shape pretty much matched up with the new panel.
theastronaut
Promoted Users
Starting point of the front bumper/filler panel fitment. The corners and outer flanges of the splash panel were so far off that I just cut those off completely to get them out of the way. The rad support, fenders, and filler panels are all aftermarket and nothing matched up. The mounting flanges on the filler panel were supposed to be vertical but were angled around 15* on each side on the new panel, so the outer mounting flanges also had to be cut off just to get the filler panel to fit in place. The bumper stuck out too far past the detail line on the filler panel, and the whole thing stuck out way too far from the body.
I double checked the rad support/filler panel fit with the original filler panel to determine which part was shaped wrong; neither fit correctly so the rad support isn't shaped correctly.
The rad support had metric threads so I drilled them to the next standard size up and retapped the threads.
The bumper normally mounts directly to the frame with no ability to adjust it, but we asked No Limit to make shorter frame stubs with bolt on bumper brackets so the bumper could be moved around easier. The holes they drilled didn't offer any adjustment, so I cut the whole rear edge off to make room for moving the bumper back farther, welded up what was left of the holes, and drilled/slotted new ones once I had the bumper where I wanted it.
Filler panel mount brackets removed from the original panel, blasted, and straightened to fit the fenders and rad support better.
To fit the bumper closer to the body, I split the filler panel down the middle and initially overlapped it to do a test fit to see how far in I wanted to bring the bumper in, and settled on taking out 1".
I double checked the rad support/filler panel fit with the original filler panel to determine which part was shaped wrong; neither fit correctly so the rad support isn't shaped correctly.
The rad support had metric threads so I drilled them to the next standard size up and retapped the threads.
The bumper normally mounts directly to the frame with no ability to adjust it, but we asked No Limit to make shorter frame stubs with bolt on bumper brackets so the bumper could be moved around easier. The holes they drilled didn't offer any adjustment, so I cut the whole rear edge off to make room for moving the bumper back farther, welded up what was left of the holes, and drilled/slotted new ones once I had the bumper where I wanted it.
Filler panel mount brackets removed from the original panel, blasted, and straightened to fit the fenders and rad support better.
To fit the bumper closer to the body, I split the filler panel down the middle and initially overlapped it to do a test fit to see how far in I wanted to bring the bumper in, and settled on taking out 1".
theastronaut
Promoted Users
With the bumper straight and stripped, the filler panel split and shortened/welded, I wanted to capture the front edge of the filler panel by adding tabs on the inside of the bumper. Originally the splash panel floated under the bumper, unattached so there was nothing to keep it from sagging or to hold it in alignment with the bumper. I spaced the front lip down off the bumper 5/32" to get the top edge of the bumper flush with the top of the filler panel. I'll find the correct size metal stock and weld narrower permanent spacers onto the edge.
I cut and bent 1/8" strips 90* and welded them to the bumper to hold bottom of the filler panel at the correct height. After the bumpers are plated I'll brush on Plasti-Dip to keep this from rattling.
Test fit on the truck.
Both corners of the bumper need to be trimmed to clear the body better, but now that the bumper and filler panel are in their final places I can start remaking the flanges and edges of the filler panel to mount correctly and fill in the gap around the bottom corners of the grill. I expect the bumper to slightly move around when the chrome shop does the final straightening, so I'll wait to get the filler panel fitting any better until after the bumper is back. I'll use the finished bumper as a guide for skimming the top of the filler panel to make it perfectly level with the bumper.
I cut and bent 1/8" strips 90* and welded them to the bumper to hold bottom of the filler panel at the correct height. After the bumpers are plated I'll brush on Plasti-Dip to keep this from rattling.
Test fit on the truck.
Both corners of the bumper need to be trimmed to clear the body better, but now that the bumper and filler panel are in their final places I can start remaking the flanges and edges of the filler panel to mount correctly and fill in the gap around the bottom corners of the grill. I expect the bumper to slightly move around when the chrome shop does the final straightening, so I'll wait to get the filler panel fitting any better until after the bumper is back. I'll use the finished bumper as a guide for skimming the top of the filler panel to make it perfectly level with the bumper.
theastronaut
Promoted Users
It won't be hard mounted, just held at the correct height via spacers on top and the tabs on bottom. It can still slide front/back and side to side if needed, but will stay at the correct height relative to the bumper. The rad support and cab have reproduction rubber mounts, but I'm considering delrin mounts for the majority of the mount height with maybe 1/8" rubber to pad the mounts so there is less mount deflection.
I know there can be significant up-down deflection when, for example, going up a driveway at an angle. If the truck is retaining much of the ladder frame, suspension deflection on one side will definitely kick the frame horn up relative to the body. Whether or not it'd ever be enough to permanently bend anything, I don't know.
theastronaut
Promoted Users
My ‘66 C10 has that issue, to the point that I’ve had a friend call me after seeing it flex coming out of a driveway and asked if I forgot to bolt the bed down lol.
The No Limit chassis barely has any flex, only 1-1.5° down the length of the entire chassis loaded with 1000 ft lb of torque. The change in angle in the short distance between the rad support and bumper would be super minimal with such a stiff frame, so it shouldn’t be an issue.
25K views · 366 reactions | OBS chassis test. NO LIMIT OBS. I love doing this, its fun. Our new OBS chassis tests very well. We know these will be awesome drivers. We have learned a lot about how to build quality chassis over the years by continually
OBS chassis test. NO LIMIT OBS. I love doing this, its fun. Our new OBS chassis tests very well. We know these will be awesome drivers. We have learned a lot about how to build quality chassis over...
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