Projects 1965 F100 father and sons project

Hi Mike. Thanks for stopping by for a look. Have to remind myself it's for fun - rust repair is great in the end but, the process is daunting. The quality you are taking your F100 to from what I see in your photos will help me as I'm looking at details in the corners. Keep up the good work. I don't see these trucks at shows. Maybe we will start seeing more with some good examples.

 

I'm repairing my inner fenders and air deflectors on my 56 also. Are you using .024 wire? I know it still burns thru sheet metal but not as bad as .030. Looks like your repairs are good. I thought most inner fenders were available repop? I'm following along. Great job!

 

I just saw this thread. Its cool that the boys are getting involved and learning. And I really like your write ups.
I agree with not ever wanting to do things over...really rubs me the wrong way. But, its part of this whole old car rebuild process I guess. I'll be watching this thread!

 

Hi Greg, thanks for stopping by. Pearls of wisdom thank you! Hadn't occurred to me to go with thinner gauge wire for thin metal. Welding is a new sport for us. 65-66 inner fenders are their own species, and they are extinct. Support for fat fender trucks is huge comparatively, lucky you. The 67-72 trucks have found the love as well. You can walk into a local tool supplier here and buy Chev stuff off the rack. A few guys from high school days had 61-66 trucks and I wanted one. I'll stop by and check yours out later. I have to get these damn inners done. Last of my days off today.

 

Hi NashRodMan. Redo's - We are move forward types by design - think that's why toes are in the front and not in the back. As I started documenting I was worried I was too wordy but, then I figured a wad of pics with no story is likely worse. Thanks for the validation. I'm enjoying working with the kids. A couple of times we didn't have enough grinders or space so I stepped back and went in and grabbed a coffee. It's a journey for all of us. I'm a GC in my normal life, I should be able to direct traffic from afar sometimes!

 

Didn't get the passenger inner fender done today, too many errands. Just have to cut apart the old mounting bracket then repair and reinstall and finally decide if I'm going to weld up all the drilled holes or live with the character. Suspect I will be welding them up.

 

So after investing something approaching Riddler hours on these damn inner fenders, I bolted them on to make sure the repairs I made fit. Now grind 'em down and fill some holes next weekend. 22 on the drivers side and 28 in the other, the willy nilly kind not including factory. Maybe I'll have to leave the hood off.

 

Managed to squeeze in a little painting early Saturday and a partial bolt up including the new rad support end of the day Sunday so we can stand back and evaluate. Hopefully rotors come in this week then a couple of roller tires for the front and we should be able to drop the front end on the ground.

 

So, changing sequencing. Truck has to be roadworthy Mid May for High School grad parade which was cancelled, and is now on again, because everything else for Grad is cancelled. 3-1/2 months to deadline so no painting which means no extra hole filling - just fabricate, prime, bolt on. 2 hours of driving today to find a spray bomb of gold mettalic paint and all I managed to find was etching primer. Still waiting for rotors - parts are really hard to come by so this summer I'm hoping we're driving then will take Clementine apart AGAIN next winter to paint everything. Shot of my 17 year old welding the drivers floor, sparks and smoke showed up great. Even with newly set guidelines I couldn't leave the floor alone. The contour where old and new floors came together was bad under the gas pedal, so bad - I made a new piece and will weld in tomorrow. Parts shortages is going to make the date tough to hit, but, will try our best.

 

^^^^^^Men at work.

 

Indeed Warhorse - Indeed. Tried finding your shoebox on the social forum. I amaze myself how daft I can be trying to navigate this site - couldn't get there. I have a major soft spot for shoe boxes. Too many cars on my list. First a Model A then...

 

Lot's done today. Both inner fenders primed and mounted. Finished welding drivers rear cab corner, tacked contour repair under gas pedal - drivers floor. Have to get the cab on it's back to finish weld as it is curve to a curve and with the transmission in I can't tap it to flush. Frankenwelded driver's A pillar - 6 pieces. Should get it finished next weekend with flanges and spot welds to make it look stock. Deadlines can be good. View attachment 5289453

 

In my quest to get this thing done it was head down production mode this weekend. Productive yes but, Sunday my 15 yr old came out and asked if I needed help. I looked around in the tight space I was in with tools, cords, parts and said no thanks Pup, I'll catch ya later. Last night it dawned on me I kind of missed the point of this project. Told him next time, I step back and he slots in - Good grief. Photo below kind of shows status. Have to replace both brace ends under the seat where they meet the sill plus the sill section that is rusted to dust then we can complete the floor. Need to disconnect anything remaining holding the cab down and get it on it's back and done. As if we don't have enough stuff going on, we are trying wrap up our current home and go buy another then move. Let's get a few more balls in the air shall we.

 

Lookin' good!
I can see the predicament. Balancing a projected finish date with including teaching time.

All I can offer is that you look to the future. Beyond the project. Way beyond the project. Even more important than hitting the "Done By" date, how will this time be remembered? By you and your son.
Sounds like you have realized that. Good on ya!
Carry on. You guys are doing some nice work!

 

Hey Mike, words and wisdom to live by for sure, thanks. As far as I'm aware, no rewards are given to those who take the easy route. Painted the sign on the door first - have to rehang one so it is a better daily reminder.

 

What Mike Lawless said is right on!! Don't worry about the deadline. Get the boys in there if ya can.
The floors and inner fenders look great! Keep on Trucking!!
Love the sign on the door and the gold scallops on the fender!

 

Thanks NashRodMan. I'm not surprised by the wisdom on the Hamb, it's not just about cars - you guys know stuff. So the chat with my guys tonight was about the journey so if we don't get Clementine done and on the road in time, my oldest guy can tow her on a trailer. Think that triggered some excitement. Meanwhile - still waiting for my damn rotors.

 

Raybestos Rotors arrived!!!! Me thinks this thing could possibly be on wheels this weekend. This was like waiting for ice cream.

 

Cool!

 

Are you using an extension cord to your welding machine?!
IF it's too small (prolly is) it makes the welds look a lot like bird dookey! Axe me how I know this and I'm a welder!
Just a thought.
6sally6

 

Hi 6sally6. You probably hit on why I can't seem to tune my welds to something nicer regardless of changes I make to wire speed, amperage or height off the material. My carport has no power so I'm forced to use a cord. I made a 5' cab tyre extension cord equivalent to an 8ga dryer plug. I'm using flux core .030. I want to use gas but, I'm keeping my rig light until I move to the next house. Flux core cleanup is getting old given how much welding we are actually doing but, I get good penetration. Not sure how to improve on what we've got going right now, any other suggestions. Pride of workmanship is a big part of our show.

 

Strange to have to admit this but, you have to keep in mind, I'm a Canadian. Although my folks had a hobby farm when I was a kid and we had 200+ chickens and a dozen turkeys, I had to look up dookey. That pretty much describes the appearance quality of our welds.

 

Today was all kids. I talked them through but, they did all the work today including cleaning and packing bearings, installing hubs on rotors then installing on spindles. They then fabricated the curved piece for the lower centre of the tailgate. My 15 yr old cut out the rot. My older guy did the fab. First they clamped 18g to the tailgate and marked where the curve started then clamped and hammer massaged over a 2" o.d. pipe. Then back to the tailgate to final check against a piece we had repaired previous so we keep the curve consistent although multi piece. I helped tune up the shape but, they did great. Tomorrow we weld it on and time permitting we make the final piece. The process will be tack onto the existing metal then 45 degree cut and let the piece drop in flush. Tires didn't come through - Oh well. We're close to getting it on the ground. It's slower but, gratifying for all of us.

 

Tailgate almost finished. The whole bottom outside of the tailgate has now been replaced. 5 pieces in total as I can't handle anything longer than about 16" when it needs to have some shape. A 36" sheet metal break is on my wish list. The last patch had 5 holes and 2 dents so elected to just cut it all out and replace the whole piece.

 

Oops. Noticed a few pics of the OT front end sneaking into my inner fender and mockup shots. Deleted them. Got my new front tires. Should have them on this weekend. Clementine will be standing on her own feet shortly. Need to roll her out and flip around so I can tackle the passenger rear cab corner. I hear the calender pages flipping.

 

Great Father and Sons project, I think you're moving right along!

 

Thanks catdad49. 3 pcs of 2' x 4' 18g and 3 rolls of wire so far. Thought I was realistic but, I've underestimated how much time we have invested so far. Would do it all over again which is proof we are a committed lot.

 

Planning for the T5 now as my rear tires are borderline dry rotted, front ones started leaking which I just replaced. I have a T18 now with a 6.XX first gear and I live on the side of a mountain - it's work. A local Ford tech who specializes in transmissions can build me a T5 with the forward S10 shift location to play nice with our bench seat. With the 300 6 and a 3.70 rear gear and 29" tall rear tire I'm worried the T5 first gear may still be a bit too short. Ratios he offered are: 3.35, 1.99, 1.33, 1.0, .68. I ran the Tremec rpm calculator and came up with first gear speed at 2400 rpm to be 16.75 mph. I've not asked for a first gear option in the 2.95 range as I'm not quite there yet. I can't find the calculator that tells me what first gear options are best, memory tells me it's a factor of X x Y to get to a ratio around 10 or 12? Thought I had it saved somewhere, aargh and can't recall what that ratio is called to get it again. I drive both in town and highway every day. Future plans for the engine are EFI exhaust manifolds with single 3" exhaust, intake, quite likely some head work P&P and larger valves - Round one. If anyone recalls that ratio please chime in. Any opinions on the ratios as far as suitability is concerned. It should be a hot rod and I don't mind carrying a little higher rpm for fun but, I plan on dailying it in the summer.

 

Your 300/T5 combo is what I'm running as well. I went with the off the shelf T5 from American Powertrain. I have 3.54 rear gear.
If you are using the factory bellhousing with an adapter, you should check the concentricity before bolting everything. My factory bell house was .022" out, which is way past tolerance.
You can check out my thread for how I did mine, and what I did for clutch linkage. I'm pretty pleased with that. Clutch effort is light and smooth!

 

Not on the ground completely yet. Lots to do today but, will try for tomorrow. Had to touch up the centre bore a bit with the die grinder to get the Chev wheels to bottom out. The price of whitewalls plus exchange. 27.4" fronts and 28.89" rears for now. Need to remedy the white wall situation at some point but, for now this is what we are working with.