Projects Bringing an F100 Back from the Dead

1965 Furd F100 Update
Light at the end of the tunnel! Bed is mostly complete. Stainless steel bed strips will be added later. I'm going to the metal store to get 304 SS flat bar to make 'em. That will go down both outside edges, the center, and between those. 5 strips total.
Roll-on bed liner has been applied to the tops of the bed frame, and over the edge about a half inch.
Front bumper has been straightened and narrowed an inch on each side to tuck it in closer to the body.
Moving onto the interior, I have all the material to finish the bench seat. Watching those hot rod shows has really paid off on a lot of this stuff, and the seat foam is no exception. It cuts beautifully with an electric kitchen carver.
I'll have the step by step photos for the seat in another post.
Also, and this is a biggie...
Insurance and registration! I have it insured now and the tags will be here in a few days. Once I get the seat put back in and bolt down some seat belts, it's a driver!

 

Chaw, like look at you like all Customy, top to bottom, end to end. Dig the front bumper. Mine's chrome and I don't want to mess with it but, I've wanted to tuck mine front and rear - they just look so right!

 

I like how the bed turned out.

 

Liking the bumpers and bed chop!

 

Thanks guys!
I'll be making up some bed sides soon, like in the illustration a few posts back. I'll use the same stain and varnish as the bed.
Whitewall, I would not have done that to the bumper if it was chrome. Chrome around these parts is just WAY too expensive to get re-done. I'd bet it's even more expensive up in the Great White North.
Besides, with a painted bumper I won't need to worry about scratchin' it pushing those shopping carts out of the way that people leave in the middle of the shady parkin' spots down to da hardware store!

 

I wonder if argent colored bedliner would be more durable and appropriate for that?

 

Argent color maybe. Never thought about bedliner.
I have some GM argent wheel urethane I was gonna use on the metal parts, such as the grill, turn signal bezels and such. I think Ford used that color for bumpers too.
I'll have to chew on the bedliner idear for a while. I appreciate the suggestion!

 

Raptor sells bed liner that you tint with urethane. I bet you know that.

 

Today's job has been in the making and planning stages for a while now. The bench seat.
Quotes to get a custom cover and new foam made me spit my coffee out.
Aftermarket replacement covers were limited on material choice and colors. Not all that cheap either. I also wanted to do some custom foam shaping to add in some side bolsters for support and additional comfort.
This is where watching hot rod shows has paid off. An electric kitchen carving knife was incredible for shaping the foam. Unbelievably easy in fact!
I used 3" thick extra firm foam for the seat bottom, and semi firm 2" thick for the back, all with heavy weight burlap to cover the springs. Another tip learned from hot rod shows on TV! Some of the leftover 2" foam was used to make the side bolsters, and glued onto the main cushion with spray adhesive. The seat cover material itself is authentic heavy-weight wool Mexican blanket in a southwest type pattern. It too was adhered to the cushions with spray adhesive to keep in place, so it won't shift and bunch up.
All in, about $250 in materials and a half day's work.
Wifey was REALLY impressed. I'm pretty happy with the result too!

 

One less thing on the list.

 

That's fer sure!
Comparatively, the rest of the list, while still pretty lengthy, is detail work

 

Great build. Really like the upholstery job & will use/copy. Where did u find heavy weight blankets & what type glue to hold steady?

 

Amazon for the blankets. Lots to choose from. These were not the cheapest. Many are polyester. These are wool. Hopefully heavy enough to hold up for several years. If not, peel 'em off and put new ones on.
Loctite spray adhesive. Comes out in a web pattern. 3M has a similar adhesive. Got that down to da hardware sto'!

 

Another vote for 3M Trim Adhesive. The tip can give either a vertical or horizontal spray pattern.
Hint: Clean the tip nozzle with spray carb cleaner after every use.

 

Since the seat was in, and the garage was a mess, I decided to take the ol' Furd around the block a few times, (even though while the tags are paid for, I don't akshully have 'em yet). So I kept it close to home. But here she is out in the sun for the time in a long time!

 

A bit of cuttin', grindin' and fittin' yesterday and today. I've been teetering back and forth about what to do about a back bumper. Did I want to make a roll pan? Or keep it simple?
For the time being, simple does it. 3/16" brackets to the frame, and a 2 X 4" rectangle steel tube, 1/8" wall thickness. A hitch receiver will attach below and back to the rear frame cross-member.
This will be a work in progress for a while. I'm gonna make some ends that wrap a bit around the bottoms of the fenders. This will also make the back panel (or "tailgate") very easy and simple.
I have place the license plate temporarily on a hinge over the fuel filler. I think I will stick with that placement, but when I make a new back panel, it'll be recessed, but still hinged. Recessed enough to put a license plate light in too.
I also finished out the tail pipes. Nuthin' fancy there. Exit behind the tires with turn down tips.

 

Looking good, Mike! That simple bumper looks right at home there.

 

Thanks brEad!
For the last couple of days, I've been working on the bed sides. Finished those up today. I'm pretty happy with the look.
I also contacted the outfit that installed my new windshield, and ordered a driver side door glass. It was busted out when I got the truck. I just need that to finish the door window install with the new power window kit from NuRelics.
Also in the mail......
Registration tags! It's now "mostly" legal to drive.
No seat belts yet. I ordered some "El Cheapo" lap belts for the time being. I'll hit the local pick n pull wrecking yard soon to scrounge up some shoulder harness type belts from a later model "SomethingOrOther"

 

Coming along very good.

 

I installed inertia reel-type shoulder harnesses in my '46 after beefing up the cab corners. I got them fro a salvage yard later model Escort. They are a bit finnicky to get the inertia tumbler to activate correctly but comfortable when in use.

 

Pretty much what I was thinking on the upper mount. On belts, I'm not locked into Ford stuff. Could be toyota or Jaguar for all I care. As long as fit the measurement I'm looking for

 

Out and about yesterday! First visit to the petrol station in close to 20 years.
Officially legal to drive. Now kinks and bugs need to be worked out. First thing that HAD to be done after getting petrol, was putting the interior vent doors back on. The vent passages still had a good bit of debris, and once I hit 40mph, a bunch of dead leaves and dirt starting flying out! Fun!
Wifey and I took 'er out for ice cream after dinner too. It was her first ride in it.
First impressions....of course there's lots of stuff to work out.
It sounds like a UPS truck. (Most older UPS trucks have the same motor). I don't know. I might have to swap out the turbo mufflers for glass packs or something. Give it that unique sound inline sixes with dual exhaust are known for.
It rides OK. A bit choppy in back. I don't think my bed weighs as much as the original.
The speedometer is way off, so I'll have to change the gear. It's reading about 10mph slow at 40. Tach reads 2100 rpm there, and according to gear/speed calculators with my rear gear and tire size, that's actually about 50mph.
My OT fueling system also controls the fans. Those didn't come on. Also the fuel pressure regulator pulses (which are pretty fast) resonate through the floor because I have hard lines hard mounted on the firewall. Some sort of insulator should take care of that.
Still need a driver's side door glass. The local outfit I contacted wasn't able to get one. I was trying to avoid having to have one shipped.

 

super!
I suggest a manual fan over ride switch so if you get in one of those famous California traffic backups you can switch on the fans preemptively.

 

It's great to hear that you have a driver now.... Keep hammering on the little things but keep driving it and have some fun....

 

That there is another great idear!
Thanks!

 

Mike,
Is your door glass tempered glass or safety glass? I'm thinking your door glass is flat glass is it not? If it is and it's safety glass then a good glass shop should be able to cut one for you out of flat stock. That's what I did for my '32. But if it's tempered, that's a horse of a different color.

 

Well, there were millions of glass chunks in the bottom of the door, so, horse of a different color.
There's a few places that have 'em in stock online. So I reckon I'll just risk having one shipped.

 

Laminated safety glass was common in vehicle side windows up until the early '60s when it was phased out for tempered glass, mostly because they started installing curved side glass, but also for safety reasons. But there's no reason you couldn't use it if you have flat glass, just make sure your window channels are nice and snug with good fuzzies. If they're loose, broken glass from slamming the door can result.

 

Mike, watch the sniper screen to see what the engine temp is when you're wondering about the cooling fan. I set mine for 15 degrees above the thermostat operation and going off at about the thermostat opening. As you know, the ecu runs a ground to turn on the cooling fan. I have a toggle switch on my dash which has a ground when on to energize the cooling fan. I have laminated glass in the door and vent windows on my projects. I don't have problems. If you have door hardware that doesn't work well and slamming a door is the way to close it, you might crack a window. If you have one finger push to close, I don't think you will have a problem. If you find a really good glass shop, they will have access to patterns on the internet. They will print one off and cut your glass. I'm surprised that your fuel lines are making some noise. I would have thought that the sound mat you installed would have cured that. ????? A good drive tends to make this all seem worth it.

 

Nice job!