Bodywork Timeline

Ok, so recently I started workin on the truck, doing little bits and pieces of bodywork and stuff here and there.

Today, I pulled the doors off my parts truck and put them on my F250. I put the old doors off my F250 on the parts truck.

I lost the power windows and door locks in doing so, but I gained glass with NO tint on it. An added bonus in getting it safety inspected, and besides....I am a redneck and I don't need those luxeries.

Here are some pics of the work I done so far. I rubbed the hood and front fenders down and sanded out all the little nicks and rust spots in the paint...took a while, but it's done and sprayed with a couple cans of high build sealer/primer.





The passenger side cab corner is all done up....what a job THAT was!! It's flawless (almost) and covered in sealer/primer as well. The first pic is of the driver side cab corner, that needs to be done next weekend....but the passenger side cab corner looked JUST like this when I started.







The doors were just thrown on as they need to be stripped, primered, painted and re-hung and aligned....fenders need to be re-shimmed on the install as well.

It's a work in progress, and as I have said a million times before, NOT A SHOW TRUCK...I just want a truck that looks as good as it works!

Nice work man! I do gotta ask how are you suppose to get your clothes down off that clothes hanger/Dryer?

Cincinnati Guy said:

Nice work man! I do gotta ask how are you suppose to get your clothes down off that clothes hanger/Dryer?

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Offa the what?! lol

Did you fill those holes with bondo?

david85 said:

Did you fill those holes with bondo?

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oh jeez no! I want this to last. It was rebuilt with sheet metal. I kept what was completely solid, but what was gone or questionable was cut out and new pieces stitched into place. Then I put a little skim of filler over it, sanded it for about an hour until it was smooth with no humps or pin holes in it and layed it out with primer/sealer until I am ready to do the other corner (with a panel I bought) and then sand the whole thing, then prime/seal it.

looks good stop driving a truck and do body work!!!!!!!!!! lol

X2....
I was thinking about the contradiction in "not gonna be a show truck" and "I only want it to look as good as it works"....my primary truck looks like absolute crap, but when it comes to working it has stollen the show more than once.

Goofyexponent said:

oh jeez no! I want this to last. It was rebuilt with sheet metal. I kept what was completely solid, but what was gone or questionable was cut out and new pieces stitched into place. Then I put a little skim of filler over it, sanded it for about an hour until it was smooth with no humps or pin holes in it and layed it out with primer/sealer until I am ready to do the other corner (with a panel I bought) and then sand the whole thing, then prime/seal it.

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Whew! just checking

I had to get the full extended cab corners for my F150. Took a couple weeks to get it where I wanted it, but there isn't any filler thicker than 1/8" anywhere on that job. I was able to use a tig welder to blend the second one in after I got the hang of working with that sheet metal. Needed almost no filler at all on that side.

After all was done on the outside I shot some primer in between the walls to try and get the weld from behind too.

The rockers were so far gone in my case that I had to rebuild it from the B pillar back. You can use the new B pillar root as a jacking point for the truck now

Looks like you did a nice job

looks really good, I'm doing body work on my truck too in a few weeks my floors need serious work under the door sill, I'm getting my mig welder and my uncle is getting a bunch of sheet metal from work and then well get started before winter time

Good job!

Thirty years ago we didn't use Bondo. After welding the sheet metal in points about an inch apart, we cleaned the sheet metal with some acid and put some tin with the torch. When cold it was sanded flush, check for little holes or cracks and put some more tin. After sanding to perfection then cover with primer, sand and two coats of the paint with a little sanding in between.

I need to take some time off work to fix my truck's body in some parts. It's a hard working truck and deserves some care also in the exterior. Usually I only do some maintenance work in the engine and brakes. I don't remember when was the last time I washed the van or the truck. I just vacuum sometimes the interior and clean the glass in and out, but outside has a protective layer of dirt and soot.

Are you going to finish it with cans also? I did that once with an old car. I was using four or five at the same time because when they get cold after spraying for a while the performance was not the same and the paint finish was not right. Get a plastic trigger made for cans if you are going to finish it that way because after a while my index finger was tired too. You don't need to do the whole truck in one pass. I think is better if you go by sections and mask real good the other. A good masking job is very important if you want a professional finish. If the paint job will be done in the open, you need to wait for the right weather (no wind) and wet all the surroundings to keep dust blowing to your finished section to a minimum. If the second coat is not perfect you can polish it a little later, but requires tact and extreme care to avoid burning thru the layers.

Keep up the good work. I wish I would follow your example soon.

Burt.