Tin bashing

david85

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I managed to salvage the stock hood insulation. It looks like crap underneath but the MLV (at least I think its mass loaded vinyl) was still in decent shape. I'm also starting to realize the sound insulation in these trucks is actually pretty good quality.

Ideally this is installed with the hood facing up since the insulation is heavy and rips easily, but I wasn't about to pull the hood in order to do that. The trick was to have the new and old layers spread on the engine, then lowering the hood close enough to get the front edge attached. After that it hangs pretty easily and the rest of the snaps can be popped in. I haven't driven it yet to see if engine noise is any better but it sure looks better than it was.

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david85

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Bedliner is done. I asked them to do the rails and to cover the rear pillars all the way to the edge where the tail light starts. This results in a black line that will be visible when the tailgate is up but I wanted to err on the side of durability, even if it might scratch someone's eye. The guy warned me that he might not be able to get below the bumper step, but it looks like he nailed it.

I also got him to seal up the front gap between the floor and front wall to prevent any more crud from collecting in the front girder. If I get sick of standing water, I'll just knock a couple holes in the front corners of the floor.

As soon as I got it home, I polished up the stainless steel corner brackets and installed them. Put up a fight because of the thickness added by the LineX.

Overall I'm pretty happy with the results. they only charged me the rate for bed only (no rails) since I don't yet have a tailgate. That will come later once work slows down again.

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david85

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I'm back. Finally found some time to dig out that nice tailgate I had in storage. It seems to be a pre-83 model since it came with steel bars instead of cables. Its been repainted at some point and there are plenty of spots were paint is bubbling due to solvent popping and poor surface prep. So it will still be getting sandblasted.

A few dents needed to be pulled, and a few holes welded shut. I also swapped over the latch hardware over to use the 1986 style setup. Did a dry fit and it looks nice. Not perfect, but its an 80s ford.

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david85

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Next up was some extra welding on the side edges. I'm hoping this could prevent the cracking that these tailgates are known for. Often the cracks come when a broken cable is not replaced.

My finger is aimed at the usual failure point. If you look closely, you can see how far apart the factory spot welds are. With only one support cable attached, I could easily see this area flexing when I leaned on it. Again, with both cables attached it shouldn't be a problem, but it was still a weak point.

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david85

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Blasting is done. No surprises under all those layers of paint & primer. Broke out the zinc phosphate primer again and got the inside covered. What I love about this stuff is the excellent edge retention. Even managed to fill the joint next to my weld.

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rgaus

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And here it is in the sunshine. Seats go in tomorrow.

David, Greatly enjoyed this entire thread. This photo of the cab interior looks exactly like my 1988 F250 including the milk crate (working on mice problems)

Bob G.

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david85

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Where did you find those brackets installed on the front on your Box corners? never seen these used before.

I made them from scratch. Some details here from Post #63

Getting closer. Not sure what other surprises this box has for my but I THINK I *Got Em' All*:rolleyes: (shouldn't have said that...LOL)

I managed to find a really nice steel 1.5" rounded corner square tube with 3/16" walls. Took some persuading but I got it into the upper fold of the front box wall. That stiffened it up considerably, but I added some stainless steel corner brackets to tie the front box corners together. Those of you who still have an OEM ford box on your IDI pickup can attest to how weak this joint is from factory. Its really just there to hold its shape and not much else.

All bolts that go into the front wall are stainless steel and machine tapped into the 3/16" wall. The two bolts on each side that go into the hanging edge have a nut under the box top. As a bonus, I drilled a hole into the corner bracket to double as a light duty tie-down. If I need any heavy tie downs, they will go under the box hold down bolts themselves.

The Stainless brackets will go on permanent only after painting and box lining is finished. The square tube will be removed, cleaned, epoxy primed, then reinstalled with seam sealer just before the box goes to paint.

Only thing left is to stand it on the front wall and power wash the underside to clean off some of the grease and expose any other potential surprises. If all goes well, I'll send it to sandblasting to prep the bed for eventual Linex application. Hoping for sandblasting early next week.

Once it comes back from blasting, it will need a final pass with urethane sanding to prep for paint...THEN it can go to paint...(maybe sometime in late 2018:rolleyes:)

I had some stainless steel lying around from an old marine fuel tank, so I used that instead of trying to paint something out of steel or aluminum. This way I have no worries of rust if it gets scratched up as a tie-down.
 

david85

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Starting to install the trim now. Using a combination of nut & bolt combined with 3M tape. I really don't like the push-in snaps ford uses from the factory.

Bolts are getting sealed to the body with urethane, and the 3M tape prevents the metal from chafing against the paint.

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david85

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Driver's side trim is all on. The front fender trim is held on entirely by double sided 3M tape. Everything else has bolts (not snaps) as a backup in addition to the tape. No rattles and hopefully no risk of galvanic interaction with the body. All through-body fasteners are sealed water tight with urethane.

I did have to knock a few holes in the truck though. I didn't want to but figured it was safer to have a bolt on each end of the door trim. After drilling the hole, I brushed on some copper primer to hopefully offer some protection. The bolt studs themselves were still covered in urethane before being pushed through the door skin.

The inside was protected with a plastic washer before using SS nut & washer. Any excess sealer was wiped away. Clean and sealed.

Weather is raining sideways for the next couple days, but hope to get some good shots of the finished truck once the sun comes out again. Aside for minor details here and there, I still need to install the pin-striping. Probably won't get here until the new year though.

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david85

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Well, here's the "good side".

The passenger side is still missing most of the moldings. I'm also missing the extended-cab molding on the passenger side. I don't suppose anyone here has one they'd be willing to part with? I keep coming up short on Ebay searches and all the local wreckers have long since crushed anything from this era.

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david85

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I installed the remaining trim pieces for the passenger side. Unfortunately I'm still coming up short on locating sourcing a piece for the extended cab though. All in good time, I guess. Hoping to install the pin-striping on upper paint line this weekend. Have to see what work looks like though.

The face also sports the true Lariat/XLT style bumper now. Nice little score in Victoria last week. The chrome isn't perfect but it's straight and the price was lower than what a single bumper horn typically goes for on Ebay.

The backside wasn't badly pitted, but I gave it a dose of corroseal and then marine enamel on top.

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david85

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And wonder of wonders, I managed to find one of those Lariat/XLT beauty plates for the tailgate during the same trip. I don't think I'll be drilling holes in the current tailgate to make it work, but as it just so happens, I found another tailgate.

Its pretty beat up with dents on the inside and cracked welds at the edges but it was the right price at $20.

As for the bumper, it fits nicely. Still hunting for that missing extended cab piece though.

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