Hi all, the plan is to chronicle the bodywork on my 1951 Ford F2BODYWORK NEEDED, AS OF MAY, 2008
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Hi all, the plan is to chronicle the bodywork on my 1951 Ford F2
Here's how it starts - once you start sandblasting, you are committed...
Here's what I found underneath the gas tank.
Quite a few holes, in the bottom layer, under the rear floorboard
Cab corners are SHOT...
Inside and out!!!
The white blob below is bondo...
Now THAT'S going to be a tough piece to fabricate!
I will be replacing the rear panel, bigger than the cutout below, just inside the two outer
"indents", and underneath the rear rail.
Here's the piece that I got from Josh Madsen in Utah - thanks, Josh!! He cut it from inside
the cab, since he didn't want to remove the flatbed. He cut off the pinch joint flange, so it
falls short. That's fine, because I am going to be welding a new flange on, both the panel,
and underneath where all the holes are, and make a new pinch joint. As you can see, the
body flange is eaten away, anyway. Should make for a nice, sturdy cab.
Another shot of the gap...you can visualize all new metal there.
You can see the front cab corners - the green stuff is bondo. I have new cab corners
already. Luckily, most of the front - the cab mount, etc, are in pretty decent shape, along
with the forward floorboard, so I won't have to do a lot there. Basically, the cab corner
skin, and associated cap, etc.
Well, I decided to cut into the bottom of the back, under the support bar. Glad I did. It's
not near as bad as I first thought. The damage is primarily on the bottom, the support bar
itself is not too damaged, except for some rust, and around the tank hole, which should be
easily repaired. You can see the pictures below:
I don't see too much problem with this, as a lot of it, I was going to have to do anyway,
because of the way the repair panel was cut. Time will tell...
Here I have it pretty well cleaned up. I will be hosing the inside down with "Chassis Saver"
paint. Should seal up any future rust. I'll have to hold off where the new metal will be
welded in place, but will use weld thru primer. Here's a few more pics...
I've stopped on the cab, and I'm sandblasting the frame. Necessity is the mother of invention!!
I'm letting the frame sit and "season" while I've jumped to the rear of the cab. Bob Jones
Of Wisconsin talked me into building my own rear cab corners. I started on them today,
and got the first one close to finished. Took all day, but a lot of that was looking for the
right tools, sharpening my tin snips, etc, etc. Layout was easier than I thought, just a little
time-consuming and thought provoking. But I don't think it turned out too bad.
Tomorrow I'll build the other side.
Click here for Page Two...the never-ending saga...
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