'66 F100 Custom Cab Short/Styleside Factory Correct Resto

[mercuryv8]

Areas to be careful not to burn through when colour sanding and polishing??

Nic

[theastronaut]

Ok, you got me here, whats the plan with that lol.

It shows how much we are sanding around the edges, so we don't sand too much and go through the clear.

Areas to be careful not to burn through when colour sanding and polishing??

Nic

Ding ding ding!! We have a winner! We wet block the flat areas first with 1000 grit to flatten the orange peel. The sharpie is on the areas that don't need to be hit hard with a hard block and rougher paper. When we go to 2000 grit on a soft pad we'll very lightly sand off the sharpie. That way the edges and details are sanded smooth, but not thinned to the point that they're thin. We finish up with 2500, then buff with a wool pad.

[theastronaut]

Couple pics of the sharpie marks in action.

[olliesshop]

WOW!!! It sure is coming along great. Great job documenting your progress.

All the best

[theastronaut]

More updates. The flywheel cover was pretty beat, looked like the clutch disc had exploded at some point! We straightened it, blasted, primed, and painted it.







Inner fenders wetsanded and painted.





Emergency flasher switch bracket blasted, painted, and the clip polished.





Door hinge springs were blasted and painted. Used a ratchet strap to pull the coils apart so they got fully painted.





Horn ring assembled and installed on the wheel.

[theastronaut]

Couldn't find a decent radiator support so we ordered a reproduction and used the bottom half to repair the original RS.


Marking the cut lines.




Cuts cleaned up, making a template using masking tape.




Took measurments of various points so we could align the template, then stuck it on and sprayed silver paint to mark the cut line on the new RS.






Initial fit up of the two pieces.







After final fitting, welding, and smoothing the welds. Really surprised at how well the two pieces fit together.

[theastronaut]

WOW!!! It sure is coming along great. Great job documenting your progress.

All the best

Thanks, this it my favorite part! Love seeing the parts start going back together.

[theastronaut]

Guide coated the cab with powdered charcoal before wetsanding with 2000 and 2500 grit today. The charcoal shows all the 1000 grit scratches, so we can be sure we sanded all of them out with 2000. It also won't stick to non-sanded paint so it shows any spots we missed.









After sanding with 2000 and 2500. We'll buff it tomorrow and hopefully have it back on the frame by Friday.

[bird55]

I can't wait to see the expression on the fly's face when he tries to land on that thing and slides off and breaks one of his 6 legs!

[theastronaut]

I can't wait to see the expression on the fly's face when he tries to land on that thing and slides off and breaks one of his 6 legs!

Wait til we post pics of it buffed!

[Shadow]

Unreal Workmanship! This Build Is So Far Above My Pay-Grade I Shouldn't Even Be Looking At It. ........

[Hoofbeat Racer]

Unreal Workmanship! This Build Is So Far Above My Pay-Grade I Shouldn't Even Be Looking At It. ........

That's too funny Dana, I have been watching this build for awhile and when I seen the flasher support bracket, that put me over the edge. I too thought that I am not even good enough to be looking at these pics as well.

I must commend Mr. Astronaut on his passion for detail in every step of the way in his builds. The truck has truly become a piece of artwork. Look forward to seeing the completed project. It has been very inspiring to say the least. Extraordinary work!!

[theastronaut]

Unreal Workmanship! This Build Is So Far Above My Pay-Grade I Shouldn't Even Be Looking At It. ........

Unreal Workmanship! This Build Is So Far Above My Pay-Grade I Shouldn't Even Be Looking At It. ........

That's too funny Dana, I have been watching this build for awhile and when I seen the flasher support bracket, that put me over the edge. I too thought that I am not even good enough to be looking at these pics as well.

I must commend Mr. Astronaut on his passion for detail in every step of the way in his builds. The truck has truly become a piece of artwork. Look forward to seeing the completed project. It has been very inspiring to say the least. Extraordinary work!!

Thanks a ton dudes, appreciate the comments! We try no to skimp on the little parts like the flasher bracket. My biggest pet peeve is looking at a car/truck and the more you look at it, the more you find wrong with it. It's always a nice surprise to see that all the little parts are done just as nicely as the obvious "big" items.

[theastronaut]

Cab is buffed and bolted back on the frame.

[skidoorulz]

Unreal Workmanship! This Build Is So Far Above My Pay-Grade I Shouldn't Even Be Looking At It. ........

Unreal Workmanship! This Build Is So Far Above My Pay-Grade I Shouldn't Even Be Looking At It. ........

That's too funny Dana, I have been watching this build for awhile and when I seen the flasher support bracket, that put me over the edge. I too thought that I am not even good enough to be looking at these pics as well.

I must commend Mr. Astronaut on his passion for detail in every step of the way in his builds. The truck has truly become a piece of artwork. Look forward to seeing the completed project. It has been very inspiring to say the least. Extraordinary work!!

Thanks a ton dudes, appreciate the comments! We try no to skimp on the little parts like the flasher bracket. My biggest pet peeve is looking at a car/truck and the more you look at it, the more you find wrong with it. It's always a nice surprise to see that all the little parts are done just as nicely as the obvious "big" items.

Anybody wants to nit pick mine when it is done, I am going to look them in the eye and say, Let's see what you brought to the show and we will compare! Oh that's right you got here in your 1995 Honda Civic! The truly sad thing about your resto Astro. (not bad mouthing you by any means) is that when you are done with this 100k resto and the owner takes it home and has only driven it twice in 3 years because he is afraid to. Then it will end up at Barrett Jackson and it will sell for 20K. Mine is going to my son and then to his son. That is 4 generation ownership. And you do great work!

[theastronaut]

Anybody wants to nit pick mine when it is done, I am going to look them in the eye and say, Let's see what you brought to the show and we will compare! Oh that's right you got here in your 1995 Honda Civic! The truly sad thing about your resto Astro. (not bad mouthing you by any means) is that when you are done with this 100k resto and the owner takes it home and has only driven it twice in 3 years because he is afraid to. Then it will end up at Barrett Jackson and it will sell for 20K. Mine is going to my son and then to his son. That is 4 generation ownership. And you do great work!

I'm pretty sure they'll drive it a good bit, he has a restored '55 Chevy that they drive, and a 2012 Camaro SS with a ProCharger with ~650+ whp that they drive (and drive hard!)... so they're no strangers to driving things like this. This was his father's truck, passed down to him, and his son drove it to highschool. It'll stay in the family, no Barrett Jackson for this one. We'll make magnetic fenderwell shields for when they want to drive it to keep from picking up rock chips underneath. That way they can enter it in "driven" classes at shows and get protested because it has no rock chips We also use a good bit of clear 3M paint protection film in the door jambs and other high-wear areas to keep the paint like new. If it's taken care of, there's no reason it can't be driven without damaging it. On the blue '65 C10 we restored, it's first drive was a 50+ mile trip to a car show, then a 100 mile round trip for a photoshoot. No need to keep them in a garage!

[FORDMANLCRACKEL]

Looks great Astro. I'm sure that build will get you more business. Quality work like you do is your best advertisement you can have. Are you going to put the same size and type of tire that would have been on when it left the factory?

Lonnie

[skidoorulz]

Anybody wants to nit pick mine when it is done, I am going to look them in the eye and say, Let's see what you brought to the show and we will compare! Oh that's right you got here in your 1995 Honda Civic! The truly sad thing about your resto Astro. (not bad mouthing you by any means) is that when you are done with this 100k resto and the owner takes it home and has only driven it twice in 3 years because he is afraid to. Then it will end up at Barrett Jackson and it will sell for 20K. Mine is going to my son and then to his son. That is 4 generation ownership. And you do great work!

No need to keep them in a garage!

I agree but so many people do. They don't even show them

[theastronaut]

Looks great Astro. I'm sure that build will get you more business. Quality work like you do is your best advertisement you can have. Are you going to put the same size and type of tire that would have been on when it left the factory?<br abp="1796"><br abp="1797">Lonnie

Yes, we just got the tires in and mounted yesterday. Went with Firestone 7.75 bias plies from Coker.

[F7BIGJOB]

Super nice work, detail, etc.,etc,..... makes my truck look like crap now, thanks