| The Body Resto and Paint Job! |
| Well now the truck is in the body shop. Thanks to Armstrong Motors for there help. Here you fill find hints and tips on re-doing the body which is basic for any car/truck you want to restore but especally if you want to do a 73-79 as I will point out commin places for rust/rott on these trucks |
| Step 1: Sand down the enitre body. This involves removing all side markers, mirrors, badges, the radio antena, and and glued on body moldings, and stuff like running boards. Use 80 Grit sand paper to rough off the paint down to the original paint/primer. Try not to sand right down to the metal as that will not be always nessisary. Sand the body smooth, smooth out any bondo work done before hand. Then with 100 Grit sandpaper, sand down the body again to remove any missed scrapes or nicks. The body will be sanded several times to ensure a nice final paint job. Any marks left behind from sanding will be noticable after the new paint is applied. Click HERE to see the pics of my truck after the body was sanded down |
| Step 2: Topper Removal - I was sick of that ugly topper so I decided it was time for it to go. Mine had a little more work involved as it was designed to be used as a sleeper so the walls, floors, and insulation had to be removed. When that was done all that was required was to remove the 4 clamps that held the topper on and then using 2 people since my topper was aluminum not fiberglass (those weight a ton so at lest 4 people are needed) the topper was carefully removed. After the topper was removed the weather stripping applied to the truck had to be removed, so that was scrapped off. The paint will not stick if there is a glue residue on the bed rails. Click HERE for pics |
| Step 3: The rear bumper was removed and a roll pan will be taking its place. Ok so now the rott/badly rusted spots where grinded out. on 73-79 Ford F-series these are the cab corners, the rear left fender above the wheel, between the wheel well and the rear bumber and under the rear bumber. Also after the left front wheel and most of the driver door. The bed floor right of the right wheel and the cab floors are known to rott out if not taken care of. I found this one out the hard way. Ok, so now the patch pannels will be ordered. Click HERE for the pics |