1966 F100 Restoration

[tschmitt]

Im restoring my 1966 F100 so I figured I would keep track of it along the way. Im 21 years old, go to college, have 30+ hr week job, girlfriend of 2 years, and a passion to restore old cars and trucks. I have 2 years of auto body experience from a vocational class in high school so I know the basics of auto body and ive learned alot from reading forums such as this one along the way. I started this project late last year so I will post pics and info to get everyone caught up. I bought this truck for $800 and it was in pretty good shape for a 66 so I have a good foundation to start with. Let the fun begin.

[tschmitt]

Heres a front shot still on the trailer from hauling it home.

[tschmitt]

Some interior shots after the carpet and bench seat were removed.








This the most damage on the cab. Gotta patch the floor panel and also part of the transmission tunnel.

[tschmitt]

I'll post some more pictures tomorrow, plenty of progress pics left.

[tschmitt]

Let the deconstruction commence.

Got the engine,hood, fenders, and some misc parts taken off.



Both cab mounts are in great shape.





Got the front end almost completely disassembled along with the doors and transmission removed.

[tschmitt]

Got the bed removed and shipped off to get sandblasted.



Getting started on removed all the old wiring in the cab and getting the steering column pulled.



Got the cab, front suspension, rear end, brake lines, etc removed.

[tschmitt]

Getting the 9 inch rear end cleaned up and sandblasted.

[tschmitt]

Got all the 50+ rivets out of the frame and all the cross members, cab mounts, etc taken out of the frame. I left one cross member intact to help keep the frame more rigid. I will remove it once I get the other cross members bolted back in. Used in a air hammer and chiseled the heads off then hammered the rivets the rest of the way through. Had to use a grinder on most of them after the heads were popped off. Alotta work getting them off but it will be worth it knowing every aspect of this frame was sandblasted of all its rust and restored.

[tschmitt]

Here's my disc brakes for my truck, these are off of a 74 F100 and are a bolt on upgrade to my truck over the drums on the front. Also some pics of the bed after it got sandblasted and one coat of epoxy on it to keep it from rusting until I get started on bodywork.







This is the only rust damage on this bed. Shouldn't be too hard to repair.

[tschmitt]

This is where im at now in this restoration. Cleaning up the frame and getting all those little misc frame parts, front suspension, etc sandblasted which is very time consuming. Making progress though and thats all that matters at this point. Should have some more progress pics next week hopefully.

[turbocobra]

Your truck appears to be in very good shape!

Just curious if you had given any thought to boxing the frame rails while you had it down that far to add strength and rigidity?

[Rustbelttrucker]

This is where im at now in this restoration. Cleaning up the frame and getting all those little misc frame parts, front suspension, etc sandblasted which is very time consuming. Making progress though and thats all that matters at this point. Should have some more progress pics next week hopefully.

Got all the 50+ rivets out of the frame and all the cross members, cab mounts, etc taken out of the frame.

Nice truck, looks like a very solid project. Love seeing all the pics. I take it you are doing your own sandblasting? Pressure pot, or siphon feed? What size compressor? I tried it once myself with a bodyshop sized compressor and a siphon feed blasting unit. After several bags of play sand, minimal progress and a big mess. I thought better and took it to a commercial blaster down the street. A couple of hours later it was done for $200.00.

I like the way you are going about this project, very thorough. However, I wouldn't have pulled the factory rivets as I see no benefit in going that far. If the rivets were rusty enough to justify removing and replacing, your frame would also need repair work and that doesn't seem to be the case here. The frame looks really solid. I'd imagine the metal behind the riveted pieces was actually quite clean once you got it apart. How do you plan to replace the factory rivets?

The suggestion to box the frame doesn't make sense to me. Ford engineered the frame to be strong enough to do the job required. Unless you are going to redefine the mission for this old F150 by installing a 500+Hp motor, or towing several thousand pounds, there's no benefit to boxing it. The crossmembers give it all the strength it needs.

What are your plans? Factory original, or custom?

[tschmitt]

Your truck appears to be in very good shape!

Just curious if you had given any thought to boxing the frame rails while you had it down that far to add strength and rigidity?

No I wont be boxing the frame because this frame already weighs a ton it seems and I dont plan on having no more than 400 hp in this truck. I believe this truck's curb weight is around 3800 lbs so im trying not to add anymore weight than is needed.

[tschmitt]

Nice truck, looks like a very solid project. Love seeing all the pics. I take it you are doing your own sandblasting? Pressure pot, or siphon feed? What size compressor? I tried it once myself with a bodyshop sized compressor and a siphon feed blasting unit. After several bags of play sand, minimal progress and a big mess. I thought better and took it to a commercial blaster down the street. A couple of hours later it was done for $200.00.

I like the way you are going about this project, very thorough. However, I wouldn't have pulled the factory rivets as I see no benefit in going that far. If the rivets were rusty enough to justify removing and replacing, your frame would also need repair work and that doesn't seem to be the case here. The frame looks really solid. I'd imagine the metal behind the riveted pieces was actually quite clean once you got it apart. How do you plan to replace the factory rivets?

The suggestion to box the frame doesn't make sense to me. Ford engineered the frame to be strong enough to do the job required. Unless you are going to redefine the mission for this old F150 by installing a 500+Hp motor, or towing several thousand pounds, there's no benefit to boxing it. The crossmembers give it all the strength it needs.

What are your plans? Factory original, or custom?

Ya im doing my own sandblasting with a siphon feed sandblaster. I believe the compressor is 120 gallon, its an old sears compressor that my dad has in the garage. It seems to be handling it just fine so far. I took out the rivots because I wanted to get to the rust that was starting behind some of the cross members, cab mounts, and to get all the crud out behind them as well. I am going to paint all of the individual frame parts, frame, and then bolt then back onto the frame. The rivots were 3/8" originally and I drilled them out to 1/2" and I will be replacing them with Grade 8 bolts. I just like to be as thorough as possible and I dont mind putting in a little extra time. I plan on making this truck a custom but it will be my daily driver. Im planning on using drop I-Beams in the front to lower it 3 inches and use drop shackles in the rear to lower it either 4 or 5 inches, im not sure on how low I want it in the back yet. I will be most likely installing a 5.0 from 89-92 mustang and keeping the fuel injection. The gas tank is originally in the cab and I will be relocating it to between the frame rails with a gas tank from an 85-90 Bronco II. I will also be installing a AOD trans to help out on fuel economy as well. Any other questions or advice feel free to share.

[Rustbelttrucker]

Ya im doing my own sandblasting with a siphon feed sandblaster. I believe the compressor is 120 gallon, its an old sears compressor that my dad has in the garage. It seems to be handling it just fine so far. I took out the rivots because I wanted to get to the rust that was starting behind some of the cross members, cab mounts, and to get all the crud out behind them as well. I am going to paint all of the individual frame parts, frame, and then bolt then back onto the frame. The rivots were 3/8" originally and I drilled them out to 1/2" and I will be replacing them with Grade 8 bolts. I just like to be as thorough as possible and I dont mind putting in a little extra time.

Fun stuff. When I did it I had the same equip. It was such slow going and I was using so much sand that I decided to farm the frame and axle housing out. I had done all the other associated chassis stuff. Just a reminder for yourself and anyone else reading this. For your safety make sure you are wearing a respirator, especially if using silica sand. The dust can cause silicosis.

Grade 8 bolts should be strong enough but the factory riveted the frame for a reason. Think about it. It would have been cheaper for them to assemble with bolts. If using bolts were as good as rivets, then why wouldnt they go ahead and do it? Bolts would be subject to loosening and would be a greater corrosion risk long term, due to more hidden surfaces and exposed area. You can imagine cross members loosening up and a wobbly frame as a result. So bolts would become a frequent maintenance item.

You could replace the rivets. You could use an air hammer and male/female tools to hold and form the head after heating it red hot with a torch. It takes an extra set of hands to do it. I did it on a Corvette rear crossmember but only had 4 to replace. 50 would be a job. Perhaps there's a shop in your area that could do it? Here's another suggestion you might want to consider. On my truck the spare tire holder, which also serves as a crossmember, is bolted into place. After the bolts are torqued the factory puts a weld bead along side the nut and bolt shank to prevent them from loosening. I R&R'd the crossmember to clean up and repaint the frame and reinstalled it the exact same way with new bolts, torqued them and then a weld bead to hold them.

Keep the progress pics coming. Nice work so far.