57 Ranchero build
- Thread starter jvo
- Start date
I ground all the old bondo off the outer skin, and it didn't look too bad. I had this stuff sandblasted several years ago when I started, but after the bondo was removed it looks kinda like a mini moonscape. This is bare metal, sanded with a hard sanding disc to show the highs and lows. Today's project will be to metal finish it, and replace about a 4 inch square area on the one corner that is pitted quite badly. The rust on the other end, is only surface, as it got a little wet in storage. We will see just how smooth I can get it in the next few hours.
And thank you Keith. I am just trying to contribute something to the forum.
I also got the rear crossmember somewhat done that the tailgate bolts onto. Don't have any pics of that just yet.
Wow Jvo that thing is as rusty as some Mustangs I have seen!! Got your work ahead of you! Coming nicely though. Keep us posted,, following along on this one.
I got the outer tailgate panel done yesterday. Spent about 5 hours on it with slapper and dolly, and shrinking disc, etc. Turned out pretty nice.
I use a stainless steel ruler and lay it on the panel. If I can see any light underneath the ruler, I bring up the lows, and/or take down the highs. I can live with a little bit of bondo on the panel, but it would be less than the thickness of the ruler in most cases.
I find its easier to do the metal finishing than to sculpt a new shape. I'm a better metal worker than sculptor. Seriously, I have issues getting rid of sanding scratches and imperfections in bondo more than getting the sheet metal straight.
Here are a few pics of the finished skin.
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I use a stainless steel ruler and lay it on the panel. If I can see any light underneath the ruler, I bring up the lows, and/or take down the highs. I can live with a little bit of bondo on the panel, but it would be less than the thickness of the ruler in most cases.
I find its easier to do the metal finishing than to sculpt a new shape. I'm a better metal worker than sculptor. Seriously, I have issues getting rid of sanding scratches and imperfections in bondo more than getting the sheet metal straight.
Here are a few pics of the finished skin.
John in Oz
Well-Known Member
Very nice to see John, that is a great job you are doing there.
Its time. Long past time. I finally got back to it. Unveiled it from under a ratty tarp from a two year slumber. Life got in the way, etc. etc. etc. I finally have the shop to myself. I'll be dead before I get to anything at that rate. Regardless, onward and upward.
Finally have the tailgate mounted in its final resting place. That is where all the fitting and measuring begins, starting at both sides of the tailgate. The taillight housings and box sides will be fit next. The tailgate fits the old lower panel nicely again, after all the rust removal.
I spent most of last week measuring and making these pieces.
They should look just like factory when done. One little piece at a time.
They should look just like factory when done. One little piece at a time.
And where I am at tonight. The tailgate is mounted, and hinges just fine. The drivers panel lines up very nicely, and I can make the gap exactly how I want it. Might be hard to see in the photos, but the drivers side box top is sort of in place. Really close to where it will live. The top of the fins need to have a bunch of hammer and dolly work to get them to blend in to the Ranchero box tops. I don't have the passenger side done yet, so it will be easier to see the body lines once I have it tacked in place. Hopefully in a day or two.
Good stuff, interesting build
Neat build, some of the late 50's Ford stuff had such unique styling and add that to the uniqueness of a Ranchero, nice! Too bad about all the rust but I am watching and hopefully learning as I have some to address in the near future. Thanks for sharing.
Getting this piece ready to mount on the car. The panel pictured has about 1/4 inch of factory lead on the surface, some of which had come loose sometime in the past, and there was some bondo placed there as well. The underside has those overlapping joints from the factory mating several panels together. This looks sort of okay, but I figured it would be better to make a little patch and cut out those overlapping pieces, as they had a bit of corrosion showing between the two pieces of metal, from what you could see without separating them. I don't want rust coming through the surface in the future because I was too lazy to fix this. It turned out to be a bitch to make this little patch as there is a lot happening in that small piece of metal. The other pieces that are rusty will be replaced one at a time once it is mounted, either before it goes on the car or after, depending on which approach might be easier. The old weld on the surface, I just ground down the high spots, then ran a pass over it with the tig.
I melted all the factory lead out. Normally, I wouldn't bother with that if it was in good shape, but the overlapping metal under it is bound to rust out, given that this was a very rusty shell to begin with. This little patch took all afternoon to make, prep, and install, weld, and planish, and its not done yet. The other "uglies" will be taken care of with good metal once it is on the car. The metal on the Fairlane body is in much better shape, so when I install it, the overlap will be used with good metal , and all that shitty looking stuff taken out.
I made this little dolly for my post dolly stand. Makes it much easier to metal finish all those little dings along the box top rails from over the years. Worked all of them out easily with this. Used some box tubing to clamp and align the box top rails back to where they used to be. I had cut these apart using a .045 cutting disc on a grinder. I was very careful way back then to make a perfectly straight cut, so as to enable the pieces to fit back together perfectly again in the future, which is now. I was able to just get all the pieces into my blast cabinet by doing this. Its clamped in every plane to ensure it is perfectly straight again.
And in these pics, the "line" that I have been looking for is now visible. I have been wondering whether this would look "right" in the end. The way the top of the box looks, in relation to the side of the car, as well as how it looks related to the line of the roof. I did cut the back end of the roof clear a couple years ago, as I didn't like the way it looked. Right now, it isn't welded solid. The back cab wall has a 1/2 inch block under each side to raise it by that amount. Funny how it didn't quite look right with the roof lower on the back end. I like the way it looks now. Hope everyone else does as well. Lots to do yet.
Always a pleasure to see how something should be done and done right....nice.