1952 F-6 Build

I-R-POPS said:

Life can be a beach sometimes when you least expect it.
Hope you heal up quickly so you can get back to what you
want to be doing.

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Thanks POPS and also thanks to evryone for the good thoughts.

And speaking of doing what I want to.........
I did manage to roll out to the shop and get a coat of epoxy over the primer on the doors. Scuffed, then wiped down with wax and grease remover.
Now they are set for the winter.[cl

As per the seperate post I started You can see in the pics how dry the sealer went on the first time. It was mixed and shot with out reducer per Manufacturer's directions. Their directions stated that for sealer use no reducer. For primer use reducer. Turns out that it is a sealer regardless and it says that either/or BS on the can to comply with VOC laws.

Too bad I couldn't get a pic of the me holding the door balanced on my lap with one hand while rolling the chair with the other.
Interesting doing all this from a sitting position.[S
Hopefully the next step will be to get some help over here and hang the doors back on the cab.

Thanks for looking in......
Torchie.

Amazing work, Torchie.

If it wasn't so far up there, I'd come help!
It's been awhile since I was in Michigan. Like about 40 years.

looks great!

Todays installment..............

Those of you that have worked on the F series Ford trucks as well as most older trucks know there is not a lot of hinge adjustment available on these. So when doing my mock up I shimmed the door hinges with some scraps of 16ga to get the gaps close prior to welding filler rod to the edges of the door.
In preperation of hanging the doors I made some full shims today.

Pic 1-3. Cut some individual shim to the right shape. These are for the lower hinges. Drilled and ground. They turned out alright but it was a PITA for me to clamp and drill each piece from a sittng position.

Pics 4-5. I did the shims for the upper hinges a different way. Marked them out then cut it out as a long strip. Stamped them and drilled them. Much easier.
Once drilled I cut them apart and ground them.

Pics 6-7. Finished product.

Plan is to hang the doors this weekend.
Thanks for visiting..........
Torchie.

Oh Boy, door alignment
Have fun

soltz said:

Oh Boy, door alignment
Have fun

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Amen to that soltz ..I will be coming up 131 mid to late next week torchie
[ Grand rapids funeral ] I just do not know what day if you could use some help .

soltz said:

Oh Boy, door alignment
Have fun

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OddRodsGarage said:

Amen to that soltz ..I will be coming up 131 mid to late next week torchie
[ Grand rapids funeral ] I just do not know what day if you could use some help .

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An Old timer I knew back in the day used to laugh about how much time people put into door/hood/fender gaps. "They were never that good from the factory" he used to say......

Sorry to hear about the funeral trip ORG, but thanks for the offer. If all goes right this should be done by Sunday as I have a series of DRs appts for the begining of next week.
Torchie.

Torchie said:

Those of you that have worked on the F series Ford trucks as well as most older trucks know there is not a lot of hinge adjustment available on these. So when doing my mock up I shimmed the door hinges with some scraps of 16ga to get the gaps close prior to welding filler rod to the edges of the door.
In preperation of hanging the doors I made some full shims today.

Pic 1-3. Cut some individual shim to the right shape. These are for the lower hinges. Drilled and ground. They turned out alright but it was a PITA for me to clamp and drill each piece from a sittng position.

Pics 4-5. I did the shims for the upper hinges a different way. Marked them out then cut it out as a long strip. Stamped them and drilled them. Much easier.
Once drilled I cut them apart and ground them.

Pics 6-7. Finished product.

Plan is to hang the doors this weekend.
Thanks for visiting..........
Torchie.

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GREAT WORK! I like that idea on the shims... I've got some adjustment to do on my 64, I've been rubbing the paint off the rocker panel for over 2 years now...

Torchie said:

So when doing my mock up I shimmed the door hinges with some scraps of 16ga to get the gaps close prior to welding filler rod to the edges of the door.

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I would like to see your process on this.
I have an unusual gap at the top of my door jamb that needs attention due to my greenhorn chop top work. Id like to see your method of re-creating these edges to clean them up.

jmlcolorado said:

I would like to see your process on this.
I have an unusual gap at the top of my door jamb that needs attention due to my greenhorn chop top work. Id like to see your method of re-creating these edges to clean them up.

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This can be done different ways jm. Some guys just run a weld bead up the edge of the door then file to gap. Others use welding rod. On these doors I used rolled steel rod of the appropiate thickness. Available at Home depot and most good hardware stores.

Pic1-3.
Line up the rod and tack weld on the backside of the door edge.

Pics 4-5.
Solid weld the rod on the outer side of the door skin.[ [ [ [
Lots of tacks and grinding bouncing around to avoid the dreaded WARP. Continue till filled.

Pics 6-7. I used a real thin slicky of chopped fiberglass filler first to add to the strength and help fill pinholes if there are any. Grind off most of that and then a slicky of filler. Sand ,primer ect....

Pics 8-9 show the top curve of the door as well as the fact that if you have to you can do this to the body edge as well. The rod will bend easily around the door tops from the heat from the welder. In this case a mig.

Pic 10. This shows the over all door gap. If you look close you can see the the gap between the door edge and the cowl is still open. I will weld this rod on when the door is removed. The DS I did with the door still hung so it can be done that way as well.
Once I get to the point that the doors are permentaly hung I will adjust the gaps using a hand file.
If you have extreme shape issues you can work from the body edge and use the rod to form the edge of the shape and the fill in with metal. That's the way it is done to match the body to the part when rounding off the corners on doors and hoods/trunks,ect.
Hope this helps you.....
Torchie.

Still down one leg....

As I promised the Dr one more week out of the pegleg.
Scant progress.....
Got the DS door put back on tonight.
Over all the gaps are good and the belt line matches well.
One obvious issue is the gap at the belt line. This is the area that I had to mess with way back when to get the gap right. Now that the cab is bolted to the frame it would appear that I have to mess with it again.[S It is suprising how much movement there really is in these thing.
Thanks for looking in........
Torchie.

Not far off there! Looking good Torchie...maybe your new hinge shims were just a fraction off from your temps?

[[cl[cl[cl

Is the DS the only one?
Everything looks great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

smallfoot said:

Not far off there! Looking good Torchie...maybe your new hinge shims were just a fraction off from your temps?

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If you look close at that pic smallfoot you can see that gap "Pinches " right at the belt line. This is the corner that was damaged as well as the inside brace being all magaffered. I will check the edges as I may have built them up too much in this area and all that is reguired is some material removal. As you suggest, I did end up using less of the new shims as they were full size as compared to just some metal of the same gauge being stuck in behind the hinge.

soltz said:

[[cl[cl[cl

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Old Iron said:

Is the DS the only one?
Everything looks great!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

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DS is it for now OI. Still relagated to the use of my wheel chair for 90% of the time. And as soltz, our sage from Cali said."Oh boy. Door alignment Have fun"
Just finished up my 2nd appt for the new leg and Dr wants me to start "Transitioning" back into my modified old leg. So I am making progress on that front.
Maybe I should start a leg build thread...... [cl [cl
Torchie.

Torchie.....
your attitude humbles me.... great job on the build

Torchie said:

Maybe I should start a leg build thread......

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This may sound weird but I always wanted to try to design and build an artificial leg...I'm sure there are plenty of engineers who can and will do it better than me but it is a weird recurring thought I have...[

Cab looks great. Even the top pro's want the body bolted to the chassis they are using before doing gaps and such because they do move a bit. You may need to straight edge the door and see if it is the jamb or the door causing the tight fit. [P

Torchie you are a inspiration to me and should be to everyone on this site.

forbigpicture said:

Torchie.....
your attitude humbles me.... great job on the build

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Thanks. Boredom is a great motivator.

jfg455 said:

This may sound weird but I always wanted to try to design and build an artificial leg...I'm sure there are plenty of engineers who can and will do it better than me but it is a weird recurring thought I have...[

LOL. I have this discussion with my leg guys all the time. Especialy since I seem to break things in a way that none of them have seen before. My leg is pretty much one step up from a carved tree stump. But great strides have been and are continuing to be made everyday. The "New" style of foot that they are going to use on this build was designed by a guy that is an amputee himself. No moving parts so I am interested to see how it is going to hold up.
I would encourage you to try it and see what you come up with. You may just have the next big break thru.....

Cab looks great. Even the top pro's want the body bolted to the chassis they are using before doing gaps and such because they do move a bit. You may need to straight edge the door and see if it is the jamb or the door causing the tight fit. [P

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Absolutely. I always just get everything thing close and then save the final adjustments for when it is back where it is going to stay.
Just from looking at it I am thinking that most of the issue is on the jamb side. I did some work on the inner brace while the doors were off and it may have moved more than I thought.[S
Plan is to get the hardware back on the door so it latches and then take it from there. Then on to the PS.
Torchie.