IronheadJay

[MENTION=135131]biker55[/MENTION], there is a place by me called Alro Steel that sells all types of metal. I would look for a steel supply place thats close by you. You can also get some from places like Ace hardware or Tractor Supply but it will be more expensive and a lot less selection. I used 16ga for the inner rocker replacement and 22ga for the door patches.

For shaping, on straight bends, I just use the side of the welding table. I built this several years ago:


I clamp the sheet metal at each end, if its really long several places down the middle and use a regular hammer starting from one end I slowly hammer it down striking the metal at the edge of the table (not the edge of the piece you are shaping). Once I roughly have the amount of bend i want, I use a hammer and dolly to straighten out the edge to make it flat.

For making curved edges, I made some of my own sheet metal T-Bars similar these:


I clamp them on the edge of my table or in a vice and hold the piece with my hand on one end and have the edge of it over the T-Bar and hammer at the edge while I move the piece around to get the curve I want. Depending on how large of a piece I have (nothing I did on this truck) I also picked up a pneumatic planishing hammer from harbor freight, its cheap but it gets the job done.

For welders, I have both a Miller Mig 250x and a Tig 165. For most everything I did on this truck, I used the Mig since I was not going to be able to get the metal clean enough for a good Tig weld.

As [MENTION=164148]Manuellabour247[/MENTION] mentions, you can pick up a cheap 110v mig welder and use/practice with. Some don't require having to get shielding gas and use a flux core wire instead to help keep the initial investment cost down.

IronheadJay

I hear ya about sprays running. I just hate brushing paint upside-down, paint always runs down the handle and on my hands and that drives me nuts heh.

raisin

WOW you've got talent and vision. I live down by Coldwater Mi and they don't use the salt that Wayne Co. does. I have an '99 F250Ld thats pristine with 73K. Painted bottom with Rustoleum damp proof primer and zinc spray cans.

brw384

Thats some really nice work thumbs up!!!!!!!!!!!!

biker55

thanks for responding. I can only afford the stick welder. so I will practice with that until I can weld with it. what did you use for a template for the inner and outer rocker panels, since the originals were so destroyed? hopefully I can reach your skill level one day.

Manuellabour247

Practice, practice, practice. While there are some people that are amazing out of the box welding, most people have to practice. A TIG set up can be used on a stick welder. There are youtube videos on how to make the kit attach to the welder. The TIG welds are some of the strongest with little slag/contaminates in the weld. Stick is a type of TIG, but it's not the same. Good luck. I still practice with my old Fendermatic that used to be my grandpas. lol.

Ford Fan#1

wow, nice job

IronheadJay

[MENTION=164148]Manuellabour247[/MENTION] is right, reading articles and watching youtube videos helps too for pointers and techniques but nothing is better than time behind the helmet. I first picked up a welder about 6-7 years ago and I still have a TON to learn.

As for the templates, I just have a small stockpile of poster board I picked up from Walmart, its ridged enough to hold bends and folds as well as can draw on with pencil. I make my cuts, folds, bends and if there are multiple pieces I need to make I tape them together to be the final part before I cut any metal.

Here is an example for what I did for a suspension bracket on another project:

I made the template with bends and a bolt hole:


traced it out onto the steel plate:


after cutting it out I transferred the bend lines from the template:


Finished bracket ready to be welded on:

IronheadJay

Thanks. I wish they didn't dump the salt like the do, oh well.

IronheadJay

I finally have everything back together and drivable.














Before i put the bed back on I sprayed some undercoating to help reduce the chance of rust in the future:








Next up is getting it mechanically sound, the rear diff pinion seal leaks pretty bad (dropping off to a mechanic later this week), bad passenger side exhaust leak and I have a small trans leak I need to hunt down. Once all that is done, I'll be laying some paint before the end of the month! I was going to do the Rustoleum satin black but after seeing [MENTION=105401]schaefercal[/MENTION]'s results below, I'll be going with the JD Blitz Black. I really like how that came out. This will be my first full paint on a car so hopefully it turns out half as good has his heh.