All in all, the '53 Ford F-100 we rounded up as a body donor to drop on top of the '56 F-100 chassis we've been covering in a continuing tech series was in pretty good shape. That said, the '53 did have rust damage typical of any '53-56 F-100 pickup exposed to the elements for over half a century. Once one begins to familiarize themselves with this series of Ford truck they learn where to look for rust. The first area to rust is on the passenger side cowl, right below the fresh-air intake louvers. The deterioration process begins as soon as the louvers draw in air. The dirtier the air, like encountered on dirt roads or blown in a dust storm, the faster dirt accumulates in the area below the hinge pocket. Then when the rains come the louvers allow water to enter and the dirt turns to mud. The moisture in the mud typically lasts for months before it dries thoroughly and that's all it takes to invite rust. Next in line to rust out are the cab corners. It's basically the same situation, first dirt gets trapped at the bottom of the corners and then water leaks in. If the truck spent its life in the rustbelt where the roads are salted in the wintertime the rust problem probably began to rear its ugly head over four decades ago.
In this segment we are replacing the driver side cab corner first. On 1953-55 Ford pickups this side houses the filler neck for the gasoline tank sandwiched between the framerail and the running board. Because of the filler neck's location and the protective grommet that seals the area shrinks and cracks with age, this side is the first to go and usually rustier than the passenger side corner. The first thing we did to get the show on the road was to place an order with the folks at Dennis Carpenter Ford Restoration Parts in Concord, North Carolina, for a pair of cab corners and the cowl pieces to fix the right side lower hinge pocket. When the order arrived shortly after it was placed we noticed the left side cab corner matched the one-year only design of the '56 F-100. Because the gas tank on the '56 models were relocated to inside the cab and the filler neck was relocated to the upper right side of the cab the '56's driver side cab corner is sans the filler-neck hole. Well they don't call us Custom Classic Trucks for nothing, it only took a few seconds before we seized the opportunity and decided to shave the filler neck and opt for a rear-mounted gas tank. With the cab already at Super Steve's in Anaheim, California, it was just a matter of having Steve allow us to follow along as he did the deed.
This cab corner is really...
This cab corner is really not all that bad. If we were going to retain the filler-neck hole we would have only used the bottom portion of Dennis Carpenter's cab corner repair section.
The first step to shaving...
The first step to shaving the filler-neck hole was to remove the filler-neck tunnel. "Super" Steve used a sharp center punch to mark a pilot hole on the center of each spot weld.
Next, Steve drilled the spot...
Next, Steve drilled the spot welds out with a spot-weld drill bit. This is tricky business for someone who can't distinguish where the top and bottom layers of sheetmetal begin and end.
With all the factory spot...
With all the factory spot welds broken, the filler-neck tunnel easily dropped out of place.
Then Steve laid the new cab...
Then Steve laid the new cab corner replacement panel from Dennis Carpenter into its proper position and marked the location with a pencil.
With the boundaries indicated...
With the boundaries indicated in lead, Steve knew where he had to separate the two layers of sheetmetal. After drilling out the spot welds, the next step was to use an air-chisel.
Where the air-chisel proved...
Where the air-chisel proved ineffective, Steve used a 3-inch cutoff wheel on a pneumatic die-grinder to cut apart the two layers and separate them.
The next step was to cut the...
The next step was to cut the original cab corner completely off the truck. Because the pencil marks will become hard to see, Steve laid out a 3/4-inch line of masking tape to designate the cut lines.
Wearing protective eye gear...
Wearing protective eye gear Steve braced himself to pull the die-grinder in a straight horizontal line to make the longest cut first.
To make the short, vertical...
To make the short, vertical cut, Steve repositioned himself to pull the die-grinder downward in a straight line along the 3/4-inch masking tape guideline.
With all the necessary cuts...
With all the necessary cuts made, the original cab corner was easily removed.
This allowed Steve to make...
This allowed Steve to make a close inspection of what needed to be done to the inner structure before the new cab corner could be welded in place.
First, a patch panel would...
First, a patch panel would need to be fabricated to cover the old filler-neck's hole. Steve traced the outside diameter of the filler neck with a pencil.
Next, he cut out the filler-neck...
Next, he cut out the filler-neck patch piece with a pair of tin snips. A plasma cutter would have made the job easier.
Then Steve used a pair of...
Then Steve used a pair of hole-punch pliers to poke out tack-weld holes on the patch piece.
Next on the agenda was to...
Next on the agenda was to make a repair patch to splice in where the original inner panel was rusted out by measuring the (rust) afflicted area.
Once again Steve used 3/4-inch...
Once again Steve used 3/4-inch masking tape to indicate where the cuts needed to be made.
Steve made the horizontal...
Steve made the horizontal cut and then the vertical cut.
This is how the area appeared...
This is how the area appeared after the rusted metal had been removed.
Steve held the repair patch...
Steve held the repair patch into place to make sure it was a good fit.
After grinding off the excess...
After grinding off the excess area to ensure the repair patch fit properly, Vise-Grips were used to clamp the patch into place.
Too much heat can warp the...
Too much heat can warp the sheetmetal, so Steve slowly tack-welded the patch into position.
Keeping the heat down while...
Keeping the heat down while MIG welding produces a nice tight heat-zone as can be evidenced in this photo. Discoloration of the metal indicates how far the heat traveled away from the weld.
Steve used a body hammer backed...
Steve used a body hammer backed with a dolly to ensure the patch panel wasn't bent, and laid perfectly flat like original area did.
After that was welded, Steve...
After that was welded, Steve welded on the cover he fabricated to cover the filler-neck hole.
This is how the welded area...
This is how the welded area appeared when it was ready for the new cab corner to be installed. The happy face, date, and Steve's initials, are optional.
Steve held the cab corner...
Steve held the cab corner into place and checked it for alignment. Satisfied, Steve then clamped it into place with Vice-Grips.
To determine where the panel...
To determine where the panel needed to be trimmed at the top, Steve moved to the inside of the cab and marked it with a pencil.
He then used masking tape...
He then used masking tape to indicate the cut line and used the die-grinder to cut the excess area off.
The hole punch was used to...
The hole punch was used to poke out holes for the tack-welds, and the paint (primer) was ground off where the welds were to be done.
The cab corner was clamped...
The cab corner was clamped into place and checked for alignment.
Satisfied with the fit, Steve...
Satisfied with the fit, Steve began to slowly tack-weld, and then run a bead to complete the installation. Stay tuned for next month's issue where we finish off the body work here, and show how to do a minimally invasive cab corner repair of the passenger side.