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Roadster F-100???

2K views 19 replies 8 participants last post by  Brian_B 
#1 ·
Ok, I have a question that I would like everyone's opinion about :confused: ...I am torn about this and your opinions might sway me in a direction.. I have a '55 Ford F-100, and I am already doing a pretty non traditional custom build..My question is about my cab..The top of my cab looks like it met the business end of a bat :spank: , and I really don't have the money to replace the top of the cab..And I am doubting my body skills to get these craters out of the cab :smash: ..So my thoughts were to make the truck a "roadster" style with no roof...I would drive it this way while I slowly worked on mastering my body skills on the old top...Then I could have a top to keep in the bed, in case of inclimate weather...

So, tell me what you think about it all....Dumb?? Also, on a side note..IF I did decide to do this, I think I should chop the top...

Ok, thanks for your thoughts!
:cool:
 
#2 ·
I did that to a customers 33 Ford pickup and it came out good.

It is alot of work reinforcing the body and doors, once you cut the top off, the doors and body will want to flex around some, so you will need to build some sort of structure to keep things strong and in alignment with each other.

Also, you will spend a fair bit of time making all of the fill panels to cap the rear of the cockpit and door tops and the top of the windshield. I made some really simple wooden forms to hammer the steel over, then welded it to the original sheetmetal.


But when you are done, chicks will dig you and guys will want to be you. :thumbup:

Do it.

later, mikey
 

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#3 ·
That looks cool, and you reminded me about the extra bracing that I honestly wasn't thinking about..The roadster look always goes well with certain era vehicles, but I just haven't seen many or any F-100's with this... I might have to photoshop one to see how it'll look... :cool:
 
#4 ·
Mikey s right on about all the reinforcements that need to be done..and you will need to make some sort of caps to cover the cut edges of the cab..http://www.usbodysource.com/ these guys make a fiberglass cab and I would check with them to see if they would make me just the roof section when you get to needing a roof for that..

Sam
 
#5 ·
This is how I see it, if you want to build a roadster F-100, build it. Don't think you are avoiding work, or work you don't have skills for, that is just plain hogwash. You will NOT be avoiding work, you will be creating work, MUCH more work. It sounds like the fabrication work to make it a roadster is going to be taxing your fabrication skills as much as repairing the roof would be to your body skills.

Chopping the top AND creating a roadster would be some SERIOUS fabrication, time and skills muliply times 150 compared to repairing that roof. So, like I said, if you want the chopped roadster, go for it. With time and questions asked here you can do it. But pleeeeaaase don't think you are doing it to save work, that is simply not the case.

Brian
 
#6 ·
Here is a guy who made a RPU out of a 54 chebby...(he did a few other mods too :D :cool:




Perfect truck for a hot florida day.

http://www.icmfh.com/content/details.cfm?id=5


Brian is right about the amount of work needing to be done...I learned a bunch when I did that 33. :) But it was not rocket science.


Later, mikey
 
#7 ·
Martin, you are right..it would be more work, and might stretch the limits of my fab skills...Part of me wants to do the mod, part of me doesn't..I think I have determined that if I do the mod, I will chop the top..otherwise I think that it would look to crazy at stock roof height..

I think I am leaning more toward leaving the top on and just fixing the roof..The only benefit I see for cutting the top off would be to work on the top at a leasurely pace, while still being able to drive the truck..But I guess I can still do that even with the top on... :drunk:

I'll post pics of the damage, and get some pointers on how I should go a bout fixing it...Initially I was going to use the slide hammer and pop the extreme low spots out, but I have also been told to not bother with all of that, but instead get a patch panel and weld that in..

This will all have to be done by me, I simply don't have the money to have it done....plus I would like to say that I did it! :cool:
 
#9 ·
Ya, I saw that truck on an episode of Rides..Or at least I think that was it..IT looks sweet! And that is a lot of the look that I am going for...hhmmm :mwink: decisions, decisions...

My only concerns with making a true roadster like they did is the fact that I am screwed if I get stuck out in inclimate weather...Maybe I could fab up a lightweight roof just in case...
:cool:
 
#10 ·
This article may help you. You can get behind the inner panels with long rods bent into shape.

Brian

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

"Basics of Basics” Flat panel repair
By Brian Martin


When you have a large flat panel that is flexing the first thing you need to do is find out why. Sometimes you can stop it, other times you can’t. But if you can stop it, you’ll have a much easier time with the body filler work.

Hoods, decklids, and the roof are particularly difficult because the heat and weight of the plastic filler can have an effect on the metal. The good news is many times it is very easy to repair. First off, there is no such thing as a “flat” panel. All panels that appear flat actually have a slight crown or gentle bow up in the middle. Go to a flat panel and lay a straight edge across it. You will see that the straight edge in not touching the panel at the on the outer ends. If the panel were perfectly flat it would appear to the eye to be concave. It would also have no “body” and flex very easily. This is the problem with your large flexing panel; it has “lost” its crown and is now weak and flexible. The first place to start your search for a culprit is under the panel. Many panels have inner structure that supports the outer skin. When the outer panel has been damaged the inner structure was bent down along with the outer. This inner structure can be in the form of just a simple inch or so wide support running across the panel to the complete support by a stamped panel that goes covers the underside of the panel. These full inner structures can commonly be found on hoods and decklids. The inner structure can sometimes be bent down, causing your flexing. It usually is very close to the outer skin, with just a thin layer of a foam or urethane adhesive. It may have small “dollops” of this foam or adhesive that has been squished between the inner structure and outer skin or even a thin piece of tarpaper. You can push up on these low spots to return it to supporting the outer skin, as it should. But it is difficult because you can’t push it past where it needs to be. On this particular type of damage, the inner structure would need to go past the correct shape and then “relax” back down to where it belongs. It can’t do this of course because the outer panel is there and limits the inner structure from going up where it needs to go. Just as with looking at the “big picture” when you look at any dent, you need to search for a kink or bend that is holding the inner structure down in that area. If you apply pressure up on the low area and tap out these kinks, you may get it to stay back in shape. If these methods don’t get it back up to support the outer panel properly, you will need to “shim” between the two panels to get the outer panel up where it belongs. This can be done with sheet of tarpaper or more adhesive.

As a last resort a thin piece of wood like a paint stirring stick can be used. Of course, this is a little on the funky side but if you are haven’t been able to correct the problem, something has to be done. What you have to watch out for is applying too much pressure in one area. If you were to force a piece of wood in there, you will likely be making a high spot on the outside. That would just give you in a whole new problem. Sight down the body lines that are nearest the low, “oil canning” , or just plain flexing area. A body line is effectively the “edge” of the panel. Those crowns in the flat panel that I mention end at the body line. So each area in between the lines is sort of like an individual panel. Look to see if the body line is low, it may be holding down your panel. If it is, you need to push it up. To help you determine how straight the line is sometimes you can use a metal ruler as a “straight edge”. How can this be done on a crowned panel you ask? A metal carpenters yard stick will bend very easily, right? So what you do is lay the yard stick on it’s back against the panel and apply a little pressure on the outward edges low area where the metal is OK. You will then have a “curved straight edge”. I have a drawer with a number of these metal or aluminum rulers in it and find them very useful. I treat them like rice paper and they will last a lifetime. So lets say that you have found that you have no low spots in the body lines or there were one or two and you repaired them. Now you have to look for something else that is holding the panel down. This can usually be found in the form of a “crown” or “brow”.

When you put a dent in any panel the metal has to “go” somewhere. All panels have this crown, right? So as an example picture a metal rod that is 3 feet long. This rod has a slight bend to it. The center of the rod is up from the ends about three inches. If you were to push down on the center, the rod would get “longer”, right? So, if the ends of the rod were clamped in vices, the “extra” rod would force the areas on the sides of where you were pushing to go up. You panel does the same thing only on a much smaller scale. Most brows will be found on the outer edges of a panel, this includes of course at the edge of the body line. They are VERY common around the outer edges of a roof. Search around the outer edges of ANY bent roof and you will find them. The brow or crown is a U, C, L or even I shaped high spot. In the center of that curved high spot is a low spot, sort of like a “pocket” in the brow. Just one or two of these will make a panel, especially a large panel look like a cotton sheet! What you have to do is to push up on that low spot while tapping down on the brow.

When I say “tap” I mean TAP. Just the weight of the hammer bouncing off the brow will do it sometimes. Use a large VERY flat body hammer or a flat body spoon for this repair. If you are careful you can repair these brows with little to no plastic filler. Just take you time and keep checking the area with a block with sand paper or a vexon file if you have one for low and high spots.

Now, if you simply can eliminate the brow and low spot, you have won the battle. If it takes some plastic filler, so be it, you have given the panel it’s strength back and that is what matters.
 
#14 ·
It can be done, but as stated above it is a lot of fabrication work. The cab has to be stiffened up and caps have to be made. Most of the ones I have seen have some serious bracing hidden under a center console.

Yes..it would be cool to have, but fixing or replacing the top would be easier. Find a junk cab with the bottom rusted off. Buy it cheap and use the roof on yours.

Here is pics of one (56) I saw at the 06 supernats.

The roof sat on the trailer for show.



 
#15 ·
I dont' get the trailer/roof display. The truck looks pretty good. The hardest part about doing this, is making it look like it was made that way from the factory and not a truck with the roof cut off. If all it looks like is a truck with the roof cut off, you failed.

Brian
 
#16 ·
Me either Brian. No clue. :confused:

I think that one is strictly a show truck. The trailer is parked beside it at shows. I have only seen it in person once (when I took the pic), but I have seen other pics. I doubt it is driven much at all. Notice no rock hits on that "bra" covering the whole front of the trailer? How would vinyl stand up to a rock kicked up from the tire?
 
#17 ·
Brian_B said:
It can be done, but as stated above it is a lot of fabrication work. The cab has to be stiffened up and caps have to be made. Most of the ones I have seen have some serious bracing hidden under a center console.

Yes..it would be cool to have, but fixing or replacing the top would be easier. Find a junk cab with the bottom rusted off. Buy it cheap and use the roof on yours.

Here is pics of one (56) I saw at the 06 supernats.

The roof sat on the trailer for show.




Exactally the Truck I was talking about :thumbup:

Shane
 
#18 ·
Just my 2 cents lets see some pics of the issues with your roof maybe its not as bad as you think,

If it is that bad My thoughts would be to cut the top off another f-100 and replace yours I assume the rest of your cab is in great shape.

I only ask that since if the rest of the cab is rusted thru just replace the cab,

But if it only needs a roof just find one in a yard and cut it along the beltline below the rear window and the bottom of the A pillar, most of what you find in the yards is only going to be rusted along the bottom of the cab.

Trust me im not telling you to not make a roadster, while I don't care for the f-100 roadster look I have seen far worse things before and above it all it is your truck.

Brian kc0kfg
 
#19 ·
The problem isn't with the rust at all, or at least not on the top section of my cab..The problem is a roughly 4" gash that goes from just above the read window(where the cab back and roof seam is) to midway to the top of the cab..That is basically the worst of it..Everything else I am confident that I can remove... :smash:

I am agreeance with pretty much everyone that the roadster thing would probably be more work than I am ready to tackle..Plus, the more that I see the pics, the more unpractical it seems for me..I am building this thing to enjoy and drive, not to haul around on a trailer...

I will post a pic of the roof in the morning, I am charging the camera right now..
:cool:
 
#20 ·
The roof does not sound that bad. A gash can be fixed. I am waiting on the pics, but it sounds like a lot less work to fix yours than even replacing it with another one. A lot of the roofs rust out. That is a mess to fix too.

With a lot of dents (business end of a bat?) you might consider a shirinking disk as well. I have one, but have not used it yet.



I am thankful mine is not bad. No rust and only a few dents. These things were used a farm trucks back in the day (at least most were). Dents don't hurt the runnin' none (I was told). :rolleyes:
 
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