66 Double Cab Restoration

[heli-easy]

Needed a new separation panel, the one between the back of the cab and the bed. Mine was smashed from items being loaded in the bed and rusted away.
I could buy one so I made one in a 10 ton press. I made a form to stamp the metal to using strips of aluminum.

Made a test piece to make sure it made the shape correctly.




The final male female forms.


Made two halves and welded them together

[heli-easy]

Needed inner ribs for the rear rockers in the back right. Another part not available. So tried my hand at forming it with a wood form. It worked, but I could use a metal shrinker.








It was installed inside these rockers. Then welded the new rocker in. Forgot to take pics as I went on this one.

[heli-easy]

Next I had to fix extensive rust in the upper windshield posts and under the roof edge. Kind of a odd spot for rust. I strapped the posts initially cause I didn't know if they would sag once they were cut. Found nothing moved when I cut them.










Sand Blasted the inside of the remaining roof sections. This is before welding the inside panels back in.


Alot of work happen to get here, just too busy to take a bunch of pics

[heli-easy]

Fitting a new front floor




After removing all rusty sections:




Removed the floor to remove rust on the structure underneath. I replaced the LH Dogleg at before putting the floor in


Also replaced A pillars before the floor went in


















Next the side panel aft of the LH door

[heli-easy]

The side of the truck doesn't look too bad in the pic, but its really wavy from heating it too much when it was installed. It looks like the truck was in an accident. The section replaced behind the door was repaired but had 3/4" of bondo to make it look right. Decided to just cut out the warped sections and redo it.








New Gerson panel




















OF course, the two repair panels were not big enough to meet.






Had to keep fitting the door, to make sure they end up in the right spot.


Inner structure had to be refit too




Working the door gap

[heli-easy]

Next issue, the bus side section I used had a later model door latch. So that needs to be swapped out.
















At this stage it was time to take it off the rotisserie. And working on it while on jack stands was getting a little sketchy.


Reinstalling a correct year beam. Had a bay bus beam in it before.






Installing and cleaning up inside panels.

[heli-easy]

So I had repaired one gate but have two more to take apart and fix. I was putting this job off cause it was a lot of work but the other two weren't as badly damaged as that first one.











Checking the fit.














It needed a little work to fit better, was too tight caused it to preload.

[heli-easy]

Bug tranny back from the rebuild shop!






One piece boots


Instead of a straight axel kit, I narrowed my rear torsions 3" to fit standard bug short axels. And gives me more room for wide wheels later.






Bug brake brackets were located in the wrong spot for my bus




Guessing my ride height, but will probably have to adjust when it has the engine weight in the back later.


Found wheels with tires to get it off the stands.

[heli-easy]

Bottom of the cargo door skin removed.






























My new disk brake kit came in. Installed


Had to find some temporary wheels and tires cause I changed the lug pattern to Ford 5 lug. And havn't found my new wheels yet. Got these for $50




When I had the front floor out, I raised the steering box 1.3", didn't take any pics of that. But now the pedal levers hit the steering box. So had to modify them a little to make them operate properly.

[heli-easy]

My nose repair parts came in. So I started cutting the nose apart. Used tape to make a nice straight line.
The outer skin, inner panel and bumper support are rotted away. So need to open it up to get at all the damage.










Some of the things I found in the nose.
























Door hinge nut plates were toast, so made some new ones








The nose panel didn't fit correct, may be a Double Cab thing. Sectioned my new panel to make it the same shape as the old one.

[heli-easy]

Next I tackled the rot at the bottom of the front seat panel where it attached to the floor. Another part I can't buy so had to just make something.

[heli-easy]

The right rear corner had some damage from an accident. After removing all the bondo found a crumple zone.






Just working it with hammer and dolleys




Needed some shrinking too.






Battery tray inside needed to be removed












Lower section was too deformed, got a bus repair section, but it doesn't fit very well. Needs to be reshaped to match the DC.








Couldn't get this area flat enough, so cut it out.




Didn't like this part either, still wasn't flat enough


Lower corner needed a little work too, more rust

[heli-easy]

This corner turned out to be a real pain in the butt






Good time to fit a new battery tray


Used metal off an old filing cabinet. lol








Restore the fuel tank. Sand Blasted this, then used a tank sealer kit.






Packed up the spindles to get flipped. This will lower the front 3.5"


Got a new 2" narrowed CB Performance Beam. I need it 4" narrowed. This is an easy way to do it.
Made this tool to pull the bearings without damaging them.


This goes in past the outer bearing, this is inserted to drive the inner bearing an inch in


This is how it needs to be positioned on the inner bearing to drive it down


Then drive the outer bearing in an inch




Then cut the one inch boss off the outer edge of the beam






Flipped spindles came in

[heli-easy]

Removed the old beam




Center pin installed


Now the torsions need to be shortened 4" to fit the new beam


Used the trailing arms to measure and mark the torsions for cutting










Going in the car








New suspension and lowered

[heli-easy]

The drop gates have a lot of dings and stretched spots from years of cargo sliding around.


Used a shrinker gun to flatten the gate panels














Fitting the rear bumper


Front bumper warped and filled holes







Fitted to the car