August08'-09' build off "Aw Hell" 1956 Ford F-100 (Ford-o-Matic)

[bondo]

whats up fellers (and females)?
it's been awhile since i've been around.
i havnt been messing with much RC but i have been working on a few projects that got started but set aside.
one of them is this 56' ford.
i dont own the truck but im doing most of the work on it.
the truck is bieng restored for a close freinds dad who had a stroke about a year and a half ago.(you'll see him later)

it started out as a kentucky built and sold "ford-o-matic" and my friend mike became the second owner when he bought it in 1988.
he got married and had to sell the truck and then 20 years later he decided to look for another project.
he dug the style and regretted having to sell the truck so he started looking for the same year/style and found one 5 miles from his house.
paid the man, checked the history and sure enough IT WAS THE SAME TRUCK!. mind you it had a bit more wear and added bondo weight by then....well, less if you subtract all of the rusted metal that had fallen off..

we started stripping some of the more obvious spots and found a mess.
it wasnt the worst metal ive seen but it was pretty ate up with cancer and then glorified with bondo.

i cant seem to find all of the pics from when he bought it but these were taken shortly after.
the bed was there but barely.
you can see that the frame was pretty rusted(everything that looks decent on it is just undercoating over pit rust) and the cab has some rust issues.again, alot of the rust was "prettied up".



the hood was shot, the bottoms of the doors and all four cab corners were gone and the fenders looked like they had been beat on by joey jordison.

now that you have an idea of what it was, all i can do is show you what it's becoming.
i'll see if i cant find the original pics along with the pics of mike when he bought it in 88.
these pics are probably going to be out of order aswell becuase i havnt taken the time to organize them in the host....sry

new patch panels, some are cut from OER panels and some were donated from a parts truck.
the frame had already been stripped and recoated by this time but those pics are with the others.....





the drip edge along the rear glass had to be replaced with one from the parts truck.


here's joe shortly before the frame was stripped and recoated(also shortly after his stroke).


some pics of the cab being brought down to metal.





whats wrong with this pic???

mike(A.K.A. Micheal "BY GOD!" Weathers) the epitome of safety....lol

the hood was gone as previously mentioned and the hood on the parts truck was just as bad in the same spots so we searched high and low and after an 18 hour road trip we finally found a suitable substitute.
same year but came from an F-250.

after a bit of stripping.

after blasting,ospho and sealer.
it still needs some work but the metal is good to go now




that's it for now but ive got some updates on the camera to be posted soon.
whadya think so far?
cheers,
bondo

UPDATE!
1/12/09

got a few things knocked out.
first is MY custom touch to the truck.
i got to looking at the bed and a spare tailgate and thought......hmmmm.......betcha i can make it look better and add in something that i've never seen on a 56'.

kinda plain right?
so...




more spots that needed attention.







this scab is one that was done by a neighbor of mike's when i was without a mig.
i dont know what the hell he was thinking but he got paid good money for THIS!!!!


WHAT THE HELL AM I SUPPOSED TO DO WITH THAT?????
i'll show you what im supposed to do with that..........


i'm sorry but i cant stand when people do the bare minimum to get paid and expect someone else to fix their nastiness........i cut two of the booger looking welds and the top scab FELL OFF!
i can't fix the rest without buying a new panel and starting from scratch and since im not paying for any of this.......this will have to do.

now, onto some fab that I'VE started and finished.
the tailgate is pretty much shot but it's going to have to do for now since this is about as budget as budget gets.
so we get to fix as much as possible until funds can be found for the $500 replacement.
i didnt get a pic of the right side but this was the better side of the two(right).

the right side was in far worse condition...
a few well placed cuts..



and onto the actual fix.







and here's what's left of the cutouts so you have an idea of the metal that was there before the cuts and patches.


the cab and bed have since been brought to bare and sprayed with etching epoxy.
pics to come soon.

cheers,