Smoothed bed side seam

[DDfab]

Ok guys, I know alot of you have smoothed the bed where the seam is above the trim. I would like to know what you put on the metal before you filled the seam with a weld bead. Deep in the crevis, i can see some rust. I cleaned what i could with a thin cut off wheel in the groove. There is still some deep down, i was wondering if por15 would be a good choice before i weld over it and start my body work.

Thanks for any help,
Dave

[1970F250]

i sprayed mine with this rust converter stuff.but only beaded it were the bottom was separated from the top and bondoed the rest because it was going to use a whole roll of wire witch costs

[DDfab]

I had thought about that, but I was afraid that i wouldnt get the filler in tight enough to the groove and it would pop in a few years.

Had friend at body shop give me the scare, ametuer myself to say the least.

Alot of welding that is for sure. thinking about doing the hood also. already did the verticle seam by the tail lights.

Dave

[1970F250]

i figured that if bondo could hold on to a flat dent it would stay in the groove.

[DDfab]

good point

[baddraw]

a better way would be to use lead to fill the seam. I plan on doing the same to my truck once i manage to get the 7 coats of paint off of it.

[DDfab]

almost got it all welded in. figured better safe than it bite me later. this way i shouldnt have to many air pockets under the filler, since i have a flat surface now instead of a groove.

will post some pics when i get my camera fixed

[SmokeyBear]

You did right. Rust under filler will eventually pop it loose. When its completely welded you can grind it down and never have to worry about it again.

[adam138]

On my 69 F100 I"ve got a roll pan that made every thing look smooth bout those bed seems were ugly so i used bondo and applied with a thinn guitar pick. It worked great and doesn't seem like it will ever fall out.
BONDO and a THIN GUITAR PICK will get the job done.

[SMF Speed&Custom]

Any pictures of this? I think I know what you are talking about and if it's what I think then I need to know the same thing.
Thanks for any pics here.

[DDfab]

My digital camera is down right now, but soon will have new pics. The seams I have welded in are the verticle seam by the rear side marker lights, the one that goes across the hood about 6 inches up from the leading edge, and the one that is one the sides of the bed, Where the bed has the triangular raised rib that goes down the hole side of the truck.(most still have trim over this area. Well right on top of that is a seam where the top of the bed is spot welded to the bottom of the bed. I ground out the seam sealer and filled the whole seam with weld. It took along time only being able to weld an 1/8th inch at a time for warping reasons. But i think it will be worth it in the long run.

pics coming soon.

[SMF Speed&Custom]

Ok I think I see what you are talking about now. On my 66 the body line in the middle of the bed and body has a seam and it's collecting rust and I was trying to think of some way besides welding to smooth it out.

[DDfab]

some of the guys have had good luck with just putting bondo in the groove, but i couldnt chance it. it does have body filler on the seam now, but there is solid metal behind it to back it up.

[SMF Speed&Custom]

Yeah bondo is a bit sketchy to me. I didn't know if there was some kind of sealer like roofing cocking that I can put on there and then just paint it. I know there is that kind of stuff for like the window seal at the top or the water drip rail above the doors you know.... Hmm... that would be a lot of welding to do all t he way along and then having to grind it down smooth. I don't like bondo on cracks or holes. Right now the guy before me put bondo over ALL the trim holes and you can see them now and they are beginning to fall in and it looks like crap. The paint is bubbling and all and the paint color is really nice. It is a darker metallic forest green color with a hint of pearl blue in it. I will have to go all the way back down to bare metal and do that seam and THEN paint it.... Lot's of work. Would be nice to just do and get out of the way though.

[DDfab]

i know what you mean by somebody doing body work before. i started to take the paint off my hood and found it was full of filler. I was lucky enough that the majority was in the front to middle. I removed the bad metal and molded in a cowl scoop for it. the front of the hood looked like they kept trying different ford letters. Everyone had more than one hole choice. definately alot of welding filling in the seams. I figure i did 1 six foot bed side in under an hour including the grinding. I am not going to do the top cab seam. wanted to get it all painted before got to cold, but guess not. Not to fond of my gas furnace and paint fumes. dont have a paint booth.

What do you guys think, i was thinking about going with the original candy red for 70 and putting some pearl in the clear. figured that might give it some body.