BP&B Hobby Shop

[HD FLHX]

I've done a couple threads that followed car builds done in my hobby shop that were moderately successful, so I figured I'd start my own shop projects thread. I like watching builds that others are doing so hopefully some will enjoy following along with some of my projects. I don't claim to be an expert, but do feel I'm a pretty good bodyman for someone of my age (mid 30's) and continue to expand my skill set more into the restoration and metal fab areas. I've grown up in the auto industry, my grandfather was a Ford mechanic from 1948 till 2000 and my father has been a Ford mechanic since 1975. I worked in a GM dealership body shop for about 10yrs as a collision repair tech (done both body & paint) then left in 2004 & took a manufacturing job as a production painter. I sprayed liquid top coat for 7 yrs then moved into my current dept 3.5 yrs ago which is a powder coat dept. Even though I left the dealership for a factory job I've continued doing Paint & Body out of my home shop, enough so that I built a new shop 3yrs ago with a dedicated paint room.

Enough about me, some maybe familiar with 2 of my last projects. My 76 Bronco and a 62 Nova I done for a friend.




The entire builds can be seen here;

My 76 Bronco

The 62 Nova

Currently I have a 31 Model A pickup and a 1950 Ford F3 pickup I'm tinkering with. The Model A will be a hot rod build with a Ford small block/c4/8" rearend combination.


I sold the stock drivetrain and axles, so they will live on in other Model A's




With the frame square and level I locked it down to my scissor lift in preparation to fill unnecessary holes and box it.





New 4" drop axle




The rear suspension will be ladder bars with coilovers.

 

[HD FLHX]

Earlier this summer I picked up a 1950 Ford F3 pickup. The F3 is a HD 3/4 ton with a long bed. It still has the 239 flathead v8 with a 4 speed. At some point 1/2 ton F1 axles were installed. I'm just after a "shop truck" with this one. Nothing fancy, definitely not show quality just a cheap fun driver.




First thing was to replace the leaf springs the previous owner took a torch to in an effort to lower its altitude. I was lucky enough to find a used F1 set locally on craigslist cheap


Next was to get rid of the points, new plugs & wires and a carb rebuild



With it running good now its time to make it look a little less farm truck


I removed 10 inches from the rear of the bed




And after loosing a few rear leaf springs

 

[Garage5.9]

The nova and bronco look awesome. What blue is that ? Any pic of the paint booth

 

[HD FLHX]

Now for the fun stuff fixing some rust. Both rear fenders had the same areas rotted out The upper rear edge against the bedside and the lower front down by the running board.









Drivers side the same areas but a little worse





Body worked and in 2k primer




The cab was really solid, just some damage on the rear cab panel and roof. Remember this is more of a "rat rod" type build hence not removing the bed or stripping all of it to bare metal.




Epoxy primer followed by 2k build primer

 

[HOTFR8]

I like the matching colors of the Nova & Bronco and I will be watching progress on that F3.
I have to ask why shorten the bed ?

 

[HD FLHX]

The nova and bronco look awesome. What blue is that ? Any pic of the paint booth

The Nova is a Ford SVT blue used on Mustangs & Lightning pickups '02 or '03 off the top of my head. The bronco is House of Kolor TruBlue Pearl.

Inside the paint room

 

[HD FLHX]

The front fenders were more of the same...Rust.







Front Sheet metal bodywork done, primed and hung to check the fit


And just when I think I'm done patching up rust I find a couple spots on the sides of the hood

 

[HD FLHX]

I like the matching colors of the Nova & Bronco and I will be watching progress on that F3.
I have to ask why shorten the bed ?

To make it look more like the F1 short bed

 

[HD FLHX]

I wasn't planning on stripping the interior just scuff it and shoot it, but the red paint was spray bomb and they ran the **** out of it in several places so I decided I'd probably just be better off in the long run to take most of it off.



Masked up ready to throw some color on.


White sealer


Silver basecoat


And a couple coats of clear



I shot the outside of the truck scarlet red in a satin finish. It is two stage, just the clear has had a flattening agent added. I painted all the front sheet metal off the truck then painted the cab and bed together.


Dark grey sealer


Red basecoat


2 coats of clearcoat. It goes on shiny just like normal clear but dulls as it dries.




10hrs later




Cab & bed done

 

[Notgrownup]

That is nice dude.....like your glide, I ride a 07 FLHTC black cherry pearl.

 

[1969]

First....... thank you for taking the time and effort to post your work. You are doing a super job IMO; I will be following your progress on this and any other build. Good stuff!!!!

 

[HD FLHX]

The wiring was shot so I picked up a univeral 12 circuit harness from Speedway Motors. Pretty nice harness for less than $150 bucks. All the wires were labeled and plenty long. Also might add the flathead has been converted to 12v negative ground





Installed a new universal 12v sending unit. Speedway sells an adaptor to allow the sending unit to bolt up to the original tank



Set of Speedway gauges


Most of the interior back together



Fenders and grill back on




And that brings it up to its current state. I hope to be finishing it up in the next couple weeks.

 

[dlcwent]

Awesome job. You have incredible talent. Looking forward to seeing more. It's nice to have people that an afford to have you do that kind of work. I assume you aren't doing it as a favor?

 

[HD FLHX]

I'm not cheap and very selective on what I'll take on. I have to be "into" the car if that makes any sense and know the owner is going to be willing to spend the money on good paint and material and allow me the time to do it right.

 

[HD FLHX]

That is nice dude.....like your glide, I ride a 07 FLHTC black cherry pearl.

Thanks, mine is a '10

 

[classicJackets]

I'm not cheap and very selective on what I'll take on. I have to be "into" the car if that makes any sense and know the owner is going to be willing to spend the money on good paint and material and allow me the time to do it right.

This needs to be how every build is done. That has to feel so much better to finish than one that you know the owner doesn't care about enough to put good parts/ labor into.

 

[8man]

I like seeing old steel come back to life as something better. Nice work.

 

[TF50]

Love the F-3! You putting the stock rear bumper back on?

 

[HOTFR8]

To make it look more like the F1 short bed

If it was me I would have left it longer as a bigger bed for carrying things is always better and the F1 so common and the F3 so shall we say unusual. Still I like what you have done and the updated photos show a lot of work .

 

[HD FLHX]

Love the F-3! You putting the stock rear bumper back on?

No, I'm not. It didn't have the stock rear step bumper on it when I bought it. The PO had taken a front bumper from a mid fifties ford cut it in half and stuck it on the rear. It was hideous. I had a stock rear bumper from my bronco laying around so I made some mounts for it.

 

[TF50]

Looks great! The bronco one is what I like. Need to find one for mine. Wasn't a huge fan of the wraparound bumper that came on my F-1


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[don long]

I just looked through your many pictures and completely enjoyed them.
Seeing you go through the 50 pick up was a reminder that I need to get back to work on my 50 COE. I will check back to see how you are doing on the model "A" pick up

Don

 

[HD FLHX]

I just looked through your many pictures and completely enjoyed enjoyed them
Seeing you go through the 50 pick up was a reminder that I need to get back to work on my 50 COE. I will check back to see how you are doing on the model "A" pick up

Don

Thanks Don, that is a huge compliment coming from someone like yourself. Every time I look at your party garage thread I'm still amazed by the collection you have put together.

 

[HD FLHX]

Here is a few smaller projects I've done since the new shop was complete.

A set of fenders for a coworkers bike. Two tone grey/metallic black





In basecoat- PPG Deltron DBC



3 coats of PPG 2021 clear. Striaght out of the gun not rubbed out




Done a set of Giovanni rims, LS3 engine cover and sub box for a late model Camaro. The car is white with orange strips.






I didn't build the box, just fiberglass it and painted it.

 

[PCO6]

Very nice work on some great projects.

 

[HD FLHX]

Few new pics of the '50 Shop Truck. Re-installed all the glass. Both door windows were cracked so I picked two new ones along with a weatherstripping kit from LMC.



[/URL

Transferring the brackets from the old glass to the new.
[URL=http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/RedRider1028/media/1950%20F3/20141107_212906_zps2qpnozer.jpg.html]

 

[don long]

Man I love the nose of that truck
Did you paint the grille silver or white
can't tell bu the pic.
I cut mine appart and sent the bars out to be chromed
Haven't gotten them back yet (6 mos)

 

[1953mercury]

Your doing some really nice body and paint work there, and it's always good to have another Ford fan in the ranks. Mike

 

[HD FLHX]

Its a flat silver. I almost changed it over to the '51/52 style, but I'm really glad I didn't now. Its my favorite part of the truck.

 

[Ohmthis]

Great work!!! It's awesome what people turn out in their own shops. I really like the color combo on the bronco and nova. Im thinking something similar for my 66 f100. Did you make the patch panels or were they bought?

 

[bulletpruf]

Love the truck! Very nice work.

Scott

 

[Bears Fan]

Love your F3! Whats your plan for the rims an tires?

 

[Bears Fan]

Is that a Mack truck dog on the hood?...Cool!

 

[HD FLHX]

Love your F3! Whats your plan for the rims an tires?

I'm going to stick with the steel rims that are on it with the dog dishes, just repaint them gloss black. I want to get a set of trim rings also just haven't got around to ordering a set yet. The tires on the back are junk so I picked up a new pair that are a little bit wider. The fronts are still pretty good so I'm just going to leave them on it.

Is that a Mack truck dog on the hood?...Cool!

It is...

 

[HD FLHX]

Great work!!! It's awesome what people turn out in their own shops. I really like the color combo on the bronco and nova. Im thinking something similar for my 66 f100. Did you make the patch panels or were they bought?

Thanks. I did make all the repair panels on the F3 out of 18 gauge sheet metal.

 

[NUTTSGT]

Such an awesome build & project thread. I hope to see many updates.

You sporting electric baseboard heaters in the paint booth ?

 

[HD FLHX]

Such an awesome build & project thread. I hope to see many updates.

You sporting electric baseboard heaters in the paint booth ?

I do have 2 electric baseboard heaters in the paint room. They are more for supplemental heat if I have the paint room closed up without the exhaust fan running. Mostly use them if I have something masked and ready, but not going to shoot it till the next morning I'll run them all night or after I'm done painting I'll run them for a few hours till the paint cures enough to open up the paint room doors.

 

[HD FLHX]

Picked up a 1 ton gantry crane this week for the shop, I hate asking and/or waiting for friends or family to help lift body off or move something heavy. Seen a couple threads on this one from Harbor Freight here on GJ so I stopped by the local store and looked at it in person. I was actually quite surprised, seems pretty well made and was on sale for $300 off plus another $175 off with the use of a 25% off coupon. Came to $525 plus tax out the door.

 

[MP&C]

http://s1104.photobucket.com/user/R.../IMG_20140717_153313_463_zpszua3zr5f.jpg.html

Nice work, one thing has me stumped.....what is the purpose of the relief in the door?

 

[HD FLHX]

Nice work, one thing has me stumped.....what is the purpose of the relief in the door?

It allows the door to open a little further when you have the fender mounted spare tire in place. Must have been a rare option back then. I've only seen pics of 2 other A's with it. This particular truck is a mix of '30 and '31 parts. It has a late '31 cab, dimpled firewall/factory full steel roof with a '30 grill shell and aprons and no spare tire pockets in the fenders.