The only way I have any hope of completing this 54 Truck restoration before my sixteen year old daughter is a grandmother is to take it on as a series of small manageable projects and then complete them one at a time. A famous early Chinese mechanic, Lao-tzu, had a saying “A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step”. Only 9,950 more to go and the next step on this journey is the metal body work.
The truck I purchased was a working truck used by a rancher in Montana and truck has plenty of rust on the body parts. The good news is because of the dry climate, it did not rot out with rust like it would in Alabama. Since the truck was actually used by cowboy ranchers, the fenders definitely show the wear and tear – no bullet holes or spur marks, but plenty of dings, dents and for the advanced mechanic’s in the audience - boo boo’s.
Since I don’t know anything about body work, I did what all good managers do when challenged by ignorance – call a meeting with your advisory committee. Once convened, everyone gave the fenders a look and said; no problem, just bang it out, easy, take your time and my favorite “it will be fun”. You get what you pay for.
As I will be doing the work, it means that I have to learn the skill of metal bumping. If I could just get a radioactive chipmunk to bite me, I could transform into Metal Man and repair fenders with my teeth. No such luck, we have two cats that keep the chipmunks in check. I am going to have to learn how to do it.
Being resourceful, I get on the internet and watch a few YouTube videos on how to repair fender dents. I even find the bible of Metal Men. This book was published in 1931 and apparently tells everything one needs to know about metal bumping. Fortunately Dale has the body shop tools, so I get started on the front fenders. Now I am not making this the up, I start by dinging on my dolly. Seriously, this is the proper technique - it’s in the bible. Basically you hold a dolly, which is a curved metal block, behind the fender and then hit the outside of the fender with a hammer to remove the dent. It looks a lot easier in the videos, but I eventually get the hang of it and start to ding out the dents.
You need to put your kids to bed for this part – the advanced metal bumping method is to “ding off your dolly”. Believe me this in not for the faint of heart and a technique that is hard to master. Although the front fenders were actually in good shape, for the last four weeks I have been busy in my back yard dinging on and off my dolly, sanding, grinding, and using chemicals to etch, dissolve and encapsulate the rust. I am expecting a call any day now from the EPA.
All this is more than a little overwhelming, so given the sorry condition of the rear fenders, you remember – the boo boos, I opted for the modern body shop technique which is to buy new ones. While it will take 6 weeks for the fenders to get here from who knows where, it will save me two months on the project and my sanity.
This body work is very mundane and tedious so I am developing a Zen attitude about the whole process. I can’t wait to take the next step.
