My '63 Unibody (Integral Cab)

I’m fortunate to have friends like Paul to help me out with the finer elements of bodywork. I can do the metal fab and I can paint but I really don’t have the patience for getting a panel flat.
I’m willing to learn and Paul is willing to teach me. He’s really the best at getting a car to block stage.
 
I had to repair a giant hole in the dash

I’m also going to weld up the ten holes below radio area. I have a stock, restored Bendix tube radio...
View attachment 49522View attachment 49523
I made a panel out of the same gauge metal to fill the void. Flanged the edges for backing.
View attachment 49524
View attachment 49525

Turned the temp down on the MIG and zapped it in
View attachment 49526
I have another small area, top right of the repair area that I’ll fix tomorrow
View attachment 49527
A lot of bad things happened to this dash in 57 years.View attachment 49522
Outstanding.
 
Spent 5 hours on the radio area this morning. Fixed the junk area top left. This dash was trashed.
Welded up the 10 drill holes below the radio area. I have no idea why the previous owner needed all those holes.
91238160-0DF0-4AD2-B3D1-89708B2C8376.jpeg
 
Bumpers, door mirrors and radios were not factory installed on these trucks. They were dealer installed. Radios became factory installed in, I believe, 1966.
The NOS antenna is the same antenna for Galaxie and Fairlane. The factory contents of the box included a template for antenna hole location for various vehicles. The hole location is critical because of the angle of the antenna bezel. My current antenna hole (of course) was not in the right location and needed to be welded up.
The lower hole is new and correct.
3D570590-8B2C-46A4-A6B5-40360337EF4D.jpeg
 
Last edited:
I’m off for a few days. I’ve been messing with the truck and trying to get a front glass put in my Focus. I don’t recommend Safelite. I should have an OEM glass Friday.
 
So much tedious metal work on this truck. It seems like it never ends.
I did some repair to metal around the lower anchor point of the right fender. None of this sheet metal is the same thickness. It varies between .035-.045 on fenders. Door, cab and bed sheet metal is thicker in some areas. I use a veneer caliper to get me close. There used to be a lot of local places to buy metal. Most of them are closed and I’ve resorted to online suppliers for some of it.
This is a in hole in the fender for an extruded u-nut. The anchor point on the front cab is toasted, too.
8AA4BE2E-4E27-4E51-A72C-CF9F0443B584.jpeg
 
The area is recessed for the u-nut. Kinda a PITA to zap thin sheet metal.
I replaced the area. Fortunately it’s under the truck and doesn’t have to be pretty.
73E8190A-D5BF-47E5-BF26-8F034C2A6076.jpeg
 
I cleaned the inside of the fender and used POR15 to seal the metal. This is a permanent coating. If you get this stuff on you and it dries, it will be there for weeks unless you use Scotchbrite.
Brush on or spray on. This is semigloss.
44D8B43E-7BB2-4845-9A63-093E9C457AF0.jpeg
 
Bought this to rebuild while I was on hiatus. I’ve got to pull the engine to paint the firewall. I might as well put a fresh engine back in. I’ll rebuild the trans, too.
E4EFD389-BD57-4EDD-BA01-AF299FF81DE7.jpeg
 
That's what my '65 Tbird has (with 4 bbl carb), it has great torque which I prefer over hp to get a 4500 lb car moving. A nice upgrade for your truck.
It already has a 390. I just figured I’d put a fresh engine instead of reinstalling the old leaky one.
 
I was at Paul’s today to finish the rear brake line on the ‘57 Chevy.
He has a ‘75 Vette there that he grafted on a ‘69 nose and tail section. The customer wanted to get rid of the ugly rubber nose and tail.
You can see lines drawn to mark where the old front end would be cut off
BF7B6969-C31E-401D-B15D-65E70374F513.jpeg

Here’s the ‘69 nose clip
3912E820-C885-4A84-AB04-991B464B5BC6.jpeg
 
Last edited:
The pic of the ‘69 clip above you can notice that the flares on the front wheel wells are narrower than the flares on the front of the ‘75 nose. The flares were cut off the ‘75 nose and grafted to the ‘69 nose so that the flares would match the rear wheel flares. The ‘69 rear tail section was grafted behind the wheel wells.
831D889A-712B-41FB-91AB-0AD69EC219D7.jpeg555B796E-DFDE-4EFB-98EB-0C8D9C0A7149.jpeg39E8B704-A92C-4C27-A76D-8E7B6A32A2FC.jpeg
 
Can't wait to see the finished product @BobbyFord
You know, I don’t think he’s going to get to the paint stage with this one. The customer is being a PITA, keeps changing his mind on things and wants the car finished yesterday. I think Paul is going to finish the structural work and get the car into primer and get the suspension back under it then I think the guy will come and pick up the car with a trailer.
 
You know, I don’t think he’s going to get to the paint stage with this one. The customer is being a PITA, keeps changing his mind on things and wants the car finished yesterday. I think Paul is going to finish the structural work and get the car into primer and get the suspension back under it then I think the guy will come and pick up the car with a trailer.
That sucks! But I can see Paul having had enuf. Then come get it.
 
That's a Lambo?
Yes. Miura S
Aluminum body, transverse mounted mid-engine V12.
This car was really the first super car.
Here’s the story in this car...
In 1971 a wealthy Persian family sent their 19 yr old daughter here to go to school at Berkeley. They bought the Lambo for her so she’d have something to drive...😳
At some point she got in a small fender bender and wrinkled the nose. I don’t know if it damaged the radiator but for some reason she couldn’t drive it. They never fixed the car and parked it. It sat for 45 years. This guy somehow heard about the car, found it and went and bought it. He’s in the process of restoring it. That’s why, in the pic, there’s no paint on the front end. The color you see isn’t primer, it’s hand fabricated aluminum. The car is immaculate. He showed me the perfectly rebuilt and restored motor but I didn’t take a pic 🤦🏻‍♂️. He has a lot of documentation on the car, including a pic of it sitting in front of the international student building at Berkeley in 1971.
I have a feeling I’ll be seeing the car again soon.
He showed me some chrome door trim pieces and the inner door latch off of one of the doors...every single part on these cars is number stamped for that specific car.
It’s an amazing car.
Here’s a mindblower...he also has an orange 1969 concourse restored Miura S.
One of these cars will set you back $2 million.
 
Back
Top Bottom