The reality of aluminum body panels.

[ray66v]

They are glued and riveted. That comes directly from a Ford employee at Dearborn Truck Plant.

That's interesting.

I would assume they are real aluminum rivets, and not pop rivets.

Real riveting, requires a bit of a learning curve, and has the potential, for a lot of extra work, if you mess up.

If they are near the edges, you may be able to use a squeezer on them, which makes it real easy.

 

[fordmantpw]

That's interesting.

I would assume they are real aluminum rivets, and not pop rivets.

Real riveting, requires a bit of a learning curve, and has the potential, for a lot of extra work, if you mess up.

If they are near the edges, you may be able to use a squeezer on them, which makes it real easy.

Yeah, I doubt you are going to go grab a pop rivet gun from your tool box and rivet the sides on.

 

[ray66v]

Yeah, I doubt you are going to go grab a pop rivet gun from your tool box and rivet the sides on.

If they are glued, that will be 95%+ of it.

I-car standards still require welding at the ends, top and bottom, when gluing on a panel.

Not sure it was necessary. And, I am pretty sure a lot of guys skip it. The glue does a really impressive job, if used properly.

I also don't doubt there will be guys using pop rivets on these regardless. But, you are supposed to follow the standards.

The rivets are no doubt being used to replace those required welds. And, there may be a few are going where the wheel opening is, on the lip that attaches it to the inner liner.

My impression is, that only the outer panels are aluminum, the inner structure, i.e. cab, bed floor, is still steel on these?

 

[JDgreen227]

Yeah, I doubt you are going to go grab a pop rivet gun from your tool box and rivet the sides on.

Query here...the only rivets I have used since 1989 have been pop rivets...are you guys telling me I have to learn something new? AND...if the technology is new...how much do I have to invest in time and materials and the learning curve to make it cost effective to do my own work?

COME ON, COME On....this thread is nearing 200 replies yet NOBODY wants to provide real figures about the subject. What is the matter with you guys? Is it true that nobody has the knowledge to reply? Well, chalk one up for APATHY !!!!!!

 

[roadhunter]

To be completely fair, the aluminum panel should cost more. I think ford may be eating some cost on this panel or making no margin on it .

I suspect you are right.

 

[Scooby074]

Talking about new techniques for aluminum repair, like rivets and bonding, some might find this video of a quarter panel replacement using the BMW factory repair method and tools interesting. The body is steel in this case, but the idea is similar. As somebody who does occasional autobody, I had to watch the video 2x to see just what the damage was that required a new quarter lol. Needless to say, I likely wouldnt have changed the quarter for this amount of damage.

 

[MossRoad]

I noticed that. She must have been quite something.

One year older than me. Nice girl back then. Funny thing... years go by, we send our 1st child to school and this same girl (now woman) has her 1st child in the same grade. Kids end up on sports teams together and other activities. This woman, her husband, me, my wife, and many of the other kid's in the class parents become a close-knit group of friends. And we are all still good friends and get together as often as possible. :thumbsup:

 

[MossRoad]

Obviously your pipes weren't loud enough! JK [Left turners account for 52% of motorcycle accidents].

'77 RD400 twin cylinder 2 stroke with giant Mikuni carbs, lightened reed valves, worked over pistons and Specialist II expansion chambers... it was plenty loud on acceleration, but only makes a sickening SCREEEEEEEEEEETHUD! on rapid deceleration into a car door. I walked away both times.... screaming obscenities, of course. :laughing:

In reality, I was a pretty irresponsible driver back then, that being, a young punk on the street. Highly aggressive. However, every time I was in an accident(with the exception of staring at the pretty girl), I was driving along like a grandma being a good responsible citizen and WHAM! Guess what they say about Karma is true... and I probably had it coming.

 

[MossRoad]

Yeah, I doubt you are going to go grab a pop rivet gun from your tool box and rivet the sides on.

Why not? I did that with a few 70's Novas.... :laughing:

 

[MossRoad]

Hey, people keep talking about aluminum hoods having been around for a long time and comparing them to this damage on the truck... aren't hoods a heck of a lot easier to replace than the back quarter of a pickup bed?