Sometimes, the best modifications you can perform on a truck are the ones that many people may never notice. They add accent to the truck or help to give it a smooth or cohesive look, and, all the while, are very subtle on their own.
One of these mods that seem to never fall out of vogue is rounding the door corners. It is a common custom technique on just about any truck. Also, it is especially popular to perform on the extremely round trucks with wraparound windshields, such as the '55-59 Chevys or, in our case today, a '56 F-100 big-window located at Bobco in Lake Elsinore, California. Bobco is known for its super-smooth bodywork and paintjobs, so we knew that this was the place to look in on a custom mod like this taking place.
After = Round
1.Since rounding the door...
1.Since rounding the door corners on a '56 Effie is common practice over at Bobco, the company already has templates for such an occasion. The two corners that are square on these trucks are at the top of the vertical edge of the door and the top front edge of the window frame. Once both areas were ground clean of all the previous bodywork, the top template was lined up and marked first.
2.Then the front curve was...
2.Then the front curve was marked out. This is the easy part, of course, but we were ready to start cutting.
3.The top corner was cut first....
3.The top corner was cut first. Using the cutoff wheel, it is a slow and steady process if you want a clean cut. Trimming the bottom corner followed.
4.You need a clean cut for...
4.You need a clean cut for two reasons. One, we will have to weld this edge back up later.
5.Second, we cleaned up and...
5.Second, we cleaned up and reused the trimmed-off corners.
6.Templates for the inner...
6.Templates for the inner filler pieces were also premade, so they were double-checked before cutting them out of steel.
7.The top section was held...
7.The top section was held in place with a piece of welding rod and TIG-welded in.
8.Once the two pieces were...
8.Once the two pieces were tacked, the curvature was checked in relation to the door.