New bed floors

[pflaming]

Been following Hank's thread, nice work. I started this one as 'bed floors'. Others may want to add their pictures, then new members can get ideas more quickly then by searching a lot of threads. I test my ideas by searching and it is very helpful.

My family and I stained several boards to test what would look good with "original patina" sides, flat black looked best to our thinking, so I got a 3/4 " plywood sheet for $29 and installed it. I sand blasted the strips and painted them with a semi-gloss black about five light coats, the several clear coats and painted the plywood with a flat black. I painted the sheet before I installed the strips. I did all the work with the bed on end which make it a lot easier. Needed help though to tighten the bolts. The project was a lot more work then I figured. I have not attached to the frame yet, will wait until I decide what to do with the differential. For me this utilitarian approach works. The before and after pictures tell the story.

Edited June 6, 2017 by pflaming

[Dave72dt]

Obviously not a Dodge bed. Pine bed wood stained weathered gray with satin black strips and body.

http://pic40.picturetrail.com:80/VOL364/9323379/17065951/268385510.jpg

Edited February 8, 2010 by Dave72dt
picture format

[Merle Coggins]

Are your strips layng directly on top of the plywood sheet or did you datto cut a notch for them to sit into for the near flush look that would simulate assembling individual boards with grooves along the edges?

Merle

[pflaming]

"Pine bed wood stained weathered gray"...

I haven't seen this look before. What I had seen was quite dark. That cab window looks older than the pilot house. The windshild looks like a '48 / 50 cab. H-m-m-m-

Merle: Did not cut the grooves. I thought about it but for my use did not think the extra work was worth it. One would have to be 'very' careful' to get all those measurements correct and then have a steady hand with the router , I have one, but while it looks easy it is not necessarily so. Now that I think about, I guess I could mark strips and rout out the wood, hmmm.

Edited February 8, 2010 by pflaming

[Young Ed]

The pictures truck is a Ford. Look at the backwards tailgate stamping. As for routing the strips get a router table. Then you can use a guide for straight lines. Of course getting a router table big enough for that sheet of plywood might be tricky

[aero3113]

pflaming,how did you get your patina like that. I see in you first pic the blue is not showing as much. Looks GREAT

[pflaming]

I started out by working off the ozidization with lacquer thinner. Then I went with dry/wet sand paper. As I progressed I learned that the lacquer thinner was ok, it could not penetrate the original paint. The truck had been repainted and the second coat came off quite easily. I was much too agressive at first.

What I would recommend is start with the lacquer thinner, then use 600 or higher wet dry sand paper and carefully work your way down to what you want. Rust seems to grow through the pores of the paint like cauliflower heads and when they are carefully removed the original color will remain.

Look at the picture of the top of the cab. That cab was pure rust, rough to the touch. By carefully wet sanding I was able to come down to some rather decent color. The side view of the truck shows the driver's door after lacquer and the bed as I found it.

I was going to repaint, but not any more. Going to do a better than average cleanup on the bed; completed; then the engine compartment and finally the interior, but will leave the exterior as is. There are some small areas that need attention, you can see what I mean by looking at the bed side walls and end panel.

I am getting a bit anxious to finish but have some other priorities that are slowing me down. But it's a lot of fun. It's becoming a great hobby.

Got lots more pictures, just showed some samples.

Edited February 9, 2010 by pflaming

[Dave72dt]

A router table wouldnb't be neccesary to put in the grooves. Mark their locations, pull the floor out and use a stright edge clamped to the floor as a guide for the router.

The pictures truck is a '52 1ton pickup ( F-3 ) that I did for a customer about 4 years ago. There are absolutely no replacement bed parts for that model except the wood floor and strips. I think they came from Mar-K. The "weathered gray" is the name of the stain, picked up at a local TrueValue store and should bleach out lighter as time goes by. Brushed on and wiped down so the grain still shows.

[pflaming]

Dave: You are correct, I wouldn't even have to pull the floor, but for the top cuts by the front panel my router would cover all the rest. A good wood chisel and some careful work would do the top cuts. I wonder how much better that would look considering the work involved. It would also shorten the life of the plywood.

I do like the grey look, would have tried that had I known. So we learn. We tried light colors but all looked too good along side the old paint. The flat black did the best to show off, not compete with, the rustic 'charm' (that may be a bit of a feminine term) of the sides so we went flat black.

Getting very colorful out here, apricot orchards are in bloom and in two weeks the early peaches and nectarines will start so we are in for our annual eight weeks of color. Much warmer than snow.

Edited February 9, 2010 by pflaming

[HanksB3B]

Thanks for the compliment on my truck's bed. 90% of the credit though should go to Bruce Horkey. I just did the wood finishing, paint prep, mock-up and final assembly. You might like to visit his website. He's been specializing in our truck beds for I don't know how many years and is extremely knowledgeable and helpful.

http://www.horkeyswoodandparts.com/

Hank

[Merle Coggins]

I actually seriously contemplated the use of plywood as my bed floor until I was given an ample supply of hickory wood. I also gave a lot of thought about making grooves in the plywood for the strips, but I was worried that it would allow moisture to get in between the plys in those areas and eventually begin to seperate and peal up. And although it wouldn't cost much to get new plywood and do it all again, would it be worth it?

Merle

[ssdodge51]

I was looking the website you mentioned (horkeyswoodandparts) and noticed there are two bed sides. How do you know if you have a short or tall bed? There aren't any other B3B trucks around here so I don't have a clue which version I have.

thanks

[Dave72dt]

The back of the cab has three recesses in it. My understanding is if you can see portions of theses recesses above the front box panel. you have a low or short box. My front panel measures 20 1/2" from the bed to the top of the roll and I can't see those recesses when installed and believe mine to be a tall bed.