buyers advice on a little red pilot house

[Dennis_MN]

It would be nice to see your truck on the registry, along with the picture on the serial plate from the door.

Great find, congradulations

[Scruffy49]

Looks really good. Been wondering how mine would look if the front bumper and guards got chromed.

What's the story on the rear bumper? I like it, mine has a panel truck type rear bumper.

[ferdball]

When I get 45 minutes I'll gladly fill out the registry. the tag on the door post is painted over so the only thing you can barely make out is the ser.no

His name is proudly "Frankenstein" as given to him by his previous owner years ago. He's shiny on the outside and rusty on the inside...(not to bad though).

There are some CRAZY welded parts like the front bumper to the frame and that rear bumper/tailight/side step behind the rear wheels. It actually seems rather useful, and if I was using it as a farm truck I'd do just the same. Easy to step up and into the bed. REALLY protects the rear and lights. the rear bumper and where it wraps around to the wheels is HEAVY channel.

The bed is rotted out and then just through some plywood on top of the old so MY next step is to replace the wood, but after lying underneath for a while and looking things over it's going to be no small job just taking all the old bolts off and because the bumper is welded to the box I've got to take the bumper bolts off as well...

(sidenote) I've looked up everything on Mar-K and other forums about bed wood, but thought I might ask you all your opinion. I wan to go for useable wood bed. Thought about painting it black just to be original but then thought that the first time I throw in some lumber and drag it out it scrapes the paint off... so then I thought I do linseed oil that way I can just throw some more on if'n it starts looking shabby...??? two cents anyone?

Just spent $700 on some new 215/85 R16. and got to say MAN it rides smooth at 50mph and everything in between. I really wanted to go with some original looking pie-crust 6.50x16 but MAN they want too much for some of those....and that's for the bias-ply, dont get me started on the coker radials... I just justified it by thinking that this will probably be the only pair of tires I'll have to put on it.....ever..... they'll rot off before I wear them out...

anyway... I'm rambling

[Jerry Roberts]

... bed wood, but thought I might ask you all your opinion. I wan to go for useable wood bed. Thought about painting it black just to be original but then thought that the first time I throw in some lumber and drag it out it scrapes the paint off... so then I thought I do linseed oil that way I can just throw some more on if'n it starts looking shabby...??? two cents anyone? (unquote )

I used linseed oil on my bed wood . Put it on heavy enough so that it gets down on the edges . Or coat all of the surfaces before installation . Let it soak in and then wipe off the excess . My bed wood is old but if I install new wood , I will use linseed oil again . Excellent protection from the weather .

[ferdball]

Thanks Jerry, I also heard (oh on...) that if you put the ends of the wood down in a bucket of the oil for a few days it really cures the ends good to keep from splitting. Then just coat the tops and bottoms after. then install.

I've also heard of some mixtures that are suppose to be better than just plain old linseed. like one part motor oil, one part turpentine and one part linseed...??? I've go plenty of time to soak it

I'm thinking white oak? sound good?

[B1B Keven]

Years ago I 'cheated' and slid a piece of oak plywood in the bed and then bolted the metal strips to it. Sprayed it with Polyurethane before hand.

Never worried about using the bed again.

[ferdball]

Marine grade plywood crossed my mind until I saw the $90 a sheet price tag... ouch!

should I have the metal strips powder coated for durability or just let'em rust?

[Jerry Roberts]

Marine grade plywood crossed my mind until I saw the $90 a sheet price tag... ouch!

should I have the metal strips powder coated for durability or just let'em rust?

Another option is stainless steel strips .

[B1B Keven]

Marine grade plywood crossed my mind until I saw the $90 a sheet price tag... ouch!

should I have the metal strips powder coated for durability or just let'em rust?

This was just the cheapest oak plywood I could find.

The strips are just painted and seem to be holding up OK.

I'd probably go stainless or have them powder coated.

[ggdad1951]

Thanks Jerry, I also heard (oh on...) that if you put the ends of the wood down in a bucket of the oil for a few days it really cures the ends good to keep from splitting. Then just coat the tops and bottoms after. then install.

there are several product out there to seal the ends of the wood to keep it from "checking" (splittng on the ends). I used some when I did my deck and have had ZERO checking.

[Young Ed]

How about a clever way to hide the fact that the ends of the boards are obviously plywood?

[ggdad1951]

How about a clever way to hide the fact that the ends of the boards are obviously plywood?

how clever do you want? Simplest way is to stick a chink on the end with a special router bit set that is made for that. It creates a wedge cut out you glue in a piece of mating material. The edge is 45'd all th way aout and you can't tell w/o CLOSE inspection.

[Young Ed]

That sounds clever enough for me

[Jeff_DuBois]

All I can say is WOW!!!!!!. nice indeed!.