Well, it's about time to take the worn out old plywood out of the bed of my truck and replace it with the correct material.
I've ordered the bed strips and hardware, but since I've got 12 acres of oak trees and a friend with a sawmill, I decided that in Henry's spirit, I'd use my own wood to make the bed. I had some trees cut and sawn into planks which are curing as I type.

Anyway, what I need now are the final dimensions of the bed planks for a '61 Flareside. I know the length, but I need the exact thickness(3/4" I think) and the widths of the different boards.

I'd pretty much decided to soak the boards in Flood's CWF and give them a couple of coats of a good spar varnish, but if anyone's got a better waterproofing method I'd be interested in that, too.

 

Topic has come up on number of occasions, suggest run a search and narrow field to 61-66 forum. Couple members posted pic's of their projects, one of which shows where member used synthetic boards and spacers. Came across couple articles on installation, and repair may find helpful. Unfortunately don't have the actual dimensions but imagine member(s) will provide the info. Same bed 57-66.

Ford F-1 Wood Truck Bed Kit Install - Classic Trucks Magazine

http://www.classictrucks.com/tech/09...air/index.html

 

FYI: The wood was painted body color originally.

In 2004, I bought an oak bed kit from Carpenter for a pal's 1954 F100. I sealed the wood, then applied 8 coats of marine spar varnish below, sanding between each coat, and 10 coats above, same process.

Then after all that was done, applied three coats of polyurethane above/below for S's & G's.

6 years hence, the wood is holding up just ducky. This truck is my pal's DD, and hasn't seen the inside of a garage in 28 years.

 

Its a shame you can not buy an original replacement,made out of the original wood we don't all have show trucks, but you can download the dimensions from
www.mar-k.com
this site has all the dimensons, thickness,spacing,curf cuts,and bolt spacing.
If you have any trouble, drop me a pm with your email and I will send you a file
John