The '86 F350 I just picked up needs a little bit of body in the bed, a fiberglass patch for the dually fender, and some grinding/repainting done on the roof. The fiberglass patch i should be able to handle but was wondering if anyone knew a good cheap place to get the materials? The bed patch is the one i have a few questions on though. The guy before me had a gooseneck fifth wheel hitch in the bed and let it completely rust out, even after removing the hitch he only covered the hole with plywood so it rusted further. I will most likely need to patch a panel that is nearly half the size of the bed itself, does this sound wise? How would you guys take care of this? I in no way consider myself a pro welder but I do have some experience with mig and tig, I was noticing that most of the advice in the forums suggest to tack the panel on from underneath the bed, is there a reason for this as opposed to patching from above?

Lastly, I noticed that the paint they used back then is extremely thick and I was wondering what the best way to match the stock paint job would be. Thanks!

 

As for finding materials like the fiberglass and resins, check local autobody paint suppliers, boat repair facilities or online (Eastwood sells stuff like this) As for the large patch panel in the bed, easiest thing to do is go to a junk yard (U Pull it yard would be cheapest route) and have them cut out the floor of a decent bed. Just remember that these are trucks and since you have an older body style finding straight floors will be next to impossible. Mig welding would be the best option to put it back in.
As for matching OEM paint, you will never match what they did. All you can do is blend into surrounding areas. If its a metallic paint that will be even harder to match and blend. But being a 86 it might have a newer paint job on it as well.

 

Just saw a rerun of a trucks episode and I forgot that they got bed patch panels from LMC...might be something to check out. They had a 77-79 pick up though.

 

Bed floor is the same from 73 - 96. I like to cut on top of a cross brace and plug weld to the brace then butt weld the panels together.