It is a very interesting place to visit, Joe, that area from the Lincoln memorial up to the needle and the museums all along the outside area are wonderful. Loved the flight museum, it is fantastic, and on the lower floor of the Natural History museum I think it is, there is a hotrod. I missed it for shame, found out later. On the side of the road nearby is a plaque, If I remember correctly the Erie Canal ran through there, or started there.

If you like planes at all, also go to the second museum of flight at Dulles ? airport outside Washington, wonderful display of planes, including SR71 stealth and the B29 plane that dropped the atomic bomb in second world war (forget the name) and the guides are ex pilots. Of course the Iwo Jima memorial is just magnificent. And not a million miles away is Gettysburg which my wife and I loved. A wonderful trip ahead of you Joe. PS, my wife and I loved the squirrels all over the place.

 

I decided today is a good day to do the running boards.

Prep is pretty easy... rough up the existing surface and clean residue with acetone. Apply 1st coat.

I used a brush because my spray gun won't handle the "lumps" in Herculiner and I don't have a roller. It was pretty easy... just follow the instructions.

Here's a few pics of before and after the 1st coat. The second coat will go on this afternoon.

Before


After


Before


After

 

Joe,
I used Line-X instead of Rhino lining and I will still try to take a picture of them.
I have used Rhino on several truck beds and it has been bulletproof to anything spilled on them and I don't think they faded any to speak of.

I had my personal Dodge 03 truck done by a cheaper group that did new trucks for dealerships and it was not worth a Damn.
It faded, pealed, and bed sounds tinny when rocks hit the bottom.
TractormanBill

 

I had never used any of them before today. I like the grainy look from the Herculiner. It was really easy to apply with a brush and I put on the 2nd coat after waiting about 4 1/2 hours for the first coat to dry to the touch. It's supposed to cure over night.












Whatcha think guys?

I think it makes the fenders look bad...

 

That other off-mall museum is the Udvar-Hazy National Air and Space Museum, you need to spend the best part of a day there!

The RB's look good Joe! What's next?!

 

Thanks Ross.

I have some paint peeling on the cab roof and I want to see how bad it is. Probably do some sanding and primer the spots. It looks like some surface rust and I hope it's not too bad. Famous Last Words...

I've also been thinking about how I want to finish this flatbed, since I don't think I'm ever going to find a 9 foot Ford script bed. And it doesn't cost anything to think... yet... the government hasn't figured out how to tax thinking yet.

I bet I could easily spend a day at the Air and Space Museum. I've built and flown miniature versions of some of their rockets.

 

I like the texture on those RBs, Joe. Quite a bit more than the cheap coating I used. You'll appreciate the texture when you step on them while they're wet. Wait, you don't have water in CA any more, do you.

 

Thanks Ray.

I have heard of water. I think it's used to make snow and ice. No, we haven't had any of that around here in recent memory. I'm told that some other parts of the country have this weather condition called rain. But I don't remember ever seeing it except when I traveled to Denver, Oregon or Washington.

Anyway, back to the running boards. I prefer the shiny flat finish of powder coating, but can't afford that right now. And I do like the rough look of the Herculiner now. We'll see how well it holds up with time and use. I guess I'll appreciate the no-slip roughness after I wash the truck. But we're not supposed to do that any more...

 

Joe, Those running boards look good. I was thinking about doing the same thing on my F4 running boards, you just helped me make up my mind. I think they will stay looking nice longer than paint.
Mark

 

Thanks Mark.

I expect they'll be durable. I don't think any bed liner that didn't work would stay in business long, and I have heard of Rhino and Herculiner for years. I got the Herculiner on Amazon. I just checked my records, and I bought it a year ago for $28.67 with free shipping (1 quart). Today, it's $36.14 with free shipping.

I'm guessing the 2 coats only used about 2/3 of the quart. Our running boards are shorter on the F4 than on the F1.

WOW! I just had a reality check. I've had that quart of Herculiner sitting on my workbench for a year...

 

Hey Joe,
Forget the running boards - they look great. You could eat off that garage floor!!! Looking good over there.


Ben in Austin
1950 F1

 

Thanks Ben.

That garage floor was one of my favorite parts of the shop rebuild we did about 6 years ago. The view in the pics is luckily not showing the areas where the finish has peeled off. I was so happy with the "new" floor for about 6 months. Then the first little piece peeled off... and it's been a succession of "spots" getting larger all the time.

 

Hey Joe, those running boards look nice. I might have to do something like that. Mine are pretty rough though. I'm hoping to look at them sometime soon to see what I can do.

Let us know your thoughts on the bed. Since I'm planning on an all wood bed like yours, any ideas you can give will be helpful down the road.

 

Thanks Joe.

I'm still working on the bed idea. I took a bunch of measurements tonight and I think I'm going to go with 2 54" wide stakes on each side and 2 40" wide stakes on the front and rear. I'm not going to make them the stock height, as that would block my mirrors. I may do something like Ray did on Blue.

I've laid out a plan for mounting the stake pockets and I'm deciding the best way to secure them under my existing bed.

Film at 11:00...

 

Joe,
I used Line-X and here is what they look like and I think they will look great and wear a long time.
TractormanBill