What was the factory finish on the wood beds of mid fifties trucks. Oil? Varnish? Does anyone have a recommendation for finishes that may not have been available 50 years ago? Am I correct in my understanding the wood species was white oak?

 

do a search on "bed wood" and you should find some answers. And, welcome to FTE

 

Exterior Tung Oil, it has UV protection, seals out the rain and is easily repairable without removing the bed wood. It is good for a truck that might get used as a truck. It has a nice satin gloss finish, it really looks good with dark hardwood. It is the simplest finish to put on, it soaks into the wood, not a film on the surface.
My $.02 ...Terry

 

The satin gloss of an oil finish was what I imagined the factory finish would have looked like, but I wasn't sure. My stock restored truck will be a driver, and I don't want anything flash. I just didn't know what Ford finished the wood with way back when.

 

Usually the bed wood was yellow pine..but, white oak looks so much nicer...

 

I have heard that the original wood finish from the factory was to paint the wood the same color as the truck.
I have heard horror stories of yearly refinishing to maintain spar varnished or urethane finished beds that see the heat and sun here in CA.
One source (a local rod truck builder) uses a 3:1 water-diluted Elmer's Wood Glue to seal the wood after staining. He brushes it on (3 coats), wet sands, that's it. He says it stands up very well and seals against water absolutely. It looks great.
That's my .02.

 

I agree with Randy Jack. My truck was all original and what little paint was left on the bed wood was the color of the body. I believe the bed strips were painted body color, too. I do have some truck advertisements that look to have bed wood that is unpainted so who knows?



Kevin Kessler
1953 Ford F-100

 

Thanks everybody for the feedback. I went to the archived forums on wood bed to see what was there. I didn't find anything that addressed stock wood species or finish. There are alot of good ideas, but no general agreement on wood or finish. Painting the wood was something that I never, ever considered. It doesn't sit well with contemporary sensibilities, but maybe it seemed like the obvious thing to do 50 years ago.
Another question: all the posts I've seen mention a rabbet in the wood where the strips go. Is this stock? It seems that the top of the strips wouldn't be flush with the wood. Aren't the strips supposed to protect the wood?

 

You're right, the metal strips are actually higher than the bed wood. That is what is supposed to protect the wood from anything placed on the bed. The rabbets are only about 1/16" deep, maybe a little more. Of course, any irregular shaped load would probably touch the wood and cause possible scuffing or damage. Don't think many people haul gravel after going to the trouble to add seven coats of shiny finish. Probably no more than a cooler. I'm thinking of a rubber mat type bed floor cover when I want to haul something (again, not gravel).

 

Yes, the rabbeting does lower the strip height to the wood, but only a little. Recessing the strips does add a nice touch cosmetically. If you do your own wood strips, size the rabbeting to just be wide enough for the strips. Some of the pre-cut wood has rabbeting that is really too wide for the strips and that looks less professional to me.
The rubber mat is becoming very popular now as a means to haul stuff then show off the bed at cruise nights. Checkmate in Tennessee sells one that is made from recycled rubber for $50, sized exactly to your bed. It is about 3/4 inch thick and looks pretty rugged.
One fella told me that he left his rubber mat in for a long time before removing it to show the wood and was surprised to see that his urethane finish had begun to separate from the wood. He figured it was due to the heat soak from the black rubber working on the bed wood over a long time. Extreme temperatures (hot or cold) seem to mess with any finish other than Tung oil, which grows and shrinks with the wood thru temperature swings. He left his truck out in the weather a lot.
One method I've seen that looks as good as the best spar varnish/urethane finishes is to stain and lightly seal the wood, then wax it. The luster isn't quite as glossy, but the finished result is very capable of handling temperature swings, etc. Of course, you get more of the truck to wax every sooften.
TTFN

 

Remember that trucks in those days were farm trucks...no-one cared what they looked like, no radio, didn't worry about a very nicks or bruises in the bed etc... Years back in the Northwest at least....farmers used to splash used motor oil on their beds to prevent rot etc. Now in those days no-one rode in the bed, there wasn't a lot of nice stuff on a farm to ruin so the point was mainly to keep the truck on the wheat farm running as a oil wagon or gas or other collections of liquid, fertilizer etc....

We tend to forget what these trucks were really like and used for, especially as we restore them to better then factory condition!.....jim

http://www.48f-1.com
1948 Restored F-1 Bonus Built Truck
1966 Original Thunderbird

 

I am slowly coming around to accepting the idea that the wood bed was painted. I do want the truck to suggest, as much as possible, exactly what it would have looked like when it was new. If that means painting the deck, so be it. I need some authoritative cooboration before I start painting. Can anyone suggest where I might go to verify the painted wood? Has anyone ever seen a restored truck with painted wood?

 

Do you mean a un-restored truck with painted bed wood? Because a restored truck could have any type of finish. ...Terry

 

Restore as in bringing back to a former condition or original state. My old truck has been through alot in the thirty years that I've had it, but this time around, I am attempting to bring it back to a condition very similar to when it lft the lot back in 53.

 

Then, yes, I have seen a restored truck with black painted wood bed. The steel bed strips were painted black too. Most restorations get an red oak bed with a high gloss finish and stainless steel bed strips. Your kitchen table would look dull in comparison. These trucks never have anything in the bed without a blanket to protect the wood. I plan on having a bed that I won't be afraid of using. ...Terry