Wood looks grey and old, I sanded one out, NOW WHAT, what is the quickest way to make it look good, is there a Homer Formby stain sealer that you just brush/wipe on and DONE???

 

Well, I hope that you actually removed the boards to work on them. If the top is grey, it is weathered which means it was no longer sealed. Dollars to donuts the rest of the board has the same damage. There really is no EASY fix that will last. (Formby's might work if you permanently park your truck in the living room.) My suggestion is to remove all the boards and sand them all down (all sides). Then use a quality wood stain ( I used Cabot's Australian Timber oil on mine), let it dry good for 24 hrs and apply a good varnish. (For mine, I used McClusky Man o war marine spar varnish) You will need to put multiple coats of varnish on to really seal it good and allow at least 24 hrs between coats.

Here are the beams for my flatbed after 8 coats of varnish, I will be doing the floor of the bed the same way.


The beams and all wood under the bed should hold up a long time like this, but for the bed floor, I would still plan to re-varnish it every few years.

 

Ok let's back up a tad.

First of all Formbys is a furniture refinishing product that is graded for internal use....... IE no UVs or moisture - so forget it.

Second, we don't know what year truck this is or what the original bed wood boards are made of - it's important.

Third, just because the boards are gray doesn't mean they are damaged. It means the finish put on them to protect them has failed allowing them to "patina.'

If they are still solid they can be easily sanded and refinished for use.

Original Planking on Ford trucks was Hard Northern Pine from Fords own groves. It was normally painted the same color as the truck - back then, in enamel. Pine is a naturally oily wood.

If you sand it, and choose not to repaint it the color of the truck, then a few coats of thinly cut clear shellac (cut with denatured alcohol) allowed to seap in and harden (about 5 days) then about 4 coats of spar varnish (exterior), should do the planks justice!

 

As said there is no easy 'lasting finish' you need to put the work in for a quality and long lastin finish. If you're really not that bothered about it lasting though, and just want to tart it up maybe look at the microporous type woodstains. Sand it back and chuck a couple of coats on and it'll be good for a short while...

 

There's lots of threads about bed finishes.

But th ebest thing I can do is refer you to the MAR-K web site. They have a tech library where they have test results for different types of finishes and processes - it's pretty good.

Here's the link:

MAR-K Classic Truck Parts made in Oklahoma City, USA

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/8...od-finish.html

https://www.ford-trucks.com/forums/7...d-install.html