Advice please
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Junior User
Joined: Aug 2012
Posts: 82
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From: San Diego
Advice please
So, I have a credit card from a hardware/lumber store. I have to use it once in a while or it goes away. Now's the time since they are offering 12 months no interest and I can afford to pay it off right away. That being said, I want to get the wood for my bed, finally. I was thinking Red Oak or maybe the plastic lumber. I don't plan to haul a lot (if any) with the truck but would like a decent resto/mod. I've heard of using marine plywood? How would that look? What has worked good for you all? I'm open to all suggestions. Any thing I might overlook that I should add to my shopping list? Finishes? Helpful tools? I like to get the word from people that have been down this path and learned what holds up well and what turns to junk. 
Thanks.
Thanks.
Fleet Owner
Joined: Jun 1999
Posts: 24,552
Likes: 74
From: Creedmoor, North Carolina
You don't want plywood. The wood beds were plank with metal division strips.
Call my bud Rick at Carolina Classics 800-598-4211, he has a lot of experience dealing with the wood and can offer you tips.
John
Call my bud Rick at Carolina Classics 800-598-4211, he has a lot of experience dealing with the wood and can offer you tips.
John
Elder User
Joined: Jun 2012
Posts: 522
Likes: 0
Tough question. The answer always comes down to time, money, and personal taste.
If you want to look original, the best bet is a kit.
If you go with the fake plastic wood, try to find something that fits together vice having to cut it yourself as it tend to melt when being cut or worked. Allow 3/16 inch gap on side and front.
If you are going with plywood and want it to last and not bow, cut it with a 3/16 gap around the outside edges, seal it top, bottom and edges with fiberglass resin, maybe even with some fiber glass cloth on the top and bottom. You have to allow 1/8 inch on both sides and front for expansion or it will bow. By the way, working with fiberglass resin is expensive and you must do it in small amount as it will thicken and harden in just a few minutes, take your time and experiment with how fast it hardens and how much you can apply at a time.
On the real cheap way out, clean up the current bed and use fiberglass or find a demolition of an old building and scavange some plywood.
If you want to look original, the best bet is a kit.
If you go with the fake plastic wood, try to find something that fits together vice having to cut it yourself as it tend to melt when being cut or worked. Allow 3/16 inch gap on side and front.
If you are going with plywood and want it to last and not bow, cut it with a 3/16 gap around the outside edges, seal it top, bottom and edges with fiberglass resin, maybe even with some fiber glass cloth on the top and bottom. You have to allow 1/8 inch on both sides and front for expansion or it will bow. By the way, working with fiberglass resin is expensive and you must do it in small amount as it will thicken and harden in just a few minutes, take your time and experiment with how fast it hardens and how much you can apply at a time.
On the real cheap way out, clean up the current bed and use fiberglass or find a demolition of an old building and scavange some plywood.
Ford Parts Specialist
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 88,826
Likes: 784
From: Simi Valley, CA
Pine from FoMoCo's own forests in Northern MI was used originally, wood and metal dividers were painted body color.
Today, oak is also available pre-rabbeted from Mar-K (mar-k-com OKC), Carpenter and other repop sellers. Dividers also available.
Looking at the wood bed floor, one may think the individual pieces of wood are flat on the sides, they ain't. They have to rabbeted to fit in between the dividers.
Today, oak is also available pre-rabbeted from Mar-K (mar-k-com OKC), Carpenter and other repop sellers. Dividers also available.
Looking at the wood bed floor, one may think the individual pieces of wood are flat on the sides, they ain't. They have to rabbeted to fit in between the dividers.
Welder User
Joined: Feb 2009
Posts: 5,269
Likes: 50
From: northwest MT
It really depends on how nice you want it and how you plan to use the truck....
Do you have the tools to make all of the cuts in the wood? Table saw, router and planer would likely be required. As ND says, they are not just plain boards. However, the dimensions are available.
Plywood won't fit right as the bed floor is 49' wide.
I used ash boards in my '52 bed, had them cut by a local cabinet maker. Then 4 coats of poly on all sides. Finished with painted strips.
Looking back, I wish I had not made it quite so nice.........now I can't really put anything in the bed for fear of scratching it. I have a mat to put down, but still....
Do you have the tools to make all of the cuts in the wood? Table saw, router and planer would likely be required. As ND says, they are not just plain boards. However, the dimensions are available.
Plywood won't fit right as the bed floor is 49' wide.
I used ash boards in my '52 bed, had them cut by a local cabinet maker. Then 4 coats of poly on all sides. Finished with painted strips.
Looking back, I wish I had not made it quite so nice.........now I can't really put anything in the bed for fear of scratching it. I have a mat to put down, but still....
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Junior User
Joined: Aug 2012
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From: San Diego
Thanks for all the good info! I think I will go with lumber, not plastic wood or plywood. I have a table saw, belt sander and can get my hands on a router. Maybe pine so I can keep the look close to original without worrying too much about if I ever do haul stuff in the bed. I will definitely look at some of the kits or companies. If I cut my own pine, does it need anything like relief cuts in addition to the rabbeting and spacing to reduce warpage? I never thought of glassing over wood, but it seems like an interesting idea. Again, thanks for the help everyone.
Ford Parts Specialist
Joined: Nov 2006
Posts: 88,826
Likes: 784
From: Simi Valley, CA
I bought a oak kit from Carpenter as a B/D present for a pal whose daily driver for the past 30 years is a 1954 F100 223 with O/D.
'Course oak had no finish and F100 has sat outside most likely since it was new, as it originally was a 'first call' or brush fire truck.
It's red (of course), has dual rusty chrome spotlights with red lenses, clamps on bed steps where cannisters were once fitted and a lotta patina.
I put 10 coats of marine spar varnish on underside (sanding between each coat that took hours to dry), then put 4 coats of poly. Put 6 coats of varnish on top side, 2 coats of poly.
Bed looked beautiful after it was installed, but the rest of the truck is a "practical pig." Restored mechanically, rest of it ain't.
FTE member Jake08 (Ron) has a beautifully restored version. When I put Ron in touch with Ferd Berful, he was amazed to find out that Ferd drives it everyday and to AZ twice a year.
Ron is afraid to take his oughtta the garage for fear a bird might poop on it!
'Course oak had no finish and F100 has sat outside most likely since it was new, as it originally was a 'first call' or brush fire truck.
It's red (of course), has dual rusty chrome spotlights with red lenses, clamps on bed steps where cannisters were once fitted and a lotta patina.
I put 10 coats of marine spar varnish on underside (sanding between each coat that took hours to dry), then put 4 coats of poly. Put 6 coats of varnish on top side, 2 coats of poly.
Bed looked beautiful after it was installed, but the rest of the truck is a "practical pig." Restored mechanically, rest of it ain't.
FTE member Jake08 (Ron) has a beautifully restored version. When I put Ron in touch with Ferd Berful, he was amazed to find out that Ferd drives it everyday and to AZ twice a year.
Ron is afraid to take his oughtta the garage for fear a bird might poop on it!
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Junior User
Joined: Aug 2012
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From: San Diego
That's awesome. I love seeing "Sunday Drivers" at the car show, but want something I can take my kids for a ride in or take to work and not worry about the polish. I do want it to be fixed up. I.E. straighten the body lines, repaint the frame, rewire the electrical, gaskets, mounts, etc. It was my closest friend's back in high school. It has a ton of memories in it and I'm just want to make sure that what I do to it is quality. Maybe not factory spec restoration, but clean.
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