Last piece to find to finish a 10 year frame off to return the truck to original using NOS and salvaged parts from doners..... The box. Seems none to be found. I wondered if perhaps a box from an 80 to 86 would have the same inside dimensions.
I have a pair of NOS fenders and a repairable tailgate for the '77.

Any thoughts?

 

I know a guy that bought all the parts to build a Flareside box with USA built parts. Somewhere on the east coast. I'll see if I can find out.
You can also try Tom @ flashbackf100s.com He can help you out.

 

Mar-K here in OKC makes Stepside beds for different makes. http://www.mar-k.com/index.aspx

They don't show sides for a '77 but they do for a 1972.

Maybe NumbersDummy can tell you the difference, but I think the bedsides are the same.

 

The 1977 bed is flat on the top and the prior beds are slanted. Other than that, visually, the beds seem the same. I'm not sure about the dimensions. It seems that everything aftermarket stops at 1972.

Do you have any pics of the rest of the truck??

 

Well, for what it's worth, my '82 bed was flat on the top. I had thought that '80 was when they went flat.

 

Thanks! I'll give Tom a shout.

 

Personally I think the later flare side beds look better (and easier to find) on a Dent. Our trucks are square and boxy, the round fenders of a 73-79 look out of place to me. It's all just opinion and preference.

 

I wonder if you can find someone with a heavy brake that can bend the sloped sides flat?

 

One other difference from the 72 and earlier bedsides when compared to the 77-91 bedsides is the wheelbase length. At least with the 8' bed. And IIRC the same with the short 6' beds. In 73 Ford increased the wheelbase by 2". The 72 and earlier trucks had a 131" wheelbase for a standard cab and 8' bed length. And in 73 the wheelbase for that same platform was extended to 133". And as I stated before the same thing happened with the short bed trucks as well. In 73 the standard cab 6' bed trucks had a 117" wheelbase, where as IIRC the 72 and earlier trucks had a 115" wheelbase. Now I know the flareside short box was available for a dentside truck until the 77 MY, but they still used the longer 117" wheelbase. And yes the internal measurements of the box of a 80-96 truck was the same as the 77. And they too utilized the 117" wheelbase. However in either case of making a flareside box fit the 77-79 trucks you will need to redrill holes into the bedsides to make the factory style rear fenders fit the newer and older boxes. For the 72 and older boxes the holes for the rear fenders need to be drilled 2" back to allow the fenders to sit properly over the rear wheels. And on the 80-91 boxes the whole rear fender is a much larger and boxier design. Which means to run the correct rear fender for the 77-79 trucks All the holes will need to be redrilled to the correct locations for the smaller more oval shaped rear fender. And 92-96 the entire outer bedside was one big composite flared bedside. Hope that helps.

 

Thanks all for the help. I may have found an original box! No fenders but no problem I have a pair of NOS fenders. I'll follow up when I know for sure the box is a go.


Monkey-1, you asked about pictures....I just added a few pics to two albums to show both before and during.

 

Found an original box from a truck in Arizona. Tom at Flashback had one. The trip was about 30 hours of driving round trip but well worth it. I think I might be able to salvage the original metal box strips.


While I was away the NOS rear bumper arrived from Texas.


Here's a few pictures of the project.


https://www.ford-trucks.com/g/album/5652942


https://www.ford-trucks.com/g/album/5652818

 

Easier to post a pic than type all this jazz.

Scroll down to 27840-1 = Here are the Flareside (body style 83) quarter panel (bedside) applications for 1973/79.
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Here are the rear fender and tailgate applications:

B7C-16312-A Right & B7C-16313-A Left .. Flareside Rear Fenders (left side-less cutout for spare tire) / Obsolete

1957/72 F100/350 / 1973/79 F100/250.

D8TZ-8340700-A (replaced B7D-8340700-A) .. Flareside Tailgate-54 13/16" long / Obsolete

1957/72 F100/250 w/ 8' bed & F350 w/9' bed / 1973/79 F100/250 w/6 3/4' & 8' beds.

 

Thank you Bill. Does your reference material identify the differences in the box panels between serial numbers? Mine falls into the Before 20,000.


Rick

 

What you see in the parts catalog pic is all you get. I know that the late '70's Flareside boxes are flat on top, while the others are flared outwards.

1980 and later look totally different, have flat tops, the bedsides are different as the entire truck was restyled.