So i finally prepped the bed that i got from Midwest Early Ford (bed was from northern classic truck before they retired). It was hard to see them real well when they were unprimed and dirty however i cleaned them up with scotchbrite (red) and wax grease remover, like a wet sand with scotchbrite. Then i rinsed/washed them really good then went over them with dry 100 grit paper and another round of dry scotchbrite. Several trips with wax and grease remover later and i felt like you could eat off of these things. I hit them with 2 coats of epoxy primer and they turned out good. However now that the primer is on them i can see Waves from where the sides were embossed. Looks like ripples from the metal stretching perhaps. Definately from the manufacture of them when they were stamped. You can see it in a few spots and therein lies my question. Is this normal? Has anyone used the 48-50 reproduced bed sides (embossed) and did you notice this? I asked Midwest customer service and they said it was normal, and while i believe them i just thought i'd make sure they all had this due to stamping and stretching? My body man has not seen them yet although i told him about it and he was like "meh, i can fix it". Just seemed a bit excessive to me since my originals bedside don't appear to have any of this visible on them. They are beat up and bent which was why i was replacing it all but the sides are still straight and i couldn't feel any waviness in them. Not sure i can post a picture where you can see the waves but i'll try later on.

 

Likely once you get a couple coats of high build primer on them and blocked out you'll never notice it..

 

OK thanks, that's kind of what the body guy said but they are very visible but not like dents. I can now see why you need to spend a lot of time on block sanding and skimming. The epoxy puts a bit of shine down and it shows everything.

 

An old bodyman trick is to get a pump spray bottle and fill it with wax and grease remover. Spray a light coat on the panel you wish to check and look down the side of the panel while wet...you will see exactly what the panel looks like when it has a gloss coat of paint on it.

 

I'm jumping on your thread because I need a bed, and I'm and tossed between a road trip to Midwest Early Ford with a credit card? Or find a used bed that I can nurture with some metal surgery.
My mind is satisfied with bringing old metal to new life. But it isn't easy for us people who don't have all the time in the world to do that. Meaning I still have a day job that takes the weekdays away. Also I'm 51 creeping up on 52 yrs old.
I was 45 when the dream started.
I have had my truck project for just over 7 years. The plan changes along the way sometimes. I just had my cab painted by someone else. I never wanted that, but it puts me ahead of the game. A new repro bed would do the same.
We give in to convenience and credit cards. I would like to drive my truck someday, but at the same time, I have always been into the craft, the build, the satisfaction of looking at what the end results of my skilled hands can do.

Ugh...I need to shut up, but this is a real argument in my head!
I am not sure what way to go here, but I want to watch this thread and see where it goes! Sorry for the book!

 

Jeff, buy the new bed. You are making money, not time, with the day job.

 

LOL not making enough money to whip out close to $2000 in one shot!
But...I'm working on Nicolle...she has been super supportive of my disease.
She said some like, "Let's save up the money" I'm like..."I gotta google the meaning of that"...LOL

 

My wife generally says go for it...lol

 

You could buy my original bed complete with gate but honestly I’m not thinking you’d be any further ahead. Plus with the new bed kit you get wood strips and new subframe plus all the hardware.

 

Jeff, how are your cross members and tailgate? If you don't want to spend $2000 for MidWest Early Ford's complete bed, buy the bed sides at $425 each, the front panel for $150 and bed strips for $10 each. Buy your own wood locally. So now you are just over $1000. If your tailgate is bad you can buy a new one later when funds permit. Just an idea to ponder..

 

I have no F1 bed parts in existence...lol

 

That's what mine usually says, but she kinda had that look when a dog turns it's head, when I said $2000....lol

 

I used my original 48-early 50 bed sides but did purchase (a long long time ago) a new bed correct metal floor from Mack Hills-long out of business. Installing the new floor was probably the most challenging job that I did on the truck. It is just about impossible to get it "flat". The fully assembled early bed was considerably more $ than the later F-1 bed and I understand why. You can see the waves in original factory bed floors. Doing it yourself makes you appreciate what it takes to fabricate an early bed. I always say "nothing is impossible for the man that doesn't have to do it himself"

 

My original bed has the metal floor still init(what's left of it anyways). I probably could've used the original bed sides, they are very nice for being as old as they are but they would need work and i figured i'm this far and i needed the conversion (subframe/wood) to go from metal floor to wood and wasn't sure if there would be any differences. (there's not now that i can compare them). My front panel and tailgate are pretty well beat up and bent but I'll be selling those embossed bedsides after i'm done getting mine together. I'm using the old one as a reference since it's still in one piece.

 

Yes, pictures would help. I would be surprised if it really was from Northern Classic Truck. I have been over to their place several times. They were a bunch of older people very knowledgable about stamping die maintenance. They were located near several OEM final assembly plants and I'm sure that they used to pickup work from several of them. The parts that I bought from them were always crisp and clean with no die draw marks.