I am restoring a 1950 F3 3/4 ton. I cant find the bed strips that are long enough, and the bolts. Also is there some type of strip that covers the board that runs along side of the inner wheelwell on the F3. Most of the bed parts are missing on this truck. All the catalogs i have looked at dont have the parts for the F3, only the F1 and F2 and only for the short box.

 

good luck finding the long bed pieces, I've got a '50 F2 and can't find much

there should be angle strips that are bolted to the side of the bed from front to back, is that what your talking about?

also as another tip, the tailgate is bigger on the f2's & up
a F1 tailgate won't fit

 

I have seen long bed strips for 53-56 in my catalogs. Are they the same style?

 

Jeff, yes i think that is what im talking about. They go from the front to back and around the inner wheelwell. Why cant a person find these parts for the F3. I can buy the strips in 96" lengths for about $35.00 from Macs.But i still need the one that go around the wheelwell, and the bolts.

 

I've been searching for one aslo, I have 1 that is OK the other is rusted through.....

I think I'm going to have to fabricate something to replace the rotted one I have

There may be some in junkyards outside the rust belt but I haven't searched any out yet...... not much being reproduced for the larger trucks that is not shared by the F1, Probalby because they are not as popular as the smaller trucks

 

On my '49 F-2, same as the F-3, I don't remember a strip running on top of the wood. The boards on the side of the box were cut to fit along the side of the box. My box was beat but complete. I started working on the box boards from the center out. Because the sides of my box was not square, I don't think many are, I used a piece of scrape wood paneling to make a template to layout the outer boards. The most interesting cut is the weird angle you have to cut to fit around the wheel wells, because the notch is smaller on the top than the bottom to accomodate the angle of the wheel well.

I bought the bed strips from Bruce Horkey's Wood & Parts in Windom, MN .

 

Thanks Bob, i think that is what i will have to do around the wheelwells. Is there a website to see what Bruse has to offer, or an e-mail.

 

I know I've seen the bed wood strips through the Mar-k company. I don't think they have the strips specifially for the F-2,3 8 foot box, but they do sell universal strips, cut to fit in varying lengths. I think they have them in bare steel, powdercoated, or stainless. I don't know if they have the angle pieces.

 

You can get the bed sides from Dan Carpenter. I saw a guy at Pigeon Forge with a 55 F-350 and he said he had Dan Carpenter to make the bed sides for his truck. They are a little thinner steel and he actually had to have them welded together by Dan to make them longer but he got them made. The F-3 and F-350, at least the F-350 has 9 foot bed sides. Bruce Horkey has the bed strips in any length you want, I think. I think Bruce also has the wood in Varying lengths. The rear fenders, again at least on the F-100 thru F-350 are the same. The F-100 and F-250 front fenders are the same. The F-350 front fenders have bigger openings to accomadate the larger wheels.

 

Horkey has a web at:http://members.tripod.com/woodandparts/ I bought unpainted steel w/ square holes from him for my 8 foot box.

I also communicated with a guy at the MSN flathead web site that bought a 8 foot from Dan Carpenter,http://www.real-streetrods.com/dancarpenterspecialties/ , no relationship to Dennis Carpenter, and the guy was real pleased with it. The box didn't have the raised side panels like the original or the side pockets but as I know there isn't anyone who makes an 8 foot box



Fowl1, I am not sure about the '53s and up but the '48-52 F1 have different fenders, both front and back, that the larger models and the boxes are different for the F-1 than the F-2-3s.

 

Bob, the photos you posted are just like my bed. I see the metal strip that goes around the wheelwell. These i need to find, or find out how to make them.You all are a big help here.

 

mrwood,

I must admit I never really looked at the pictures that close and didn't notice the metal strips around the side edges. I had already had my box repaired and installed a long time when I got the pictures and just kept them if someone someday was looking for a new box. As I stated in my previous post, I don't remember taking these off of my original box.

As for getting the new strips, you could contact Dan Carpenter, if you haven't already, and see if he makes his to Ford specs and buy just the strips from him. If you do, I, and quite a few others, would like to know how it turns out so please keep us informed.

I do not remember the price for the whole box but I know it was very reasonable but the shipping is a killer.

 

Ill keep you posted Bob, and thanks for your help.

 

Dan carpenter can make the 8 foot and 9 foot box. The guy at Pigeon Forge was from Missouri and he seemed pleased with the bed that Dan Carpenter made for him. It was a little pricey, I think he said it was about $1,200, or so. He said Dan did not hav a brake or jig large enoung to make the 9 foot bed, but he bent a side as long as the third stake pocket on the 9 foot bed and bent a shorter piece and welded them together at the stake pocket. The looked really good. He did say that Dan didn't cut throught the bed side for the stake pocket hole, but there were 4 stake pockets on each side. There was a lot of work in these sides, but this guy told me they were pretty much paint and bolt on when he got them. Like I stated earlier I think, I have a '55 F-250 and the guy that had it before me got the bright Idea to cut the bed off right behind the rear fender to give it the F-100 "look". When looking for the 8 foot bed sides,Bruce Horkey had used ones for $200 each plus shipping. I found a '53 F-250 a little closer to me and bought pretty much the whole truck for $750. I figure I got a whole donor for near what it would have cost to have buy the sides from Bruce and have them shipped and still have to have work done to them. There was another guy that the fellow from Missouri said could make the longer bed sides as well, but he said that he was not dependable. That's why he went to Dan.