im restoring a 1966 f100 twin ibeam custom cab longbed. anyone know what i have to do to make it a short bed and how hard it is. or should i even do it? i like the look of a shortbed. so if anyone knows how to convert my longbed to shortbed let me know id appreciate it.

 

I remember somebody over on the Slick 60's group doing that very thing, but don't remember who. You might post this over there and get some insight.
Good luck,


Try here:
================================================== ===
http://groups.msn.com/slick60sfordfs...pgmarket=en-us

 

Justin, I hope you are a highly skilled body man. You will need to make 4 cuts from sunrise to sunset (bedrail to bedrail) and make two welds the same. You have to take a chunk out of the bed both if front of and behind the wheel wells.

You might want to look for a short bed to buy.

John

 

Another thought! Buy a short bed 73-79, move your cab and front sheet metal and install your longbed sides on the later model box. Less body work, less rust on later model beds and the tank is in the rear on 73 and newer. Other benifits are the wider rear track and bigger drum brakes on later model rearends. You will likley also get a front disk setup and power steering gear box with the later frame.

 

My 66 SWB Style Side custom cab F100 sits on a 79 SWB F150 Trailer Spcl chassis. I have later technology my friend William has mentioned, which puts my Slick into 21st century from a driveability stand point. I also have a 460 engine which sits on OEM frame stands & Mounts. It uses all script FoMoCo hardware & parts to install.

Once Discovering bolting 65 thru 79 body on any frame 65-79 is virtually bolt together upgrade, some 25 years ago, I've only done them this way. I did several since then for clients and other people.

As pointed out by John, the bed sheet metal, must be cut ahead & behind wheel openings. Well you must repeat those same cuts in your frame rails also. In addition you'll have to fabricate/ modify a drive shaft, or find a good used one that fits, plus get different Park Brake cables, hydraulic brake lines and all that stuff.

I've been doing this stuff a long, long, time. I'll be 1st to tell you cutting & splicing frames takes some good skills, knowledge, equipment, and facility to pull off right. I don't cut/ splice frames if/ when I can avoid it. I never saw an uncut frame fail catastrophically, but I've seen several cut & spliced frames fail that way. None were mine, but maybe I'm just lucky. At any rate I'll not own or drive anything w/ spliced chassis, altho many people will & do. Why run that risk when there's a simpler solution with other advantages to offer, like better running gear, suspension, steering, brakes, etc etc?

There's 2 inches longer of difference in wheelbases between 65-72 & 73-79. Early Effies & Slicks are 117", later effies 119" for SWB models. 73-79's CA frame widths are wider too (CA= Cab to Axle area in truck speak) by 2 " to accomodate 73 & up inframe fuel tank set up. For me this is a MUST, since I refuse to ride around w/ up to 17 gals of highly incindiary explosives behind my seat, in my cab, with me.

As William mentioned fitting "Slicks' Sides" to a late model inner bed is the hot set up. I have not done it yet, but have plans to soon. I say so because mounting an early bed on later frame creates some jockeying, engineering & redrilling because 66-72 bed floor's both narrower & shorter than 73 up are. And. . . then you gotta deal with inframe fuel tanks' filler neck situation. With OEM 64-6 (even to 72) single walled beds, filler neck for inframe fuel tank's are a problem. Either they are exposed & vulnerable to damage or gas theft, or you've got to create some guard, or re route & modify them some way.

My suggestion is to sell your LWB styleside bed to someone who has a bed without a floor in it, but has decent, or saveable sides on it, exchange. IOW get his saveable bed sides to cut down for your new, later model inside part.
This makes a double walled bed. Filler neck can be routed as in 75's-up, using filler door & pocket arrangement, w/ neck protected in between 2 walls of bed
with a safe place for the vent to exit fumes & vapors.....all win win win.

I do not know where you're situated, but I know a decent LWB, Style Side 64-66 Slick Pick Up Beds, less tailgate, can bring upwards of $600 here where they can still be found. Clean & Solid SWB Style Side Beds bring upwards of $1K. So there is value to them if they are useable, even if they require some work to be "right".

Another advantage to using a later chassis with added rear width is room to relocate shocks so they operate better. Best part is you can bolt in a later 31 spline, 9" FoMoCo F Series rear axle with the traction aids like limited slip, traction lock or Detroit Locker options. Plus 75 & up brakes are bigger, mine are 11X3". My 66 OEM rear brakes were 11 X 1.75".

So for my $. 02 reframing is the only way to go. Getting engine less donor or donor with a rusted body and no power train is still fairly easy to do. Just tripple check the chassis for rust/rot problems or other damage, before you buy it.If you can't be sure your self take somebody who can make sure what you are about to buy is good.

If you got more questions or???? just ask.

FBp

 

I just purchased a 88 swb 4X4 and want to go in the opposite direction because all of my beds are long. I did some measuring last thursday and it seems that the dimensions are pretty much the same on most issues inside of the bed between the 66 and 88.

There is some hope there.

John

 

JO,

Isn't 88 2" wider across CA Rails than your 66? I thought 80 & up is same 37" width as 73-79s are?

FWIW, 80 up beds aren't worth as much as 65-66, or even 73-79s are, in either SWB or LWB. I saw an 86, SWB, Style Side bed just the other day for $150 (less T-Gate). I didn't "scope it out" but it looked straight & solid, 'tho paint was sunburnt & bad gone.

On another topic entirely, you get mo betta "twist" out of SWB drive train than LWB.
It's SWB chassis which gives ya more pounds to the ground in terms of torque.

LWB have 22-24 inches more drive shaft & many are even 2 piece w/ midship carrier bearing. Silly as it sounds, long shafts eat motive power in a driveline. Shorter a shaft & less joints/ bearings it has, more force delivered to rear gears, wheels & ground. But I'll concede LWB frames do ride & tow better pulling loaded trailers, but don't turn as tight a radius. I guess there are advantages & disadvantages to both LWB & SWB and it all depends on what one is looking for.

Way back in the day I had a 223 I-6 LWB 62 F250 highboy I plowed snow with and it was a muthabear to turn around in a tight space, and sometimes was tough to get going in deep snow, but once it moved I could plow out a shopping center parking lot real easy, so long as I didn't stop, or overload on my 1st bite of snow.

I got a 68 SWB F100 w/360 FE & C6. It'd push whatever I'd blade up on, including those inground, fuel oil, filler necks some underground heating oil tanks had. It would also roll up pavement if it was coming apart. I did have a downpressure 7' Meyers angling blade on that badboy. . . .

Ayway point is for power to the ground I feel it's SWB domain. BUT for comfort and ride LWB claims the title, especially pulling a decent load on a highway. . . .

Just thought I'd let ya know about that SWB vs LWB observation. Also I say congrats on the new Acquisition. Is it one of the ones we discussed previously? And if so which one did you go for?

Other week I ran across a sweet LWB 79, F250, "HiBoy Style" 4X4 with 460-C6, Lock Outs & all that neat stuff. The piece was a tad pricey at $7500, but from what I saw it was virtually all new. I couldn't have built it for once again that price. The guy was having his 1st kid or something. 4X4 was lot of a place he worked, maybe 3-4 days & then it was gone. It did not sit there long at all.

Says he got $500 over asking price in cash when 2 buyers competed for it between themselves. Anyway I thought of ya when I saw the piece, but knew $7500 was a tad pricey compared to what ya were lookin' at at the time. In all fairness though it was a sweet 4X4. & worth more than he got. I bet he could have held out for $10K & got it.

FBp

 

Yes Pete tis a difference on the rails. My little pea brain was jogging along on the reskinning idea of putting 65/66 bed side skins on the 88era bed box.

Do you think that is workable?

I may sell the truck, should be able to get $1800-2000.00 for it.

John

 

Yeah, I do. . . with enough $$$ & right resources we can do anything to anything.

I sent a person away yesterday who wanted me to wrench on his 66 F100 with a GM Powertrain & BB "Blow-Tie". I was very polite as I showed him the door tho', honest I was. . . . I didn't laugh at him all. I figured he was brain dead.
FBp

 

One HUGE ATTABOY for you you Pete.

John

 

Yeah Pete.....you taught me a brand new term too! 'Blow-Tie': I really like that!

Later,

 

Yeah! That cross breeding our precious old Fords used to tick me off too. But the way I look at it now is "at least they are saving the bodies" . Eventually a Ford Guy will get ahold of that truck and put it back the way it should be. You should have let him drive the 460....OOHHH, bet he would have paid you to Fordify the Ford? And send the blow-tie to the recycle. "Blow-tie" First time I heard that one, can't wait to use it.

 

Hey fellas, thanks for the flowers & Kudos!

The Orange Replacement Engine has earned that name, just like it earned the Name "Orange replacement". In fact if they didn't blow up so much they wouldn't have earned either name, doncha see ?

The confused fellow was trying to explain he didn't want me to work on his engine or powertrain, he wanted me to work on his Ford truck. A shop lizard told him; "Bring the Ford over over so we can take a look at it."

About the new word combination, it happened watching NASCAR @ Michigan.
We were enjoying cold adult beverages on Fathers Day, watching pole sitter Ol #24, when he decided to put his "Blow Tie" into the history books with a smoke emitting explosion. I was elated & excited as 1st wisp of engine gone bad came out of his exhaust. YES. YES I Yelled as I jumped up, cheering & waving a victory fist. ROTFLMAO

It's when I coined the name "Blow Tie". "The Rainbow Blow Tie Fails again in it's typical spectacular fashion as RHRs Engine Vaporizes to us fans delight" Everybody cracked up at that one.

Needless to say it was popular then and has grown around here with everyone but the local Chevy Boyz. They got no sense of humor I guess.

Never the less, Feel Free to USE IT WHENEVER & WHEREVER YOU CAN GUYS, PLEASE...help yourselves, it's fitting, true and very appropriate. Also it's very timely watching NASCAR when the Orange Replacement Engines turn into the Blow Ties and go away. . . go far far away
FBp