I have a 1960 styleside and I want to switch it over to a stepside.
I have the short wheelbase truck.

Is there anything special that will need to be done during the swap?
Is it just a matter of pulling the existing bed and mounting up a new one or will I have to do something custom with mounts?

Looking around at the various vendors that sell beds I notice they pretty much never sell the fenders along with the rest of the bed. These things get pricey once you put them all together.
What else would I need?
I know I would need the front, sides, fenders, tailgate, bed wood kit and various hardware but is there anything not directly obvious that I would be pounding my forehead for while trying to assemble and realizing something critical is missing?
What about tail lights?

I really want to do this conversion. My first step this spring though is to do engine and tranny, replacing both with new. I want to earmark enough money for a bed though and am trying to figure out all of what I may need.

Anyone have experience with shipping a used bed? I am near the east coast and everything around here is rotted to hell. I cannot find beds in even marginal condition so have to look elsewhere if I want used or go the expensive way and get new.

Any experience with new replacements? Any companies to look at/avoid?

What years again are usable for my truck? I have seen different numbers.
195x - 1979? In other places it said up to 1972.

Thanks in advance.

 

I feel your pain! I've been pricing beds and componets for the last week and it's a little depressing. I'm trying to talk the wife into selling one of the kids for medical experiments but she's not going for it! I've resorted to scouring the thrifty nickel and other classifieds looking for somebody parting out an old step side. I found the perfect doner - it was in a head on collision and bent the front frame rail. Owner hasn't touched it once in four years but he doesn't want to sell because he bought it brand new and has sentimental value to it. It's killing me! So anyway... No valuable advice here, but you're not alone in your mission! Keep the faith! take no prisoners. wear clean underwear and good luck.

 

My brother in Tennessee is checking out the local yards for stepside beds and says he could arrange for a trailer to haul it up in if he finds one worth getting. So it is possible I might get a used one worth fixing up. I am not real big on body work and do not have the tools, experience or even the patience to do as competent a job as I would like so the less body work the better.
From what I have read though the aftermarket stepside beds can have a whole lot of weld seems that need smoothing out to get a really nice paint job on it. I am afraid I would get bored and frustrated and decide to settle for less than optimum and then regret it every time I look at the finished product.

Of course, if i get a bed cheap enough I could spend a little of the savings to pay a shop to do all the smoothing for me. I like being able to say "I did it" but in reality there are just some things I cannot do as well as I would like and I have to settle on being proud of the mechanical work and design that I put into it and leave most of the bodywork to the pros.

 

The biggest problem I have found with used stepside beds is warped side panels. The sides are one thickness of metal and years of hauling stuff takes a toll on it. Place a straight edge down the inside of the bed and you will see
the problem. You can get the outside looking fairly decent with enough filler because the fenders hide most of it. The inside is a different story. If you put too much filler on the inside the bolt heads will be almost covered. I had one bed filled and primed and ready to paint and then found another one not quite as warped and started over. I clamped and welded two rows of 1" channel under each fender to help take some of the bow out and still had to add filler on the inside. You could spray the inside with bedliner and would help some.
jt

 

I have checked into this for myself on my '55 F100. If there is rust out on a panel and you have to pay a body shop to repair it, you will be money and time ahead if you buy new. It will cost as much or more for the labor to repair the panel as a new one. When I took my bed off to rebuild I found that the front panel is rusted through at the bottom edge. The side panels were in pretty good shape and can be reused. The rear cross member at the rear edge of the bed is badly rusted and all the other cross members for the bed were about rusted away. The front bottom edge of each fender is rusted out where they meet the running boards. The small extension panels at the front and rear have rusted out also. Fortunately any part of the bed on these old trucks is readily available from several vendors.

My plan is to salvage the bed sides and replace the front side with a new panel. The fenders are an easy repair with after market patch panels at $25 each from Midfifty. The extension panels are small and easily replaced with new. This gives me a chance for a little customizing by getting front extensions with FORD script stamped in them. I have to figure what I can and can't do myself and the cost of paying for what I can't do myself. In the end I want a very nice truck that I don't have to make any apologies for poor fit or finish.

Fortunately for me there is a company in Oklahoma City that produces all the bed parts, Mar-K. I can drive to their location and pick up what I need. I will have to pay 8.375% sales tax though.

Just my 2 cents worth.

 

Oh I agree with you on the replacement parts.
My problem is more with smoothing out the imperfections and prepping for paint. I do not trust my abilities enough to get it done right so it will look good and smooth after painting.
I can replace panels, weld up patches, etc. It's more the extremely fussy detail work at the end that I fear not meeting my own standards.

I sure would rather put in a patch panel for one of those fenders than pay $350. plus shipping for a new one.

 

"My problem is more with smoothing out the imperfections and prepping for paint. I do not trust my abilities enough to get it done right so it will look good and smooth after painting."

I hear you, Buddy! Years ago, I tried my hand at some body work and more recently, I tried filling over some hood patch panels that I did on my 56. I was not a happy camper with the results. I sent the hood to a local shop and had them fill and prime it. Very nice work. $400.

However, I just finished extensive weld-fab modifications too my bed. And the cost of having a shop do that body work, really put me off. I knew the work took patience and skill. Neither of which I have in any abundant supply. But, I decided to bite the bullet and get educated on the process. I am VERY glad I did.

I talked to friends with experience and pros about what tips of the trade would be useful. (I learned that most novices put too much filler on, then sand too much off.) I bought a "Basic Metalwork" video from Covell, a hammer and dolly set and (air) in-line sander from Harbor Freight and started out.

I would suggest very strongly that you do the same. It can be a frustrating thing to learn, but you will get the hang of it. Be patient with yourself and give it the time. And when you start to get the feel of it you will really get excited. I started getting the basics down pretty quick and got so excited, I started doing more trick stuff like filleting between the rails and the bed front bar.

Once I thought I had really nailed it, I laid down some primer. Then I was able to see the really small imperfections and deal with those. The glazing putty I used says to put it over the paint, so you don't have to grind things off and start an area over.

I was ready to spend over $1000 to have a shop do the bed fill and prime. The job I did turned out better than I would have expected the shop to do. (Remember, they don't have the "investment" in a perfect job that you will.)

All together, I spent $340 on materials and special tools. I have about 30 hours in the body work of the bed with about 3 more hours of touch up (pin holes and the like) to go. I did discover some materials that i really liked. You'll find them at Body Shop Supply Stores (call first to make sure they carry what you want).

I recommend:
Evercoat Extreme Rage Body Filler
Evercoat Easy Sand Glazing Putty
SEM Self-Etching Primer (rattle can)
SEM Heavy Build Primer (rattle can)

Give yourself credit and some time to learn how to do this. You won't be sorry.

Good luck

 

One good thing about the bed is that the metal is pretty thick so you have something to work with. Bowed out areas can be shrunk back with a torch or a shrinking disk on a body sander. The secret to getting panels flat is to use the LONGEST sanding board you can. Strip all the paint (being careful not to heat and warp the panels more if sanding) first then run over it with 60 grit on your long board sanding in one direction to make the high spots stand out. Tap down the high spots starting at the edge and work around towards the center, hammering off-dolly (hold the dolly hard against the low spot next to the high spot you are working on) Never work on-dolly (hammering right on top the dolly) or you'll stretch the panel and give yourself even more work. check progress with your hand. Once you have made one round of all the high spots sand it again in a cross direction and do the same to the now smaller high spots. Keep going in the same manner until you are sanding almost the entire panel when you sand. If you can't knock down any more it's time to get out the bondo. Never try to fill more than 1/4" deep depressions and sand the bondo with 36 grit then 60 or 80 grit on your long board until the entire panel is flat as witnessed by the sanding scratch pattern covering the entire panel evenly. Never use a small sanding block or your hand to sand a flat panel!

 

Body work gives me the blues.
My problem is concentration. I have A.D.D. and the bodywork just doesnt occupy my mind enough to keep me focused. I keep tending to want to bounce to something else leaving things unfinished and eventually get so frustrated that I lower my standards and accept lesser results than I should.
Things that challenge me to think deeply allow me to do a much better job.

Sometimes listening to an audio book while working on more mundane tasks like sanding will keep me at the task longer. I will just have to try and see what happens.

 

Gee, you make it sound so easy. *Sigh*
I have no experience with smoothing out the metal and do not have the tools to do it with. I am sure I could learn but at the same time, I am learning 100 different things to do the work I need to do and it gets overwhelming.

At the moment I am teaching myself to weld with my wirefeed welder. I should be buying a shielding gas tank for it to make it a true MIG welder soon.
I am going to need to be able to weld thicker metals as I do stuff with the frame and maybe the front suspension.

When you talk about working with the dolly to smooth out the metal I am not entirely sure what you mean. I assume you are placing the dolly behind the metal you are working on and hammering on the front to slowly work out the problems.
I have read a bit about shrinking metal with a torch but have no experience with it. A torch is another one of those things I plan on getting this spring and getting familiar with in order to do these projects.

I also need to get a good body sander. An air sander is out as my compressor does not have the uumph to drive it. I really wish I spent the extra $100. when I bought this one so I could go to the next bigger size.
This thing is air cooled and if it runs too long cause of a constant big draw it overheats and seizes up until it cools. It is good for just about every other air tool though.
Recommendations on an electric sander?

 

One thing to keep in mind when looking for a bed is that Ford changed the fender mounting bolt location sometime in the 60's. I bought a bed for my '53 but the bolts are three inches too high. Just something to keep an eye out for if you're going the used route.

Good luck!

Kevin Kessler
1953 Ford F-100

 

Yes, when working dents out of sheet metal you work with a dolly (a smooth metal block) on one side and a hammer on the other. You can hammer "off dolly" where you push the dolly against the metal along side where you want to hammer to give a solid support so the metal doesn't just bounce like hammering on a steel drum. Off dolly is used to bring down a high area back to the finished level and is the most common way to work. "On dolly" hammering is where you hit directly over the dolly. Since the dolly and the hammer face both have some curve to them you pinch the metal between them in a very concentrated area. This results in stretching the metal and is mostly used to raise up heat shrunk areas along weld seams etc. You can tell if you are working on or off dolly by the sound of the hammer blows: Off dolly will sound dull and hollow whereas on dolly will make a sharp ringing sound. The three biggest mistakes is 1.)to hammer on dolly when trying to lower a bulge the metal stretch will cause it to pop up even more 2.)hammering too hard, you want to TAP the metal, not hammer on it like driving nails! massage rather than beat the metal into submission. 3.) trying to remove a dent by hammering right in the middle. locate and start by tapping the edge of the dent down, working in a circular patterm towards the center. quite often you will find the dent has flattened out before you get anywhere near the middle. Unless you are removing paint or doing production work, you really will be better off hand sanding. Go to your local auto paint supply store and pick up a rubber sanding block and a longboard (Looks like a narrow long piece of hardboard with handles on it like a carpenter's plane). They both should cost < 20.00 also pick up some 36 and 60 grit longboard paper, it's already cut to size to fit your longboard. At your local DIY hardware store pick up a Surform file handle and a flat and curved blade for it (metal, looks like it should be used for grating cheese) This is used for knocking the lumps and bumps off the bondo, it will grate like hard cheese if you catch it before it gets too hard. Ask in the paint dept for a handful of wooden paint stiring sticks, they work well with sandpaper wrapped around them for areas where the longboard is too wide. AVOID the temptation to wrap sandpaper around your hand and use it, always use a backing support. You can use round objects like wood dowels or plastic pipe of different diameters to sand concave lines like fender flares and fillets, try to match the radius as close as possible.