New stepside
Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 237
Likes: 2
From: St. Paul, MN
New stepside
Hi guys...newbie to this forum as I've been in the '92-'96 forum.
Picked up an '84 Stepside today...351W, Auto 4X4, dual exhaust
with rebuilt 4 brl and new top end....guy was gonna part it out.
Picked it up for $500. Bed will need a little work, but the body is straight
and rust free. Any tips on these, haven't restored a wood bed before.
Try to post a pic if I can...
Picked up an '84 Stepside today...351W, Auto 4X4, dual exhaust
with rebuilt 4 brl and new top end....guy was gonna part it out.
Picked it up for $500. Bed will need a little work, but the body is straight
and rust free. Any tips on these, haven't restored a wood bed before.
Try to post a pic if I can...
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 56,948
Likes: 2,717
From: Virginia
The stepside bed is not very common, so hold onto that. You can see if the old f100 wood bed kits will fit your bed. The 53-56 forum might be some help in that area. I did make my own bed wood for my 53, but it's some work. You have to use a table saw or a router and make a rabbit edge on the wood so the metal strips will sit flush. They also make polished stainless steel strips if you want to get fancy.
Thread Starter
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Mountain Pass
Joined: Apr 2007
Posts: 237
Likes: 2
From: St. Paul, MN
Looks like previous owner did a strip job on the emissions equipment, as there is
nothing hooked up for vacuum stuff and a few things plugged off. Going to have to
look over the vacuum diagram and see if everything is hooked up that should be.
nothing hooked up for vacuum stuff and a few things plugged off. Going to have to
look over the vacuum diagram and see if everything is hooked up that should be.
Moderator
Joined: Jan 2001
Posts: 56,948
Likes: 2,717
From: Virginia
If you don't have under hood inspections, and it runs good, I personally would not worry about some of the vacuum connections. So long as the dist is getting vacuum, and the heater/A/C and the tranny and brake booster are getting vacuum. Getting it back right can be a headache.
P.S. There were some early California models with a computer controlled system on the 351w. If your distributor does not have a vacuum line connection, then you do have one of these systems, and I would recommend converting it over to the regular non-computer setup.
P.S. There were some early California models with a computer controlled system on the 351w. If your distributor does not have a vacuum line connection, then you do have one of these systems, and I would recommend converting it over to the regular non-computer setup.
Former Vendor
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 176
Likes: 0
From: Oklahoma City
MAR-K has a wood bed kit for this truck and information on finishing.
Try http://www.mar-k.com/wood_finishing.html
You can go to the main home page and click on Browse our Online Catalog to see the wood bed kits.
Good Luck!
Try http://www.mar-k.com/wood_finishing.html
You can go to the main home page and click on Browse our Online Catalog to see the wood bed kits.
Good Luck!
New User
Joined: Jun 2006
Posts: 4
Likes: 0
From: Stevens Point, WI
Bruce Horkeys Wood Products is another good place to get parts for you stepside. NPD (National Parts Depot) has a fair selection as well. Those 2 work good for a lot of the hard to find items. LMC Truck has most of the small things like bolts, chain kits and such. I highly recommend LMC myself, I have never had a problem with them yet. Hope you get what you need.
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Postmaster
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 3,978
Likes: 0
From: Central PA
I made my own ( and on a small table saw. ). But the beds are same basic shape back way way back . So a bed kit wouldn't be hard to find.
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Senior User
Joined: Oct 2006
Posts: 304
Likes: 0
what have you guys been doing about the outer rails. My bed is in really good shape but the outer rails (attached to inner bed sides) on either side are rusted throught in acouple places. Other than sheet metal work what can be done to cover this up?
New User
Joined: Nov 2010
Posts: 7
Likes: 0
the stepside is awesome
I have a 1980 f-100. Does anybody here know of a good place to go where you can pick up a stepside bed? like a remanufactured one or anything? right now i just have the regular full size bed but i want a stepside
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