Quick update, the dies for the bed floor have been laser cut and are being tested and fine tuned at Robert's shop. I'll take the bed floor up to MP&C once our schedules line late this month or early next month.

I didn't go into much detail about this earlier, but the F250 bed floor had four flat areas for a fifth wheel hitch that looked really out of place for use in a '66 F100. I contacted Robert (MP&C) about having him make dies for his Lennox to reshape those spots into continuous ribs to look more like the original bed floor. I sent a sample so he could make dies a while back, and yesterday our schedules finally aligned so we could work on the bed floor.

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We started by gas welding plugs in the four holes that won't be used on the F100. I didn't want to weld those with a MIG at our shop since the weld would be more brittle and would probably crack during the reshaping process. Gas welds are much softer and more workable.

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The welds were smoothed down and the flat areas were pre-stretched in the english wheel with a bit of guesswork as to how much we should pre-stretch.

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Then into the Lennox to add the ribs. This was done gradually in multiple passes, adjusting the depth of the dies after each pass.

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Slightly reworking the dies to gain more rib height.

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Finished ribs. These are hard to photograph so I stripped an area with the two new ribs in the center of the outer original ribs to show the matching profile.

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Nice work.

The bed tops are fully bodyworked and ready for epoxy sealer except for adding and shaping the seam sealer.

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I started prepping to weld the bed floor in by using tubing to align the side panels and leveling/squaring the bed on a body cart. The header panel was slightly out at the front so I pulled it in with ratchet straps to correct that before tacking the front corner panels in place. As usual, I applied epoxy between the layers to prevent future rust.

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The bed floor had a few high spots where we accidentally over-stretched before adding the ribs. That was an easy fix with the shrinking disc. Still need to fine tune it before welding it in but the overall shape is correct now. I also trimmed the floor to the correct length so it can be dropped in for a test fit.

Before/after.

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Sweet.
Still following.

Keep up the good work and keep posting to us.

Thanks for keeping up with the project!


Appreciate it!


The '09 bed floor was too long to fit the '66 bed so I trimmed 3 1/4" off the front to make it fit. It dropped right in place after slightly trimming the 90* flanges at the front to clear the crossmember. I also stuck the fenderwells back in place to see how they fit against the floor. It looks really good for just the initial test fit!

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Tight fit against the header panel.

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The rear flange fits the recess in the rear crossmember exactly like the factory floor did. I was a little worried that the raised sides might not fit flush with the four side panels but they line up very well. The end of the raised stamping on the floor needs to be moved forward about 1/4" to close up the gap, but that's an easy fix.

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Nice work!!
Could you please state what the listed application was and the source of the inner wheel tubs that you used? I read through, but not exactly sure if my interpretation of early Bronco is correct. Thanks!

Wow, nice work on that bed floor. Do you think your buddy would/could make patch panels and sell them? My bed floor is half good and half junk. I've read where certain models of other truck's bed floors will fit our trucks, but I'd like to repair mine if possible but without some patch panels I don't think it's possible. Not sure I'm willing to spend what you spent for a new floor from Ford, but maybe a junkyard find would work?
Anyway keep up the good work, I really enjoy following along. And, I've got to get me a shrinking disk...

Thanks! The wheel tubs are for an early Bronco.

https://www.cjponyparts.com/wheelhou...SABEgJ65vD_BwE



Thanks for following the project! I can check with Robert and see if he's interested.

We decided to weld studs into the crossmembers and braces to mount the bed to the frame instead of using bolts from the top side. Two reasons for that; the existing flat mounting areas from the '09 floor didn't exactly line up with the '66 mounting pattern and it would look better without bolt heads showing.


Since there wouldn't be any flat areas needed for mounting bolts, I extended the ends of the ribs all the way to the edge so all ribs would match. I did the rear edge first using the leftovers trimmed from the front edge. Unfortunately each rib is a slightly different height so they didn't line up exactly and the filler panels had to be manipulated into place.

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The process was to get one area to line up, tack it, then work around with a hammer and dolly to make other areas line up. The small, square face hammer with a pointed end that I found a swap meet was perfect for fitting within the narrow flat spots and inside corners.

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Close up of the misalignment.

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Ready for welding solid.

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Welded and smoothed.

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The front edge only had one row of ribs missing and the ends run straight out instead of having a flattened end. I made my own filler panels since they would be easier to fit and I didn't have enough leftovers after extending in the rear ribs.

https://i.imgur.com/X8DLtQSh.jpg


Filler piece welded in.

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Welds leveled with 2" 36 grit discs.

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100 grit used next to remove the 36 grit scratches and to fully blend the weld areas smooth.

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100 grit scratches smoothed with 80 grit on a DA sander, ready for epoxy primer.

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I posted earlier about the rear outside edges not matching the outer corner panel edges.

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After reshaping.

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Tons of test fits, lots of minor tweaks, and drilling a ton of holes for plug welds later, it's all welded in.

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Mounted on a rotisserie, then flipped to finish welding everything underneath. I'll start bodywork and prep for epoxy primer and seam sealer inside the bed tonight.

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Looking great as usual. Question that jumped to my mind was what about the round center flat portion in the bed sheet metal?

Thanks! It will be moved to the rear and used as a mounting spot for the fuel filler, then the rear ribbed section will be used to fill in the middle. That has been the plan all along, and I was hoping to do this while the bed floor was still out but we realized that the filler neck that came with the tank isn't usable. The owner has the frame and tank but had knee surgery recently so he's not been able to fabricate a new filler neck yet. I'll need the exact location of the new filler neck before I can cut it out and move the round portion to it's new location. I wanted to go ahead and get the floor welded in though so I can move ahead with bodywork on the outside of the bed, I'm hoping to have the bed ready to paint by time the owner is ready to bring the cab and frame back.

I roughed in the bodywork on the inner bedsides and outer floor panels, stripped the cheap primer off the wheel tubs, and shot a couple coats of SPI epoxy. A great thing about SPI epoxy is that it's glossy enough to easily show all the places I missed.

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I started straightening the passenger outer bed side. I used a sanding block inside and out with 60 grit to find the highs/lows, then hammer/dolly to straighten and level the panel. Then DA sand it to remove the sanding marks, resand to find the smaller highs/lows, more hammer/dolly work... repeat until it's good enough to skim coat then DA sand it for an even finish and to prep for epoxy.

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Wiped down with wax and grease remover to check the reflection.

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Straightened the rear of the wheel opening flange.

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