Looking for a new Pickup Bed

The new pickup beds are one of two things that I feel are as good as the originals.The other is brake drums,and I feel new ones of those are better.I have a nice bed I bought from a guy that bought a new one.It is real nice,and solid,but with some whiskey dents.all around.At the time the new one was $1500.delivered,and the body shop guy told hm that was the way to go moneywise.Truck was going black,and the shop owner told him that at $65.per hour to get the end product the owner wanted it would cost more than a new bed.The old one is nice enough that I paid either $3 or $500.for it.
 
Thanks Keith - a lot of folks have told me that the new ones are very nice, and to quote them "built as Henry would have". I do all my own body work and paint - because body work is VERY expensive... Cheap paint is $500 a gallon.
I did a complete restoration of a 72 Cheyenne SWB Pickup - triple black. Bed needed a lot of work, as did the cab, fenders and everything else. When I went to the paint shop for my third gallon of paint the lady wanted to know if I was painting a Kenworth.
So - it's a lot of work, and I've spent hundreds of hours working out dents and high & Low spots. Buffing, polishing, and still finding imperfections. My last project was nine years, and still needs an Air Conditioner installed. I would like to get the pickup up and drivable in months instead of years.
Merry Christmas
 
Brace i had an old guy teach me how to lead a long time ago when i did my 1919 t i used lead was really pleased with the result i do think bondo today is much better than it was.
 
Hey Brace, I just finished roaming through the first 45 or so pages in the Swap Meet area and there were quite a few beds for sale.

Might be an area to look into.
 
Ended up ordering a U channel and stake pockets from Brookville Roadster.
Discovered that the front stake pockets are spot welded on, in addition to
the rivets.. :(

I removed the 24 rivets from the old U channel today - and was pretty happy when it came out without any spot welds. On to the patching !!!!

BB
 
There are lots of spot welds used in the original assembly of the bed. It is my guess that they temporarily held the parts for final riveting.
 
Thanks Rex.

I agree. I was thinking I might put a few pop rivets in while I'm lining up the rest of the holes. The new stake pockets and the U-Channel have no holes, so
I've got to drill through the other side to make the holes line up.

Now - if anyone has any advice on how to set the rivets... I don't presently
have any of the concave hammers for my air chisel. I'm researching local Model A'ers....:):confused:
 
Mikeinnj... Thanks - I have a Snyders... not sure about Braxton's. I will order the 1/4 rivet set.

I have the patch panels welded in for the front stakes... will get on the rear and the U chanel tomorrow.
 

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Brace Bailey said:
Thanks Rex.

I agree. I was thinking I might put a few pop rivets in while I'm lining up the rest of the holes. The new stake pockets and the U-Channel have no holes, so
I've got to drill through the other side to make the holes line up.

Now - if anyone has any advice on how to set the rivets... I don't presently
have any of the concave hammers for my air chisel. I'm researching local Model A'ers....:):confused:
Click to expand...


Heat the rivets red hot and insert them doing one at a time and place a heavy weight (bucking bar) against the already formed head and use your rivet gun to form the small side. Good luck !
 
I just put a complete bed together from Brookville. You really do need a rivet gun to put one together. Maybe you can borrow one. I tried to put one together with a air hammer, but it goes too fast and does not hit hard enough. It is hard to keep it on the rivet. With a 2x rivet gun (looks just like a air hammer) I could set all the rivets cold at about 20 seconds a rivet. My first pickup I bought new side panels, front panel and U channel and tailgate. I used the sub structure from the old box as well as the fender flanges and stake pockets. It looks very nice. It is hard to straighten the side panels as they need to be finished on two sides. Good luck and again, I highly recommend a rivet gun. It is amazing how nice the rivets look when they are set.
 
Making progress with an AN430 Round Rivet set and my 30 year old air chisel - have the U channel in,
getting ready to attach the Z panel. From the looks of the old U channel, the
Z panel must be spot welded to the U channel... right?

also, anyone have luck with an offset rivet set? The front panel is going to
be impossible to get on with my straight rivet set. I may just heat it up and
put a 10 degree offset in it.

Thanks Midgetracer

Here are some pictures...
 

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Setting rivets is a skill that gets better with practice. By the time the rivet job is finished, you have just learned the skill of setting rivets. The biggest mistake that I made in setting rivets is using too high of an air pressure on my rivet gun. Your rivet installation looks like the Ford factory did it. Good job. :)
 
You are correct that the rear Z panel is spot welded to the top of the channel. Ford originally used wood spacers inside the channel to keep the hinge bolts from crushing the walls of the channel. Make sure that you use wood or metal tubes to prevent this damage. I would try an offset rivet set before bending a straight one. There are lots of options.
 
This is from an 06/28/10 entry by Marco Tahtaras regarding his riveting process:

"The cross members were riveted with 1/4" rivets. You'll find that the the holes to be riveted measure almost 5/16" (and were intended to be). The shank of the rivet MUST swell to fill the hole to be effective over the long term. For this reason it is difficult if not impossible to tighten a loose rivet. You can tighten the "set", but not swell the center.

For bucking we start with a ready made 8" bucking bar with the proper recess for the rivet head. We then cut the bar short enough to fit within the frame rail. This short bar is then welded along the side to a heavy piece of steel forming an off-set bar that extends around the edge of the rail. The bucking bar should be at least 3-4 lb.., but 5 lb.. is better.

For setting the rivet we use an air chisel or air hammer. I've been told they are commonly available in short stroke and long stroke versions and I use the long stroke or long barrel version. I think way too much is made of the type of air hammer as the rivets swell like butter when the shank is properly heated. The setting tool for the air hammer is matched to the rivet size similar to the bucking bar.

The riveting requires two people in almost all cases. The first person holds the rivet by the head with pliers while the second person heats the rivet with a torch. The rivets are heated red from the middle first, then towards the outer end.

Next, while the first person slips the rivet into the hole and backs it with the bucking tool, the second person sets down the torch, picks up the air hammer and proceeds to rivet.

The result is a rivet that completely fills the hole as it should. The process requires approximate 30 seconds per rivet."
 
Brace, I came back for a look see what you have been doing, since my post #2. Happy to see that you went ahead with the existing bed. Your results look real good, and I can see you really getting into it. That Brookville channel is a nice looking piece, expensive, but very nice. Nice job
 
Almost done. Rivets set - still have to attach front panel, but I have it all
Straightened out now. Ordered the stainless strips, panel and bolts.

Working on the Cab mounts now....
 

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Wow... that is nice. I already have my wood - in the pictures. I noticed the bed wood on E-bay had the grove dropped down on the edges, so the stainless strips will be flush with the face of the boards. I may consider routering mine down
To achieve that look.

Thanks for the note.
 
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