Oak Wood Beds and Misc.

Well in my 66 that I am about to repaint and put new floors in here in 3 months I am going to put in a oak wood bed floor in the back. This is what I am doing, I am keeping the same color dark metallic green with a tad bit of pearl in the clear to give it a tiny hint of blue and have that Grant steering wheel in Mohagany so I want to match the dark wood stain on the wheel with the bed. Here are my questions...
1.) Where can I get good quality wood strips and stainless steel bed strips for a good price? I need a kit for a 66 F100 NON step side bed. I haven't seen a bed kit for my truck yet, I only see them in step sides but then again I haven't looked a ton yet either.
2.) How do I strip this ugly Ryno Lining off? I have stripped sound deadener and undercoating off with a heat gun and scraper and got most of it off and soaked it down with paint thinner and did the rest but is there a better way of doing this?

I'd appreciate the help here guys! Thanks!

Aircraft Stripper??? local parts store should carry some... not sure if it would do the trick but the stuff is pretty strong.

Yeah that is what I was thinking but I don't know. I do not think it will work. Ryno Lining is supposed to hold up against acids and such. Plus IMO Aircraft Stripper isn't all that people make it out to be. Sure it strips paint but takes too much time and pretty darn messy and you have to use lots of it.

www.lmctruck.com has the bed slats.

FMX---Talk to any outfit that sprays Rhino liner on. If anybody knows what can strip it, they will. For the hardwood bed, buy 3/4" x 6"oak boards at the lumber dealer (they're not cheap). Any truck dealer can point you towards a dealer for the stainless strips---a bit of advice though---if you get them with the pre-punched square bolt holes then you can use a stainless round head carriage carriage bolt to hold the strips on with---the square shank on the carriage bolt is held from rotating by the square hole in the stainless strips when you tighten the nuts underneath.---Brian

FMX, do you have any small independent lumber mills in your neck of the woods? There are tons of them here in the Ozarks and I think you could get a better deal on the wood through one of them. The original wood should be true 1x4's and 1x6's which are hard to come by at you local Lowes or Home Depot.

Hmm... I am not sure about that. I will have to look into it because they do a lot of wood hauling here and I bet there is one. It's NC and millions of tree's around I don't see why they wouldn't have one... Now how would I notch the wood to fit the metal strips?

I think I will just buy the stainless strips from LMC or a place like that and then get the wood from somewhere else if I can get it cheaper and less shipping if I find a place local like a lumber yard.

You don't have to notch the wood. The metal strips fit over the top and the bolts hold it all together. I replaced the wood bed in my '62 that way. It takes a fistfull of small bolts and nuts. The only thing I'd buy from LMC or some one like that would be the metal strips. When you buy the bolts buy galvanized or stainless because they will rust otherwise. BTW mine was a Chebbie, but I assume Ford used the same kind of set up.

FMXHellraiser,..
I use to buy from :
Dennis Carpenter.com
or LMC 60-66 catalogue, or try
Slick60's.com web sie all the info & friends you and your F-100 could have...great group of guys & gals.
My F-100 ' ole blue '.
jim

Take a look at RB's Obsolete they sell chevy and ford bed wood kits with steips and bolts.

FMX---You do have to notch the hardwood boards. The stainless strip fits down into the notch on two adjacent boards and holds them together, and this also lets the stainless strip set down much closer to the surface of the wooden floor so that the stainless strips don't get all banged up from sticking up higher than the wooden floor. The bolt holes are half in one board and half in the board next to it. You cut the full length notches with a standard table saw blade and a rip fence to guide the board and make sure that the sawcut is straight.

Ok here is a question about this wood bed that I have been wondering now for some time... The floor in it now is the stock steel floor just like every other pickup bed. I don't even think they made wood beds in 66 F100's but who knows. So if this is the case, can I just cut out the old floor and put the wood one in? If so then how in the heck to the boards stay in the bed? Do I have to make or buy cross members?

Quote:

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Originally Posted by fourty1

FMXHellraiser,..
I use to buy from :
Dennis Carpenter.com
or LMC 60-66 catalogue, or try
Slick60's.com web sie all the info & friends you and your F-100 could have...great group of guys & gals.
My F-100 ' ole blue '.
jim

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Probably a good idea about the Dennis Carpenter since they are only 35 minutes from me. I can just go in and pick it up. I may just go ahead and buy the whole wood kit, I doubt I will save much money looking around like crazy for a place to get me the boards. Not worth the time to save a couple bucks I am sure. Also, yes slick60s is a great site. I am SMF or Shawn F. on there. I am in NCFTO or WAS in that club but now we all started another club here called Carolina Fords. www.carolinafords.org A bunch of good guys there.

Okay FMX---This is what I mean by the stainless strips fitting down into the sawcuts. I haven't modelled the bolt holes into the strips nor into the wood. If the strips don't fit into the sawcuts, then there is an airgap between the center of the strip and the top of the wood. When you tighten down the bolts which pass thru the center of the strip it will bend the strip down untill it touches the wood, and on highly polished stainless this "pulled down" area around each bolt will really look bed.

Brian, I understand that part now but what I do not understand is how do the boards themselves bolt inside the bed? Cross members have to be made or something? My floor in the bed now is the original ribbed metal one just like all new trucks have and most other ones...

You can either cut out the existing floor and weld new crossmembers in to support the wood floor (which I definately do not reccomend), or you can put in some false crossmembers which rest on top of the bed floor and bolt the floor to the false crossmembers. Neither solution really lends itself well to the type of truck you have. You will spend a tremendous amount of money putting an oak floor into a truck that never was equipped with one. I'd say that you would get a lot more bang for your buck if you just paint inside the bed and put the money you save into a better quality paint job or interior or engine work.

Well Brian, after some thinking I agree with you... Screw it... I have crappy Ryno Lining in it now that NEEDS to come out and just painted or something. I just wish there was some way to add more wood grain to the truck like the Grant Mohagany steering wheel. I don't want to do nothing wood on the dash though so that's the problem, nor the door panels. Now how do the wood floors bolt into a bed that accepts them? Like how many crossmembers, etc? I have I think 3 under the bed now but they are rusted and I need to replace them.

Too bad you dont live closer. I think some Maple would look great. I rebuilt a buddys 36 Chevy doors with wood. I work in a wood shop so its not a big stretch for me. You know Ipa wood, would be cool, it repels water, nice color too.

I do have a buddy in our local Ford club that has a wood working shop and makes or builds cabinetry, etc. I wonder if he would be up to the tast of doing this for me and help save me money... Probably would end up being more than just getting a kit. I may just email or call LMC, MAC and Dennis Carpenter and see what their oppinions are and see how I can do this. So far it doesn't look like I can do it and that it will be way too much and too much money but I will keep looking until I know 100% sure that it wont work or whatnot. If I have to spend heaps of money on it then I will pass it up but I am trying to work it out.

If your just wanting more wood grain ,why not some kick panels, lower door panels, or side panel for your seats. Maybe some thin flooring to cover the main part of the cab floor , you can get some engineered (most won't swell like real wood & is scratch resistant, ready to lay right out of the box ) flooring at a flooring supply AND pick your color to match your wheel . Should be able to get away with 25.00 to 50.00 a box and you'll have some left over in case you make a few mistakes. Just got to come up w/a good way to trim it out.

? just a thought ....
TL

You need to support the wood at the front of the box, the rear of the box, and have a supporting crossmember at least every 24".

FMX---Paint the box. If you want a touch of wood that matches the steering wheel. make up a pair of (low) oak sideboards that set on top of the bedsides and are held in place with attached peices that set in the front and rear stakepockets. If you make them more than about 3" high, someone will think your a farmer taking his hog to market. Done correctly, they look very good, and with the proper stain and about 6 coats of semi-gloss clear urethane they will be an exact match for your steering wheel.

Heh well these aren't too bad of idea's guys I appreciate this. I will do some more thinking and looking at pictures. Anyone here have any pics of some interiors? I am not sure on the color yet. I was going to do just plain black but with this dark metallic forest green color for the paint on the body I think a cream would look cool or something. I like the old style looking gauges with the faded white or cream and black needles. I want those and just can't think of what color would match them besides black... I am thinking, cream, black and then the painted dash same as body in the green.