Oak Wood Beds and Misc.

[FMXhellraiser]

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!

[HellCaminoKid]

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

[FMXhellraiser]

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.

[Matt167]

www.lmctruck.com has the bed slats.

[brianrupnow]

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

[NTFDAY]

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.

[FMXhellraiser]

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?

[FMXhellraiser]

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.

[NTFDAY]

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.

[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

[m falconstien]

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

[brianrupnow]

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.

[FMXhellraiser]

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?

[FMXhellraiser]

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

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.

[brianrupnow]

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.