Truck Bed Question

[Scott H.]

I have a 1977 F-100 Ranger XLT short bed with a rusty frame and a 1979 F-150 4X4 short bed non rusted frame and running gear sitting behind the garage waiting for me to combine them into one usable truck. Earlier today I was tinkering with the idea of building a representation of what I would like the truck to look like in the future when I get the time & money to start working on them again. I started looking at the Model King's release of the late 70's Ford Pickup online earlier today and started thinking about my project truck.

I was wondering if there was a Short Bed available for it from the aftermarket or if anyone has an idea where I might find one? I can shorten the frame and running gear of the model with no problem, I'm just not looking forward to shortening the bed right now.

Usually I don't mind sitting here and searching for parts, but I pulled just about every muscle in lower back (or at least it feels that way!) this weekend and it's still hurting quite badly. I can't sit here as long as I would usually when I'm doing research on a project and would appreciate any help I could get in finding one or a tip as to where I should start looking.

Well, time to go lay back down on the couch again...

-Scott H.

[bigphoto]

Hey Scott,

I do not know of any slab side boxes for a short bed. But this may help in the hacking dept. you can use the bed from Revell's 56 to mock up the length or take one of the AMT later model ie: 80's/90's era short bed and use it as a guide and bed interior

by removing the sides and cutting the MK box sides to fit.

Just an idea!!!

[Art Anderson]

Hey Scott,

I do not know of any slab side boxes for a short bed. But this may help in the hacking dept. you can use the bed from Revell's 56 to mock up the length or take one of the AMT later model ie: 80's/90's era short bed and use it as a guide and bed interior

by removing the sides and cutting the MK box sides to fit.

Just an idea!!!

IIRC, while from the middle 1930's through the 60's, virtually every pickup truck maker in the US used the same set of standard bed lengths and positioning over the rear axle (same amount of bed ahead, and behind, the rear axle centerline), due to some serious armtwisting by FDR's administration of all truck makers of all size trucks, in order to foster an aftermarket for specialty truck beds and bodies, that the OEM companies might not make due to limited demand (Stake bodies, Livestock bodies, Utility bodies come to mind here). Thus for years, Ford, GM, Dodge, Studebaker and International Harvester used the same basic frame widths on all trucks, at least in the cargo area, and their pickup boxes standardized at 8' (3/4 ton) and 6 1/2 feet (half ton short box). For almost all these years, the length difference was 12" ahead of the rear axle/wheel arch, and 6" behind the wheel arch. This was certainly true of GM, Ford and Dodge in those years, stepside as well as wide beds (after 1958 anyway).

However, by the mid-70's, Dodge had changed their short box to being more nearly centering over the rear axle, and I believe that Ford did as well.

The best way to determine what length that Ford short box should be is to search out the following dimensions for the two different lengths of pickups: WB for the long bed (you should be able to get that off the model, with a pair of calipers--just mock up the chassis and suspension, then measure the distance between axle centerlines with a pair of dial calipers), and then find the wheelbase of the short bed. A plus would be finding the length of the Ford short Styleside box, see how that compares with the long box in the kit.

As for shortening the box itself, cutting down the front part is easy, just remove the difference in wheelbase just behind the front wall of the box, and glue the front wall part to the shortened bed side. For the rear, you will need to remove the unwanted length IN BETWEEN the rear edge of the wheel arch (wheel opening) and the rear end of the bedside. This does leave you with what to do about lining up the seams in the bed floor. I've done several of this type of conversion over the years, and found out very early on that it's easiest to remove the bed floor itself, completely, cutting it way from the bed sides, and the wheel wells which intrude into the cargo area itself. Be sure to save any "flange" on the wheel wells, as those will be needed in the newly reconstructed box. Thin out the bottom edge of the wheel wells, so that they don't just appear too thick when you look at them afterward. Next, take a piece of Evergreen Styrene "corrugated" metal sheet plastic that has at least close to the width and spacing of raised ribs of the original kit bed floor. Cut a piece of this that fits, both length and width-wise, and install that--LOTS easier than trying to fix the original kit bed floor with 2 different seams in two different areas.

Art

[Scott H.]

Thanks for the information & help! So far it looks like I'm definately going to be doing a ton of scratch building to get the truck to look like what I want.

Thanks again,

-Scott H.

[Art Anderson]

Thanks for the information & help! So far it looks like I'm definately going to be doing a ton of scratch building to get the truck to look like what I want.

Thanks again,

-Scott H.

Scott, some fairly serious cutting and splicing will need doing for such a project, but when one thinks about it, all the cuts will be straight, and the only correcting of a body line will be the bottom of the rear bed sides, due to the slight upward angle there. Key here will be to get the measurements, then plan the cuts, and make sure they are straight, true and with the bed sides, square with the top edge of them. Putty work should be minimal even, just finishing off the splices in the bed sides themselves.

In a project such as this, the old Amish carpenter's advice comes to mind though: "Measure as many times as it takes, but cut only once." Seriously, I'm looking forward to seeing how you get along with this project!

Art

[Scott H.]

Scott, some fairly serious cutting and splicing will need doing for such a project, but when one thinks about it, all the cuts will be straight, and the only correcting of a body line will be the bottom of the rear bed sides, due to the slight upward angle there. Key here will be to get the measurements, then plan the cuts, and make sure they are straight, true and with the bed sides, square with the top edge of them. Putty work should be minimal even, just finishing off the splices in the bed sides themselves.

In a project such as this, the old Amish carpenter's advice comes to mind though: "Measure as many times as it takes, but cut only once." Seriously, I'm looking forward to seeing how you get along with this project!

Art

Art,

The good thing about this project is I have both a 1976 F-150 Longbed that belongs to my brother and the 1977 F-100 Shortbed to get the measurements from before I ever start cutting the model. I also have the bare 4X4 Shortbed frame I can get measurements from to make the frame look right. From what you have told me so far, this is going to be a big help when it comes time to do the conversion.

After looking through several pictures on the net, the only real problem I see with the conversion is the AMT model is equipped with the passenger side under bed tool box which has a different interior bed side than the standard bed.

Once I get the model and start the project, I definitely will be doing a thread on the conversion. Hopefully I won't mess up too bad on it.

Thanks again,

-Scott H.