Dentside Ford Short Bed Conversion PART 3
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 26 พ.ย. 2024
- This week I'm finally back in my own shop working on the 1975 Ford F150. It's time to assess the damage on the bed and formulate a plan. I'll first remove the header panel from the long bed and decide how exactly I'm going to cut this bed up. Once I have a plan, I'll show you exactly how I lay out the cut lines that will eventually allow us to remove 16" out of the front of the bed. By the end of this video, we'll be ready to cut the bed down and continue on with the long bed to short bed conversion for a 1973-1979 Ford F100 or F150.
Man when I first saw this bed I thought there’s no way it’s worth saving but after seeing what your plan is and why you want to save it I’m totally with you. Great video and good luck growing the channel, it definitely has all the right ingredients.
Thanks so much for the kind words Cory! I appreciate the support you’ve shown me and my channel from day 1!
It’s getting real!
Are you going to have an under-bed gas tank in this or keep one in the cab?
It got VERY real this week! Can’t wait for y’all to see next week’s episode! The bed is in multiple pieces 🤣. I’m planning to put a fuel tank back in the stock location under the bed at the very back of the truck. Current plan is to tackle that after the cab repairs are done and the cab is back on the truck. I’ll do the fuel and brake systems right before the bed goes back on.
@@CodyBuilds I forgot yours is “newer” than mine... 😂 The ‘66 F100’s just have one tank in the cab behind the bench seat. I think you can mount an old mustang fuel tank under the bed back near the tailgate… I dunno, that’s a long ways off for mine!
Why didn't you carry that notch back for the stake holes instead of having to cut that later?
I've never done this but have (long time ago) researched and looked into body repair, I thought you were supposed to cut a little long to create a flange to weld to, rather than a butt weld? I'm not criticizing, just trying to learn.
Pretty clever plumb bob to mark out the outside cuts.
Yeah in hindsight I would have cut the stake pocket out in one shot rather than doing that separately. This was the first conversion I’ve done so there was a little learning on the fly.
I’m new to body repair as well. There seem to be positives and negatives to both repair methods. I don’t necessarily think one is right or wrong. My only concern with the flanging method is the overlapped portion of the panels could potentially hold moisture that promotes rust.
@@CodyBuilds I don't know if it was flanged but way back in 2005, I had patch panels done on my 95 F150 bed. It rusted faster and worse the second time and in 2011 I ended up finding a rust-free bed for it. So I've definitely learned the hard way about moisture and air pockets, if I could go back, I would've done bedsides to begin with instead of patches.
Cody have you already cut it? I was gonna make a recommendation
Yep I cut it up this week but I’m happy to hear any thoughts you have! I’m definitely still learning.
@CodyBuilds might be a little late, but I was gonna tell you on the front I find it easier to cut it right on the leading edge. Then instead of cutting it 18" back I leave it long and let it overlap the front panel. Measure from the rear to get the front panel square and then just sharpie around it to cut long portion. Super super easy to body work it afterwards. Doesn't warp so much when you weld it back together
@sikrandall83 that makes a ton of sense. I left myself a little bit of overlap but not much. I’m going to hopefully fit and weld the front back on tomorrow so we’ll see how it goes. I will keep this in mind when I cut up the back though. Thanks for the tip!
@CodyBuilds yes sir, no problem. The way you're doing it works just fine too. Just in my experience makes a little more finish work. Gotta be a little more careful sticking it back together to avoid warping...but it does work just fine also.
@@CodyBuilds also I cut the rears on mine too, I know normal is 16" out of the front to make up a short bed on a dentside...but I cut 18" out of the front of mine and an additional 3" out of the rear. That extra 5" over a standard short bed makes a world of difference on the proportions.