Trav's 1968 F250 Flatbed Project

[travmarks]

When it came time to replace the rear main seal and do the clutch I ran a long pole through the vent window openings and attached a come along in the center to use as a hoist. It was a big PITA to drop the tranny this way...but, it allowed me to do the job with no help and no lifts.



The floor boards were in decent shape but had a few small holes so I used fiberglass resin and mat after some sanding with some 80 grit to fill the holes and even re-shape some of the bottom of the passenger door frame that had rusted through.

[travmarks]

The flatbed is heavy gauge steel with stake pockets and tie down hooks. For now it received lots of sanding and a few coats of rustoluem for heavy rust. The bed is too big for the sportier look I'm going after so let me know what you think. Should I shorten the entire frame to the short bed length and cut the flatbed to match or just shorten the bed to bring the rear end closer up to the axle? Not sure what to do here...but I know it's bigger than I want it to be. I'm also considering shaping the bed so instead of being just rectangular it would be cut in front of the tires and behind the tires (with curves) to be only as wide as the frame rails. The width over the tires would remain the same so the tires would still be covered. Maybe I need a picture from above with cut lines drawn to help explain this one.

[travmarks]

I might need a bit more precise cut then this but here you can see what I would like the flatbed to look like. This design would shave off hundreds of pounds and still cover the rear tires.

[travmarks]

The fuel tank has been removed from the inside of the cab. I used some perforated metal mesh to make a filler template for the fuel neck hole and then fiberglassed then in place from the inside and ouside with resin and mat. I can bang this reapir with a hammer, it's solid. I'm leaving all the final body work for the body/paint shop so I've just sanded it for now.

[travmarks]

The custom dash started with fabric being stretched over the top and front...then I saturated that with fiberglass tape and resin.

[travmarks]

After leveling the cab...I fitted a wood panel across the front of the dash that I had scribed with lines every inch. Whenever I get something to add to my dash I work off of the grid lines to ensure it all stays level. So far I've added speakers, cd player, original glove box door, and louver air vents out of a late model F250. Now I need gauges and a switch/control panel.

[travmarks]

Here you can see the top of the dash starting to take a nice shape after lots of sanding and filling. The vent louvers were located using the dash vent holes already there. I've modified my heater box (with fiberglass) so the air blows only out of the two round holes in the box. This air vill be ducted to all four dash louvers. They all rotate and open and close so you can adjust all the air manually. I'll be using a two speed switch to control the fan motor and a choke cable to adjust the temperature control valve inline with the heater hose.

[travmarks]

Dang, this project is taking a lot longer then expected...It's been about six months but I have made some progress on the custom dash. I have the cd player, 5 1/4" speakers, heater vents, golve box door, summit gauge panel, and hand machined switch panel (Ignition, Lights, Horn, Dome Light, Heater on/off, Wipers on/off, Heater Temp Control, and Choke) all installed and working. Now it's about time to take everything back out and either get the dash covered with vinyl or possibly do a roll on or spray on texture.

[Manny]

That is for sure a one of a kind dash. Have never seen that before but looks good. Keep it up interested to see more.