Roadster pickup from leftovers.

[donsrods]

No, when Dan built the body he rolled some vertical beads into it and that is how I am going to leave it. The bed will have a front wall on it that comes up somewhat on the back of the body, so not much would show anyway.

Tailgate is a good question. I just don't know yet. I may roll a rectangular design into it to break up the flatness and mount my license light and plate in the lower section of it. I need to do something to give the tailgate some detail, just now sure yet. When Dan owned the body he used a 35 Ford tailgate that he bought from someplace that reproduces them, but that bed is really wide.

I am also thinking about two push bars, one of each side of the bed, to act as bumpers.

Thanks for the nice words, DR.
Don

Here is how Dan did the back originally.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Now I understand

I really like the look of the Ford script logo, the stock tailgate does have quite a bit of character....

 

[Lowazzlt1]

Stellar work Don! I am learning a ton of stuff about rod building from your thread. Thank you for sharing this with us! [cl

 

[YBeNormal]

I got a little behind on your thread. All caught up now.

Your ride is coming along nicely [cl

 

[donsrods]

Thanks guys. DR, I like the stampings on the original tailgate too. I will have to do something similar to break it up a little back there and make it look like a real taigate, even though it won't open or anything like that.

Don

 

[Corsair]

Been quite a while since I was on rrr, I think I hit the jackpot with this build story. Start to finish in 3 hours. Like all great threads theres a million little tips here. Really awesome work. ALSO its very humbling when I compare to my meagre skills, etc...haha.

 

[Dirtyrat]

Any news on this one Don?

 

[donsrods]

Thanks Corsair, and welcome back to the forum.

DR, as a matter of fact, I do have some stuff to post. I haven't done anything on my rpu for a while so tonight I decided to start making the bed sides out of 18 gauge. I cut out the piece I needed with a nibler, then scribed lines on it where it would need bent up in the brake. But before I did the bending I rolled a simple bead pattern in the side to give it some detail and to strengthen it.

The platform and fence I made for the bead roller really helped and I was able to do it all by myself, something that would have been hard to do before. Once the bead was rolled I bent the lip on the top edge as well as the "wing", then I put one at the very bottom to stiffen it even more.

It is nothing elaborate, just a simple bed side, and I will bend up some stake pockets, one for the front of each side and one for the back. We have decided it will be just as easy to make new ones as it is to modify the ones I already have.

Tomorrow I will make a duplicate for the other side, and then I can start making the front panel and the tailgate. Here are some pictures from tonight.

Don

I temporarily clamped the bed side to the frame to see how I liked the height. It will sit outboard closer to the tires when done.

 

[Snake Farm]

Bed side looks great Don! I see the top is returned at 90*, what are you going to do for rails? Square tube ?

[P[P[P

 

[Tim...Ok]

That looks really good on there..I had no doubts you would nail it, but I've seen alot of builds where they try to make the bed too thick top to bottom and it really throws the proportions of the whole truck off..

[PWatching and learning[P

 

[donsrods]

Thanks guys. Snake Farm, not sure yet what I am going to do for end rails. I think they need some square or round tubing welded in there but Dan doesn't seem to thing so. He says he has seen lots of beds that just end with that 90 degree turndown and they look good. His opinion is usually right, so I am going to wait until I get the bed all built to decide. If I do add a rail to each side it will probably be 3/4 x 3/4 thin wall box tubing, but I may also do something with the stake pockets in the top end to cap the wing a little.

Don

 

[jfg455]

I think you are right. it does need something to finish the edge like a square tube edge. Just my opinion but the raw edge of the bed looks like you cheaped out a didn't want to put the effort in to finish the bed side. Again, just what I think when I see one like that. The rest of your build is FAR from cheap looking![P

 

[donsrods]

Yeah, tonight we were at the shop finishing up Don's roll cage and I showed it to Dan and he agrees a piece of 3/4 x 3/4 square tube welded into that area will make it look better. It will also support the wing better. Home Depot sells the exact pieces of tubing I need in 3 foot lengths, and my bed is 35 inches, so I will pick up a couple of pieces this week.

Don

 

[jfg455]

Then take a solid 3/4 x 3/4 slug and trun it to a blunt point or rounded ball to fill the ends. Go from square to rounded bunt end....[P

 

[donsrods]

Tonight I got the second bed side bent up and the beads rolled into it. I was pretty happy to see it was dimensionally an exact copy of the first side. Seems no matter how carefully you measure it is hard to make two of something exactly the same size and shape, but I lucked out somehow.

The next step will be to make a tailgate and a front panel then I can start making an internal framework to give the bed some strength. I will probably use 1 x 1 thin wall box tubing for that part of the build.

Here is where I ended up tonight.

I put the plywood tailgate back in place and drew an outline of where I am going to roll a bead to match the ones on the sides. I trial fitted a license plate and although I usually use a Hollywood license light this time I think I am going to use two very old license lights off of some unknown car. I have had them laying around forever and I think one on each side of the plate will look good.

I think for the stake pockets I am going to make something different than the traditional ones. I want to cap the open area on the wing to finish it off, and I think I can make a nice stake pocket with holes drilled in it so it will match the headlight/shock mounts on the front of the car. I have an idea in my head that I think will look good.

Tomorrow night I will probably bend up the tailgate and front panel and get the bed cleco'd together so I can see what I have. Once that is done I can roll the car outside and then stand way back and see how I like the height and proportions.

One other thing I am thinking about is making two T shaped pushbars for the rear to dress it up a little and give me some protection back there. Also, I am kicking aroung not using the louvered panel I have as a tonneau cover, but instead using it as a bed floor. It might look cool to have an open bed with a bunch of louvers on the floor itself.

Here is the panel I may cut up for the bed floor.

Don

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

 

[jfg455]

Looks awesome as usual. Question; are you going to end the tail gate bead at the plate or bring it up and around the plate to outline it? [P

 

[Dirtyrat]

I think the center section would look cool as in emboss too...
But I understand the need to match the bead

 

[donsrods]

I have also considered running the bead up over the plate, or maybe just having some pinstriping done in that empty area. The reason I am thinking of just ending it at the plate is it will tie in what I did on the sides. But I won't know until I get the sheet into the bead roller.

Don

 

[donsrods]

Tonight I made the tailgate piece for the bed. I bent a one inch lip all around it, and rolled some beads to match the ones in the sides. I decided to drop the license plate down lower, and will find some cool old frame for it, maybe at Turkey Run or on Ebay.

I terminated the lower two beads just short of the little license lights I am going to use. They say Fomoco on them, so they are evidently from some Ford product, but I have no idea where I got them or what year they are from. For this car they should be pretty nice though.

Tomorrow I will bend up the front panel, and then I can start making the skeleton to reinforce it all, and then I can make the stake pockets.

Don

 

[YBeNormal]

Looks sweet man[dr[dr[dr. Great work[cl[cl[cl