Seapine - 1972 F350 flatbed build

[sargentrs]

Great project, Seapine!

[SeapineF37]

Great project, Seapine!

thanks sargentrs coming along but long way to go!
more bed welding done but no exciting photos. placing the bed back should be the next post.

will say driving around wo the bed is like not having a rear suspension. bucking bronco over the bumps!
looking worse than when i got got it says the wife but i'm pretty happy with the progress thus far.

[Jacksdad]

...thought a bunch about the bed height for both looks and functionality. looks like the bed will be fairly close to being in line with the bump for me. somewhere around 40" off the ground at the front of the bed unloaded and 42" at the rear due to rake unloaded. this should put the bed close to the lower part of the bump line and not cause too much visual awkwardness while also putting the gooseneck hitch at the height i want and keeping the bed high enough over the tire clearance while not being too high to conveniently load from the ground... a lot of factors. will see how it turns out.

Level with the bump is where I'm shooting for. It might not necessarily be the optimal height for loading, but I like the look of a slightly higher bed. And at least initially, it'll be insured for personal use only anyway. Everyone, from the DMV staff to my insurance company, is a little bewildered as to why I'd have a one ton dually stake bed as a personal vehicle

[hfdco4]

That's an easy one to answer, because you can! Great job, and they always look worse for wear just before they don't.

[Jacksdad]

That's an easy one to answer, because you can!

[SeapineF37]

That's an easy one to answer, because you can!

haha x2

yep def some daily driving in this girl in my future.

here is the bed!


chains and hoist from the oak tree... and set it back on. actually much easier than i thought it would be.
was worried about it swinging and dinging the cab but



will add a cross plate where the two tubes end to the rear under the crossmember supports when i pull the whole thng off the frame down the road for final welding and painting (which is when i will do the final paint on the cab while the bed is off)



bed height ends up pretty close to how i estimated and i like it there. close to being in line with the bump. actually the top of the bed is 1.5" lower than the top of the bump line so a slight jog but not enough to look bad in my opinion.



set tools and boxes onto and off of the bed a bunch already as well as getting up and down myself.
its a pretty comfortable height. a bit high for really heavy items but is actually close to the height of my friends mildly lifted late model f250
now onto some body work...

[Jacksdad]

That is awesome - good looking truck

[Ranchero50]

Looks good. For some dumb reason one of the hardest parts on my build was finding mud flaps that fit our tire width. Ended up cutting up some old conveyor rubber I had laying around.

[SeapineF37]

thanks guys!

For some dumb reason one of the hardest parts on my build was finding mud flaps that fit our tire width. Ended up cutting up some old conveyor rubber I had laying around.

yeah the best i could find was 18"w x 24"h Fleetpride flaps. they are close and will have to do.

here are some photos of the start to the trim filling and body work. wow this isn't my skill set and is slow going...




sandblasted the holes to prep for welding

then filled the small holes and used nail heads to help weld up the larger holed (non-galv)



then grinding smooth and spot primer and temp rattle can until i can work my war around the cab

[SeapineF37]

yep sorry not more exciting yet. just sandblasting and welding... and welding... and welding...



scraped and blasted all the filler out and slowly stitched in the seam



on to the side mirrors next...

[67mann]

I used the nail trick when I was welding up my dash... truck

[Jacksdad]

Wow - amazing progress. That beast is looking good. You're making me feel bad because I've been seriously lagging on my build lately.

I'm so jealous of you guys with driveways. I have a garage, but nothing that will accommodate a long wheelbase bump, and I only have off street parking when the business in front of my complex is closed. It means that other than evenings, my only window to work is from Saturday afternoon to Sunday night (maybe a day longer on holiday weekends). I can't immobilize my vehicles for any longer unfortunately, so big jobs become a challenge. Removing the camper box and putting on the flat bed is going to be like a military operation when I finally get around to doing it

Keep the updates coming - can't wait to see how it looks when you're all done

[SeapineF37]

thanks guys
some pictures of my mirror "upgrade"...



when the repaint was done the original mirrors on the truck were removed (was easy to find the brazed up holes from original west coast 3-arm mirrors) and these later 70's-80s ciba style mirrors were mounted. not really good for towing with the wide flatbed and kinda low imo so i found some west coast jrs to put back on the truck. drilled out the original holes and here is a comparison of the two. plus i also like the look of these better




going to like these much better. will add some convex rounds lower down and probably some extendable tow helpers off the top bar for when i'm pulling a trailer. the west coast jrs create a larger blind spot but are much better for rear sight lines.

and then there was more welding up of old holes




plus some finishing work on the nose of the truck





body work is not so easy

[Jacksdad]

Yep, bodywork is a thankless task. Looking good though.
Mine originally had mirrors that mounted below the window line, and sat on long L-shaped arms. They looked nasty, and the damned things would slowly settle backwards as you drove no matter how much they were tightened, and would waggle around every time you closed the doors. Ditched them for West Coast mirrors and never regretted it. Rock solid with great visibility

[Ranchero50]

I'm glad you chose to stay with the period mirrors. I have my 3 point Western ones and they are pretty nice. I did add a 4" convex on the bottom (for blind spots) and a 1" convex on the top (for a smoke check). I ran over a small car with my dad's triple axle boat trailer when I first put it on the road because the flat mirror sucked. I had the jr's on my F250 and checked them on the F350 but they were just too narrow for the bed.

I'm also saddened that you're getting away from the wide Ranger trim. I know it's a PITA to find and keep in good shape and honestly I don't like the wide trim look, but your truck trimmed out as a Ranger level is really rare and the trim speaks that line nothing else on the outside.