BED TRICKS

Oscar the Bump’s New Bed Floor, Part 2

IIn the last issue, we introduced Oscar the Bump, our 1972 Ford F-100 project. We started out by sending the bed oĢ to Evolutionary Rides to get a new bed floor installed. Unfortunately, as is common with these old trucks, we found a lot of hidden damage and rust. For Part 1, we showed the team at Evolutionary Rides repairing the entire bed. The new bed floor was ready for install, but we decided to wait on doing our factory restored rear tubs until Sean Ramage over at Empire Fabrication could tackle them.

Sean is a master metalsmith and not afraid of any task thrown his way. When he received Oscar’s tubs, he told us that they were pretty beat up. We really wanted that modern but OE look, so he said he would make it happen—and make it happen he did! Restoring a 1972 F-100 rear tub to factory is quite beautiful, but the tolerances back in ’72 on a farm truck were not the greatest. The two main beads on the top were wonky and all over the place. So, Sean created a Pullmax die that replicated the factory bead but cleaned it up and straightened it out. Once he ran the beads through the Pullmax and they were perfect, he had time to do a little custom touch. He created another die to add some radius beads to the side to give it that little custom touch that we absolutely love.

Now that the tubs were all finished, Sean shipped them back across country to Joey and the team at Evolutionary Rides. Once they had the tubs back in hand, it was game on. Fitting them in place was easy; they’re still the factory tubs, so they fit in just right. To finish installing the bed, they had dozens of plug welds. After welding each and every one of them, the bed floor and tubs were secure and in place. They then seam-sealed all of the areas and shot the bed with a sealing primer. At this point, the bed floor repair is done and it is ready for paint or bed liner.

Stay up to date on the build in between issues by following Solomon on Instagram @TheFordEra and searching the hashtag #oscarthebump.

03 With this side by side, you can really see the massaging that Sean at Empire is capable of doing.

02 Empire had the tubs acid dipped to see what they were working with. You can see all of the dings, dents and rust that would need to be repaired.

01 Here’s a look at the tubs we used before Empire Fab got down to business.

04 Sean sketched out some of the additions and radiuses to add.

05 Sean metal works the tubs with a dolly and hammer. All of the dings and dents were removed the old fashion way, just the way we like it!

07 Sean made a Pullmax die to make the beads perfect, something the factory wasn’t too worried about back in 1972.

08 Here’s a look at the tub fully metal finished and ready for some more custom touches.

06 You can see here the factory bead was not straight and the edging was pretty rough.

12 Last issue we left off with the bed floor sitting in place waiting for the tubs to arrive from Empire Fab.

09 Sean doing what he does best, adding the custom radius beads using the Pullmax.

11 Detailed look at the restored and customized rear bed tubs by Empire Fabrication.

10 Here’s a detailed look at the radius beads we added.

15 And here she is! The bed floor and tubs installed, sealed and ready for some color. Stay tuned!

13 Picking up where we left off, Joey at Evolutionary Rides was busy with all of the plug welds made to hold the new bed floor in place as well as the tubs.

14 After the floor and tubs were welded in place, we went over all of the seams with SEM Seam Sealer.