WANTED : opinion's on what to do about my bed floor ,

[19673ontree]

OK , let me explain , the worst looking part on my 1967 short bed fleetside is the bed floor , I will take some pic's but will describe what I have and you guy's tell me what you would do ,
my 67 has the metal bed floor and it is totaly RUST FREE the underside of it is nice the cross brace's look like NEW !
the bad part is the top part of the bed floor had surface rust all over it and was BEAT TO DEATH !!!!!!!!!!!! I sandblasted it and laid it down in the garage floor and beat it back up straight (IT HAD A BIG BOW IN THE CENTER)
it still has a bunch of small dent's and it has pitting from the surface rust but no hole's ,
NOW , I have three option's that I can see ,
I AM GONNA BUY A NEW PAIR OF BED INNER FENDER's

then I can do one of the following

#1 I can take the time ( A LOT OF TIME) and bodywork the bedfloor that I have by beating out all the dent's as close as I can then bondo the entire bed floor one groove at a time and make it nice looking that way I HAVE NO DOUBT I CAN DO THAT BUT IT WILL HAVE SOME FILLER ALL OVER IT
#2 I can just forget about the metal floor and just order all the stuff to swap it to wood
#3 I can (WHEN I GET THE MONEY) buy one of the new repop bedfloor's

this truck will never have anything hauled in it other than my cruz night chair's and my 1948 coca cola cooler

$$$$$$$$$$$
option one will be the cheapest but take the most work , I figure maybe $250 in material primer bondo sand paper etc , etc ,
option two will cost about $800 buck's
option three a new steel floor will be about $1200 buck's


when I was restoring the truck I did a lot of work to it and ran out of time and money so I just painted the bedfloor like it was and thats why I did not fix it the first time ,


SO WHAT WOULD YOU DO ????????????????????

[FRENCHBLUE72]

I perfer the wook look in a bed but if you like the metal floor to keep it original then id save the money for the new floor.. It sounds like you will have a lot of time in the bedfloor repair.. If you have more time than money id go this route..

[19673ontree]

I for sure have more time than money , but I just have 6 payment's left on the truck so maybe after that I can do some of the stuff I did not have the money for when I got it

[rick0312]

i am thinking about wood over steel aproach, (do it yourself) but i have a lwb. If I had a swb I would prob go with #2. see link for info on wood over steel.

http://www.horkeyswoodandparts.com/page2.html

[Palf70Step]

I don't think I would want any bondo on my floor, even though you may not use it for haulin or hauin much I think the bondo would not survive very well. With the man hours it would take, I think I would save up for a new one, or keep your eyes out for a truck (long or shortbed) that is not as beat up. I have seen several folks cut up a LWB bed and turn it into a beautiful shortbed.

[19673ontree]

Originally Posted by Palf70Step

I don't think I would want any bondo on my floor, even though you may not use it for haulin or hauin much I think the bondo would not survive very well. With the man hours it would take, I think I would save up for a new one, or keep your eyes out for a truck (long or shortbed) that is not as beat up. I have seen several folks cut up a LWB bed and turn it into a beautiful shortbed.

finding ANY used part's here where I live is not possible , the rust here is as bad as the northern rust I have seen on here , back in the 70's coal truck's out numbered normal car's and truck's on the road and the state did not inforce any type of rule's on them , they dumped chemical's on the road 7 day's a week 365 day's a year , everything on these truck's that lived here DISINTEGRATED , the frame's rusted into under the cab , the cab's literally fell apart , I have seen steel bed inner fender's fall out with the bolt's still in them the floor would rust out around them ,

I guess I could go down to some swap meet's in TN sometimes you see some north/south carolina part's for sale they are solid ,,,,,

[19673ontree]

as far as finding a real nice straight long bedfloor I would not mind cutting it down and making a short floor out of it , I can do that just fine if I could find one ,,

[72BlckButy]

I would continue to keep an eye open in the parts board and locate a rust free swb floor; they are out there and several have sold within the past few weeks.

IMO... I would locate a steel floor.

Just my $.02...

[mclairmo]

Of your options presented, I would go with #3. This would give you the best final result, most durable base for paint, least time involved and most original. However, if it was my truck I would leave it as you already have it and spray bedliner. Cheapest, quickest and most user friendly, just in case you need to haul with it.

[OARNGESI]

I say #3

[mrein3]

If I had more time than money, I would simply take the top side down to bare metal with a wire wheel in my grinder and/or a purple "sandblaster" pad from 3M. Treat it with DuPont "Kwik Prep" or PPGs similar acid product. Follow the destructions to the letter. It involves treating with the product and washing it off and oh I can't remember the details but PPG and DuPont print them right on the bottle.

Then epoxy primer.
Then color.

I bet most of the pits will fill with a good coat of epoxy. As long as none of the pits are actually holes you should be good to go.

I've had good results with these acid products on used parts that have surface rust. It really works. The roof of my cab got that treatment quite a few years ago. I then top coated it with white. There isn't one bubble or mar in the finish I put on it.

If I had more money than time I'd simply pop for a new floor.

I purchased a new (used) floor for my truck but I have neither money or time at this point in my life. When I get around to it I'm going to do like I said. Prep with the acid stuff, epoxy primer, then color.

[19673ontree]

Great opinion's !
I had thought about the spray in bed liner but after seeing a 68 at a cruz night with that I did not care for it , the spray in would be perfect for a truck you were gonna haul a lot of stuff in ,

also as previous poster said some heavy primer would fill the pit's ,

let me get a couple of pic's here for you guy's to look at ,,,,,,,,,BRB

[19673ontree]

here is what it looks like ,

[QKENUF4U]

geezz roll in/spray in a bedliner and run it....

[Bamm]

I think that with a little woodworking skill (or a friend with some) you could design and build a "show deck" similar to the one Horkey sells. Slide it right in over your existing metal and be done............

[Ackattack]

it sounds like your floor is in similar shape to mine. and mine will be used for about the same uses.

Anyways, what I'm doing with mine is just spraying in a bed line. Then I have a hard flush mount tonneau cover so know one will ever see it

[19673ontree]

I want to stay with my stock theme as with the rest of the truck , so I want it to look like it would have from the factory , I like the look of a wood floor , and also I like the metal ? maybe I need to just flip a quarter

[72BlckButy]

Sometimes that's the best way to decide.

If I were you I would definitely consider replacing it with the a steel floor to keep it as original as possible.

[19673ontree]

I am looking doing something after the cruz night's stop for the year this fall , I looked at it good a while ago and am leaning toward's fixing the one I have , RUST IS NOT IT's TROUBLE , I sandblasted it when I had it apart and painted it with some urethane black primer and that is what is on it I did not even spray any paint on it , WHERE IS ME A QUARTER ?

[Hutch]

19673ontree
I would try and find an original floor in better shape that the one you have and go from there.
There are a lot of trucks in Arizona, Texas and California that have never had much hauled in them. Just put the word out and see what shows up.
Some of the members here could network the hauling for you if you were not in a hurry.
In my opinion nothing looks better than a clean straight steel floor in the wide beds.

[tdave00]

Send a message over to Rckcrln and ask him about using metal body filler/lead (don't think it has lead in it anymore) to fill the holes/pits. I see him use it sometimes in his builds. That might be an option for you.

[67chevy1series]

looks like it was bedlined aready i wood convert to wood floor

[71 super]

I have 2 trucks with steel and 1 with wood, the only reason the one has wood is because I could not find a floor that was straight enough to be used. IMO steel is the real deal, nothing says nice better that a black truck with a straight steel floor. I was actually threatening my body guy with painting the floor on my 4x4 black and swapping the wood to the 4x4. With the pits that you have, you would be better off and lots of money ahead by buying the repop floor. Based on the time you spent aligning the rest of the truck, I dont think that you will have any problem with the repop floor. Before I get flamed for my statement on the wood, think about this... If you are looking at a truck and you see a nice oak floor and shiney strips you always think "nice bed" you might even say "cool, no bed bolts" but when you see a steel floor I think " damn this truck is cherry and has not been beat to he_ _ like the rest". Again my opinion and thought process. The bed liner especially spray in stuff is nice for a work truck, but that is it. If I see liner I automatically think they are hiding something. Maybe you should look for someone bent on spray lining their bed and trade if theirs is straighter than yours. Both get the desired results. Again, these are opinions...

[aWorkInProgress]

My bed floor isnt in horrible shape. Its got surface rust and definitely got used quite a bit in the last 41 years. My plan is to strip it, spray bedliner in it myself and then paint it when i paint the truck. I dont plan on using my bed a lot so im not really worried about chipping the paint.

[N2TRUX]

If it were my, I would do what I did in my 77. It's floor was in excellent shape, but I wanted to be able to haul my chairs and ice chest to shows and cruise nights. I also wanted to throw my beach cruiser in there and not worry about scuffing the paint.

I bought a heavy rubber bed mat, and love it. It protects the floor and paint yet allows me to haul my stuff. It looks much better than spray in liner, and I can pull it out if needed. The best part is it was less cheap. I think it was 60.00 or less.