Whadia you think of my "AD" bed ? (be honest)

im sorry if i hurt your feelings but you asked.

anyways your right its better to be original than to drive a good looking truck.

 

In some ways the entire factory bed looks kind of like an agricultural afterthought which was fine for the intended market Adding a subtle vertical curve to the stiffeners, helps integrate it, when combined along with a batch of blendiing and smoothing integrates it
http://image.cl***ictrucks.com/f/17..._pickup_truck+tailgate_and_bed_cover_view.jpg

 

I did this to mine, I'm into it. I made the tailgate taller and sunk it into the bed making it even with the stake pockets. cleaned it up a bit

 

Sorry about the pic its cold out there

 

Didnt hurt my feelings .I did ask for opinion ,but didnt need the other .Its kinda like someone asking "what do you think of my wifes looks " ? One response could be someone saying "you must be stupid to marry that fat ,nasty ,*****" .Another would be to say " shes not my thing " or " i dont like the way she looks" .Accomplishes the same thing ,but a different way ...

 

I like it .Yours is obviously the 54 type bed with the flat bed rails.It looks good ...

 

Yea man the bed is newer, but you get the idea. Make a gate as thick as the rail and as tall as the stake pockets. Clean and simple.

 

I agree with the ******,

 

tysk tysk tysk

 

My first thought when I first saw the photos. It kind of gives it that early 70's lets stick on the biggest damned tail lights we can find look. At least you didn't use the standard of the day 66 Mustang tail lights that they used then.

The guy behind you would have one hell of a time telling the cops that he didn't see your brake lights come on though.

I'll agree that the gap below what serves as the tailgate needs to be filled but maybe you can do that with a rolled pan that starts there and blocks the view of the gas tank. I have the same problem with the gas tank zit showing up under the back of my truck.

 

You're doing the rear pan in two halves, do it in one piece. I do things a bit primitive so I'll go real basic. Take your sheet and cut it to width, leave it longer in length, get a 4x8 sheet of 3/4 plywood, clamp your sheet with 3 c clamps to the ply, take a 2x4 to to the steel sheet in a sandwich, ply, steel sheet, 2x4. Now you have the long end loose, take a length of 2" gas pipe or something of at least a 2" diameter and straight about 4 feet long, clamp the pipe to the sheet and the pipe across the plywood about 2" along the sheet, slowly work the sheet, move the pipe along , work the sheet, keep moving and working the sheet with the pipe till you see a nice round pan, trick is to not crease the sheet. Somewhere in the sheet length will be the round you are searching for. Now take that license plate cutout and cut the hole in it where you want it. precut a s**** of work paper the size and mock it up with tape til you like the size and location. When happy slice out the template where you liked it. Take some work paper and fit in the license plate spot, trim it and tape it til you are happy with the part, tape it up and test fit it, you should be able to dis***emble it and cut your parts for the plate recess, fab it up and fit it into the pan. metal work it and it should look nice. Heres a thought on your lights. If you put poncho lights or bubble lense type lights there they are gonna take a punch sooner or latter, you could add a design element by making guards or shrouds for them, like a tractor trailer but not utilitarian. Maybe a cats eye look or a flame lick or whatever you can envision. You can get some 1/2 or 1" square stock and bend away and have a fun time making a cool detail that no one else will have around their lights. You could even use tube and bend it and split it with a cutter, yes a sawzall will work for that. Have fun.

 

I had a '49 3100 and like the stock lights and tailgate. The only improvement I ever seen was when the lights were placed in the ends of the top rails and a third brake light installed under the rear window. Overall, the truck still looked traditional, but cleaned up.

 

Thanks again man .Interesting read for sure.Constructive opinion and advise at its best ...

 

As promised here are sum pics of the *** end of my 50 in primer.To me it kinda looks weird and out there ,but its definately different .Keep in mind that this was all made with my hands (even the taillight housings and lenses them selves were made by me ) and no high dollar tools.All welding was done by me with a POS stick welder also .I also got the 50 layers of paint stripped off the bed (by hand also no sand blaster) and welded in a 14 gauge floor in it as well.I think i have lost about 10 lbs working on this truck bed ,lol. I also mounted the aluminum tank in the bed for simplicity cuz this is gunna be my daily driver pretty soon .Let the critism begin .Next time you see this truck i will have it lowered .Not sitting on the running boards ,but still nice and low...

 

Here was your problem all along... it wasn't low enough, tailgate looks good!

 

Man ,thanks for lowering it for me .That was alot easier than i expected it to be .I agree with you though ,lowering it is gunna bring it into shape ...

 

I think if you had the stock tailgate on the truck with a roll pan with the round tail with chrome rings it would look clean and simple

 

Dont want a tailgate on this truck ,but i do have one for it. I agree with you on the lights ,but im not sure if can find a chrome ring to make work.I cut the lenses down from the centers of the Falcon lights i had from the begining and then ground them down to size a bit at a time with a flap wheel then drilled the holes to attach them (i have an hour and a 6 pack in each lense),so im not sure if i can find one the right size.If i ever back into something and break one im gunna be screwed ...

 

Like your truck.
Texas plates now?

 

Thanks ,for the compliment .Texas all along ,the other plate i had from another car years ago.I didnt want to mess up the Texas plate welding and grinding near by ,but i needed a licence plate so i could make the recess for it ...

 

I've followed your 150 model 56', and the drag Dart builds, but I just can't get on board with what you've done to the AD. Maybe if you throw some dirt in the box and plant some posies, or turn it into a hot tub.........................well, you said to "be honest". Leave it stock or take the tail-gate completely off. BUT, if you're going to lower it, and continue with the custom touches, I might change my mind. SO, I liked the beat and lyrics, but it was kind of hard to dance to, so I gave it a FIVE. Sorry. Butch/56sedandelivery.

 

Thats cool ,and i appreciate your honesty .I dont know what made me want to do this to this truck ,but i have a picture of it in my head done ,and this is just one corner of the picture ...