Spent this past weekend replacing the floor in my Niece's Ford Ranger pickup.. To recap, the truck was very solid other than an area of the bed that showed some repairs had occurred:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%202991.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%202992.jpg
Looking at this area from the bottom side, in addition to the sign material added by the last hack (owner?) as a platform for Bondo, we see that one of the manufacturer's bright ideas of heat control above the muffler also was of a nice fibrous textile that also retained moisture well..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%202993.jpg
They had researched many used beds, most the wrong color, others rusted farther along, or salvage yards that liked to set beds on the ground to roll the quarters under nicely. Further research reveals that the bed floor was still available, so it was bought from the local dealer, along with one of the cross members. (the only cross member still available) I figured we had enough technical know-how to fabricate any of the others, if needed. Plus, since they were talking about getting Line-X installed, there was no need for a finish coat, SPI epoxy should serve fine by itself.
Bed floor and OEM cross member sprayed in Epoxy..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%203010.jpg
Taking a better look just prior to removing the bed, looks like this was just shy of Flintstone status.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204526.jpg
Bed removal
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204527.jpg
Temporarily placed on sawhorses, then lifted with a winch, lowered onto furniture dollies, and left tension on the winch for safety precaution..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204529.jpg
More of the fine repairs previously done. It's hack work like this that makes a job that much harder...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204530.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204531.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204532.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204534.jpg
We had one cross member we needed to fabricate, and the drawbar for the JD is modified to add some stiffening/strengthening details..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204535.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204537.jpg
Used some AVK style rivet-nut fasteners for anchoring the wheel opening braces..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204538.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204539.jpg
All spot welds were drilled out, and will be used as plug weld holes for re-assembly..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204540.jpg
Prior to assembly, some SPI epoxy was brushed onto the parts for better rust prevention in the future..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204543.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204544.jpg
Remaining flanges on the bed were prepped and received a covering of epoxy as well..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204545.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204546.jpg
New bed floor seemed a bit wide going in (prior to welding) so we marked center of both the opening and the floor, then aligned the marks and clamped in place. To clean out the paint inside the plug weld holes from the adjacent panel, a modified bit was used.
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204549.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204551.jpg
Being a flat cutter, it does more paint removal and less damage in metal removal, as shown here:
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204553.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204554.jpg
Welds ground down and all the bare spots touched up...
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204558.jpg
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204559.jpg
Re-installed onto the truck frame, no Bondo, no mesh screen, no plastic......
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204560.jpg
....and no Flintstone holes..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204561.jpg
After the SPI epoxy cures for a few days they should be scheduling for the spray in bedliner..
http://i5.photobucket.com/albums/y16...ure%204562.jpg
