Another Flareside: "Silver"

Yesterday, the girl running register at Taco Bell kept telling me "Yes sir" when she took my order. As polite as I could possibly be, I asked her how old she was, and when she told me 17, I told her I was only ten years older than her and that "Sir" wasn't necessary.

But anyways, that Flareside was a nice truck, but I'm sure the silver one will end up just as nice!

Congratulations! The black truck was gorgeous, but I can’t wait to see what you do with this one... I’m sure it will be even better 🙂

Thanks all!  LOL at the "Come to the Flare Side" never saw that

Appreciate the encouragement Jonathan!

YOU DONT KNOW THE POWER OF THE FLARE SIDE!!!

Rembrant wrote

Ha! Preach!
Your 30's is when you get everything done! It's a very busy time. A lot of life growth...a lot of career growth, house and home...family...it's just a very busy time.
Funny thing about age...and this forum...but I rarely think of anybody's ages on here. It just kind of feels like we are all the same. I very much appreciate the experience of all the guys that have years on me, but at the same time I don't ever think of anybody as an old guy or a young guy. Kinda weird I guess.

I'll be 48 in a few weeks and I still feel pretty young.

The very first time I was offered "senior discount" for my coffee, I was offended. Now, I just say, "thank you!"

I remember eating at Taco Bell in about 2007 when I was about 60.  Paid and got to the table and looked at the bill.  Sure enough, we'd been given a senior discount.

That didn't bother me, but it did my date.  

Gary Lewis wrote

I remember eating at Taco Bell in about 2007 when I was about 60.  Paid and got to the table and looked at the bill.  Sure enough, we'd been given a senior discount.

That didn't bother me, but it did my date.  

They probably thought Janey was your daughter!

Rembrant wrote

Ray Cecil wrote

I dunno Cory. Im 34. Not young, not old. Im at that weird inbetween stage. Im old enough to be going bald, so dont you dare tell me im a youngin. Youngins these days wear nut hugger jeans, and look like girls, talk like girls, and get offended about everything. They are also narcissists and think their opinions matter. ......I need a stiff drink......

Ha! Preach!
Your 30's is when you get everything done! It's a very busy time. A lot of life growth...a lot of career growth, house and home...family...it's just a very busy time.
Funny thing about age...and this forum...but I rarely think of anybody's ages on here. It just kind of feels like we are all the same. I very much appreciate the experience of all the guys that have years on me, but at the same time I don't ever think of anybody as an old guy or a young guy. Kinda weird I guess.

I'll be 48 in a few weeks and I still feel pretty young.

You ain't lying. At 34 I am busier than I have ever been. And the wife wants another kid

Ray Cecil wrote

Ray I am a huge SW fan, yall are going to make me get another truck so I have a flare side and a styleside.

I like the red poster but it is missing a little white and a rear fuel door


Yes the black truck was stunning and I am sure the silver one will be even better.
Dave ----

That's why the poster looked familiar!!!  LOL yes it needs to be two tone.

Did I say yet this month that I love those turbine wheels on your truck?

Update:

So the more I look at the original wood bed on this truck, the more I'm thinking of trying to save it.  Maybe its ne, but - I think its awfully rare to see, and its hung in there this long.  

There is only one spot where its soft and rotted through: passenger rear by the tailgate.  Maybe I can piece in a small section of plywood, or sandwich a small bit of 1/4 underneath and use an epoxy / wood restoration product.

Could paint the rest of the truck shiny new, but treat the rust and leave the inside of the bed original to show the trucks journey.

Appreciate any thoughts or brainstorms!

It is your truck... do what you want and follow your dreams!

Will try working with the wood a bit.  It shows all three layers:  factory silver paint around the edges, primer and then worn down to wood in the middle.  Could maybe send it just enough to clean it up and then try preserving with some tung oil.

Hey I can always pull it out... cant put it back though

 Just going back to what it looks like currently...

This guy kept the patina on his Land Cruiser, by cleaning with with CLR... then treating with rust converter and boiled linseed oil.  

I'm thinking that I may try the same.  The silver on the bed might contrast with the darker treated rust areas... bed strips will need to be treated, and then if I can preserve and oil the wood.  Might look kind of cool and interesting, and be a bit of a time capsule.

Then again maybe I shouldn't care about an original wood bed.  Just seems like it may be one of the last dinosaurs :)


https://forum.ih8mud.com/attachments/d6da03e0-58cc-4ed7-b2e0-8e7569163856-jpeg.1813249/

Preserved Cruiser

Ken, I’m late to the party but I just wanted to say I think you are on the right track with the boiled linseed oil. My dad is a woodworker so I’ve been around that trade all of my life. Wood is a horribly wrong material to make a truck bed out of, ha ha, but that choice having been made 35 years ago by Ford.... let’s move on... linseed will soak into the wood and then polymerize which is about the best protection you are going to get. Anything that forms a film will wear off and crack as the wood shrinks and swells with humidity. Non polymerizing oils are not very durable and will remain oily and will rub off on whatever you haul. I would suggest leaving the finish as oiled wood so that you can periodically re coat it to maintain it. Naturally keeping the wood dry as much as possible will help it to last.

Hey Jonathan!  Thanks for weighing in on this.  Just last night I was out puttering with a few small spots on the bed. CLR cleared up the inside really well, and it looks like there's could be an interesting color progression on the wood and bed strips from front to back.

That said, I hit some spots on the wood with 0000 steel wool, and the colors that ARE left are pretty thin.  I'll need to be careful.

I did a spot near the tailgate, left of center with a little boiled linseed oil.  Freaked out a bit at how dark it looked, but then i sanded on it with steel wool and it lightened up a lot, to a brown tone.

Would like to try and keep the silver - primer - wood progression showing, wondering if I'd be better off trying something really clear?  Thompsons water seal with no color?  Will probably keep working with the BLO.

Thanks for the wisdom.  Doing my best but not sure what I'm doing :)  will post pics

Thompson's Water Seal is just parafin wax diluted in mineral spirits.
It doesn't polymerize, and it doesn't offer much more protection than paste wax, other than being thinned out enough to soak in.
Of course this means it won't fill pores to block ingress like Butcher's, Johnson or Liberon paste wax will either.

Long term, what you need is something that offers UV protection.
Ultraviolet breaks down the lignin that binds hemi-cellulose into wood.
The silvery, stringy appearance of weathered wood is due to the lignin being gone, and the cell(ulose) structure being exposed.

Often UV is shielded by non-organic pigments (stain), but there are transparent UV blockers available for wood finishing.
Finding one that isn't film forming -like Spar Varnish- is a challenge.