Phil - East Tennessee - 1984 F150 4x4 300 inline 6 long bed

Found this forum last night looking for information on repairing a speedometer (I've got some cable noise I believe).  

This looks like a great source of info.  Glad to have found it.  It seems the 7th Generation F150 is a little tougher than some to find complete information about.

My son told me last year that he wanted to become a mechanic, so I went out and found this truck to start working on to see if that's truly what he wants to do.  We've got her roadworthy finally, but still a long way to go to make her what we want.  He wants to make it into a camping rig for he and I to take weekend trips in.  We're having a blast working on it.  

It's been a great tool to teach him about mechanics.  I was a mechanic in the Navy and now a mechanical engineer.  My parents owned a body shop when I was a kid, so I know jsut enough to be dangerous.  We're both learning along the way.  I just remind him to keep learning as he gets older and to remember that the way I'm showing his is just my way, not necessarily the only way (or even necessarily the right way in some cases).  

Welcome!

Welcome Phil!  

These trucks are a great way to get your foot wet in mechanics.
The basics are all there, to support the theory and practice, but it's not canbus or has a lot of solid state that you (your son) can't visualize.
Parts are fairly common and inexpensive.
There are still enough on the road.

The truck itself looks pretty solid!  
These trucks always collect muck and rot out at the inside of the door seal rib.

I love the look of these trucks when they're straight and original like this one. Nice find, and welcome aboard.

Thanks.  She's got the rust issue inside the doors, but otherwise the cab is solid.  The bed floor is swiss cheese, but the frame is solid.  We're trying to decide whether it's better to rebuild the bed floor or find a decent replacement for the whole bed and swap them out.  I kinda like the original paint scheme and weathered patina though.  I might just work with what we've got.  Another opportunity to teach him welding skills!

I am glad to see you passing along skills, and glad your son wants to!

Phil Shepherd wrote

Thanks.  She's got the rust issue inside the doors, but otherwise the cab is solid.  The bed floor is swiss cheese, but the frame is solid.  We're trying to decide whether it's better to rebuild the bed floor or find a decent replacement for the whole bed and swap them out.  I kinda like the original paint scheme and weathered patina though.  I might just work with what we've got.  Another opportunity to teach him welding skills!

You can buy bed floor panels from Tabco.

Yup, half beds the whole 8', or save shipping and get the 48x19" panels and tile them.
That's what I did.

https://tabcoparts.com/amfinder/

Welcome, Phil!  Glad you joined.  

That looks like a really good project on which to teach a lot of skills.  

On the idea of a "camping rig", that's kind of what Big Blue is evolving into.  I'm getting ready to add a bed cover that has tracks that will hold racks and a tent, allowing us to camp pretty much wherever we stop.

What part of East Tenn are you in?  I ask because we have a map (Bullnose Forum/Member's Map in the menu) and we could add you with a city or zip.

Thanks for the tip. Never heard of Tabco. I’ll check it out!

Many of us here are big fans of Tabco.  
Most of their panels are thick, fully annealed, galvanized and made right here in the USA.
The outer floor, where it dips into the pinch weld seal is the ONE panel I've ever ordered that comes primed black instead of galvanized.

In fact, if it's not raining tomorrow I intend to weld in a bed corner, for where I folded my bumper in.
I can take pics for the WHYDTYTT.

While I turned Gary on to them, his top notch body man said they were the best he'd ever worked with (short of OEM)

Dave (Fuzzface 2) got a call back after placing an order saying he wouldn't need some of the panels because of the healthy overlap of the others.
Saved him some $ and says a lot about their personalized customer service.

I've actually called to order and the gentleman went out into the shop (you could hear the presses slamming, and tin being tossed around) to double check there was inventory enough to fill my order.

A+ operation all around.  

Thanks Gary.  We're in Niota.  

I like the idea of a bed cover and rack.  I was thinking camper top, but that might be even better.

First I've seen 8' panels.  Looks like the way I'll go with that.  Thanks a ton!  My bed already has the plug inside and hitch for a goose neck as well, so I didn't want to get rid of that.  I'd be interested to see how that bed corner comes along.  I've got one of those to fix as well if I want to keep this bed.

It was a rainy start to the day so I'm just getting back from catching up on errands.

I hope to pull the bumper, grind it back and have the patch fitted if not welded after I get lunch.

Phil - You are now on the map.

And you can see the discussion about bed covers in the thread called Thoughts On Tonneau/Bed Covers.  I wound up ordering the Pace Edwards Bed Locker With Explorer Rails.

Welcome, Phil. Nice father son project for you guys. Something like that can make for a quality bond many years out. Keep us posted on your project?

John