Backyard Bullnose finds, good and bad

[reamer]

Was in Regina today. Never seen that one before, but it is nice.

I thought of re-creating the fenders, but the size and amount of work, decided against it.

Besides, Gary and I are doing some 3-d printing of smaller stuff, and I'm already doing metal fab and aluminum fab of parts..

Cory any luck on getting the roll bar?

 

[Rembrant]

I thought of re-creating the fenders, but the size and amount of work, decided against it.

Besides, Gary and I are doing some 3-d printing of smaller stuff, and I'm already doing metal fab and aluminum fab of parts..

Cory any luck on getting the roll bar?

I wasn't to concerned with the fiberglass fenders...they seem to be relatively easy to come by. However, if I did decide to copy them, there are lots of fiberglass shops around here with all the boat building.

My curiosity was with the Flareside steel bed sides. That is what I was wondering if they could be reproduced, even without the inner fender "hump".

As for the roll bar, no I haven't done anything at all. That truck is 2 hours away, and I'll have to get back over that way and ask about it again. I'd like to have a little better look at it to see if there are any other parts that can be salvaged. Since the people were not home when I was there, I didn't want to dig around too much.

On a another good note in keeping with the theme of this thread, I did get an email from a guy this morning that says he has TWO Flareside parts trucks...one 4x2, and one 4x4. The fact that they're parts trucks kinda pre-determines their condition, but he says one of them has some decent bed parts on it.

[Gary Lewis]

I thought of re-creating the fenders, but the size and amount of work, decided against it.

Besides, Gary and I are doing some 3-d printing of smaller stuff, and I'm already doing metal fab and aluminum fab of parts..

Cory any luck on getting the roll bar?

I wasn't to concerned with the fiberglass fenders...they seem to be relatively easy to come by. However, if I did decide to copy them, there are lots of fiberglass shops around here with all the boat building.

My curiosity was with the Flareside steel bed sides. That is what I was wondering if they could be reproduced, even without the inner fender "hump".

As for the roll bar, no I haven't done anything at all. That truck is 2 hours away, and I'll have to get back over that way and ask about it again. I'd like to have a little better look at it to see if there are any other parts that can be salvaged. Since the people were not home when I was there, I didn't want to dig around too much.

On a another good note in keeping with the theme of this thread, I did get an email from a guy this morning that says he has TWO Flareside parts trucks...one 4x2, and one 4x4. The fact that they're parts trucks kinda pre-determines their condition, but he says one of them has some decent bed parts on it.

On a another good note in keeping with the theme of this thread, I did get an email from a guy this morning that says he has TWO Flareside parts trucks...one 4x2, and one 4x4. The fact that they're parts trucks kinda pre-determines their condition, but he says one of them has some decent bed parts on it.

 

[reamer]

On a another good note in keeping with the theme of this thread, I did get an email from a guy this morning that says he has TWO Flareside parts trucks...one 4x2, and one 4x4. The fact that they're parts trucks kinda pre-determines their condition, but he says one of them has some decent bed parts on it.

Yes, the steel sides "could" be a money maker since as most of us know, the flange to the wood bed is always "gone" due to rust.

It's just to large of a part for me to attempt to make.

I know your lurking out there Pete, still working on the steel bed rail top section of the flareside for ya....

[FuzzFace2]

I thought of re-creating the fenders, but the size and amount of work, decided against it.

Besides, Gary and I are doing some 3-d printing of smaller stuff, and I'm already doing metal fab and aluminum fab of parts..

Cory any luck on getting the roll bar?

I wasn't to concerned with the fiberglass fenders...they seem to be relatively easy to come by. However, if I did decide to copy them, there are lots of fiberglass shops around here with all the boat building.

My curiosity was with the Flareside steel bed sides. That is what I was wondering if they could be reproduced, even without the inner fender "hump".

You have to think out of the box! No No in the box! About the box?

Any way what if the bed side were made out of fiber glass? You know like they do kit car/truck bodies.

Heck they could also do the front panel & tail gate in glass and sell it as a kit to replace the rotten metal parts.

If the maker wanted to get real crazy could make the bed side panels to fit a long bed wheel base. Use the stock FS glass fenders and cross members (may need to add 1), get longer wood and metal strips (think the older Ford PU had a 9' FS bed maybe that metal strips?) and you would have a custom long bed FS.

If the maker reached out to LMC & Carpenter I would think they would take some.

Dave ----

[Whisler]

I thought of re-creating the fenders, but the size and amount of work, decided against it.

Besides, Gary and I are doing some 3-d printing of smaller stuff, and I'm already doing metal fab and aluminum fab of parts..

Cory any luck on getting the roll bar?

I wasn't to concerned with the fiberglass fenders...they seem to be relatively easy to come by. However, if I did decide to copy them, there are lots of fiberglass shops around here with all the boat building.

My curiosity was with the Flareside steel bed sides. That is what I was wondering if they could be reproduced, even without the inner fender "hump".

You have to think out of the box! No No in the box! About the box?

Any way what if the bed side were made out of fiber glass? You know like they do kit car/truck bodies.

Heck they could also do the front panel & tail gate in glass and sell it as a kit to replace the rotten metal parts.

If the maker wanted to get real crazy could make the bed side panels to fit a long bed wheel base. Use the stock FS glass fenders and cross members (may need to add 1), get longer wood and metal strips (think the older Ford PU had a 9' FS bed maybe that metal strips?) and you would have a custom long bed FS.

If the maker reached out to LMC & Carpenter I would think they would take some.

Dave ----

Now you're talking, a long bed Flare-side. I like that idea.

[Bruno2]

Now you're talking, a long bed Flare-side. I like that idea.

I was just thinking to myself "how could it get any uglier?".

[Rembrant]

You have to think out of the box! No No in the box! About the box?

Haha, Oh, I've been thinking outside of the box alright...lol.

I've been hunting for Bullnose Flareside parts trucks I think mainly for something to do. My 302 is still out for rebuild and until I get it back I'm stuck with make-work projects to keep busy. Well...that's not 100% true, I DO have things to do...but only about one weekend worth of work before I'm ready to drop the engine and trans in the truck.

So far, I've found 2 sets of Flareside fiberglass fenders. Oddly, both from 1981 trucks, or so they say. I grabbed one set, cleaned them up and put them in storage. They have a couple cracks in them, but are very usable. The even better news is that the metal mounting flanges inside them are still in very good condition with only surface rust.

Those steel flanges are visibly rotten on the fenders that are currently installed on my truck, so it's nice to have a spare set whether I remove/use them or copy them and make new ones. I see that Ford also used an adhesive on these fenders besides the bolts. Something like autobody Panel Bonder I assume?

I also found a complete 4x2 Flareside truck that wasn't for sale, but that the owner would sell. It was a big block truck with auto trans, etc so not really my thing, but it looked nice. I'm more or less looking for a 4x4 Flareside with small block (or 300/6) and manual trans.

There doesn't seem to be any shortage of Bullnose Flareside "project" trucks for sale...there are several online now...problem is, they're too far away.

Oh well...the search continues. Two more parts trucks for go look at next week to scavenge for parts, and I made an offer to another Flareside project owner for his bed parts, although that isn't looking good at the moment.

 

[Gary Lewis]

You have to think out of the box! No No in the box! About the box?

Haha, Oh, I've been thinking outside of the box alright...lol.

I've been hunting for Bullnose Flareside parts trucks I think mainly for something to do. My 302 is still out for rebuild and until I get it back I'm stuck with make-work projects to keep busy. Well...that's not 100% true, I DO have things to do...but only about one weekend worth of work before I'm ready to drop the engine and trans in the truck.

So far, I've found 2 sets of Flareside fiberglass fenders. Oddly, both from 1981 trucks, or so they say. I grabbed one set, cleaned them up and put them in storage. They have a couple cracks in them, but are very usable. The even better news is that the metal mounting flanges inside them are still in very good condition with only surface rust.

Those steel flanges are visibly rotten on the fenders that are currently installed on my truck, so it's nice to have a spare set whether I remove/use them or copy them and make new ones. I see that Ford also used an adhesive on these fenders besides the bolts. Something like autobody Panel Bonder I assume?

I also found a complete 4x2 Flareside truck that wasn't for sale, but that the owner would sell. It was a big block truck with auto trans, etc so not really my thing, but it looked nice. I'm more or less looking for a 4x4 Flareside with small block (or 300/6) and manual trans.

There doesn't seem to be any shortage of Bullnose Flareside "project" trucks for sale...there are several online now...problem is, they're too far away.

Oh well...the search continues. Two more parts trucks for go look at next week to scavenge for parts, and I made an offer to another Flareside project owner for his bed parts, although that isn't looking good at the moment.

Those fenders are good finds. And your approach of checking things out but holding out for what you are looking for will eventually turn up something. Keep on truckin'!

[Rembrant]

Those fenders are good finds. And your approach of checking things out but holding out for what you are looking for will eventually turn up something. Keep on truckin'!

I looks like I've sealed a deal on another Flareside bed. It is complete, minus the wood floor of course. It has already been disassembled, and it does need some work on the steel sides/lips and the lower skirts, but I think it will be OK. The fenders, steps & brackets, and tail gate all appear to be in very nice condition (via pictures). Picking it up Thursday night, and it's a long drive to go get it.

Now...do I actually need another Flareside box? No...not really. My plan is to take my time and work on rehabbing the bad spots, and get it ready for paint/installation. This is mainly so I can get started on it without taking my truck out of service. Second reason is potentially finding another truck down the road that I may want to convert into a Flareside. If not then I'll sell the 2nd Flareside bed...I don't think I'd lose any money on it.

But....since I've been doing some backyard hunting for all this junk, I was actually just contacted by a guy that has an '84 Flareside 2wd w/302 4spd that he is interested in selling. I'm stopping in to see it on Wednesday while on one of my work trips.

I don't need another truck either....but it doesn't hurt to go look, right?...lol.