bill lanfear Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) Hello everyone! I started this a few months ago and decided to share it since I have been able to do some work on it lately. I have done a lot of fabrication and 3d printing for this so I have a lot of pictures! I Started with the Moebius 65 utility bed kit but the only items used from the kit are the cab, hood, and parts of the interior. Here is a quote from the "Fordification" website explaining the story behind the different box used on these pickups for those unfamiliar with the "Wrongbed" story: "Ford would discontinue the 'unibody' truck around the middle of the 1963 model year (January/February 1963). The 'wrongbed' bed was available as an alternative to the unibody style starting in late 1962 All 1961-1965 F100 4WD and all '61-'66 F250 4WD trucks had a wheelbase of 120", and since the Fridge-style 'wrongbed' was the only separate styleside pickup bed Ford had available to fit that wheelbase, starting in 1962, these trucks got the 'wrongbed' by default when a styleside bed was requested. In 1964, Ford increased the wheelbase on the F100 and F250 2WD LWB trucks by six inches each, meaning they finally had to design a bed which not only matched the new wheelbase figures, but also included body lines which matched the cab to fit the new chassis. And since they were designing new LWB beds to match the new wheelbase figures, they went and and made SWB versions of the new double-wall styleside bed as well. However, it was only installed on 2WD trucks and the '66 4WD. In 1966, Ford finally offered a short wheelbase 115" WB F100 4x4, matching that of the 2WD wheelbase, so it too got the new Type 3 styleside box. This new double-wall bed design was only installed on 1964-66 F100/250 2WD and 1966 F100 LWB 4WD. All other 1961-66 Stylesides except Uni's used the Fridge-style beds." http://www.fordification.info/tech/wrongbed.htm I Started with creating the box. I then made some tires and rims and did a quick mock up. The grill and header panel were designed several months ago. I made the correct engine for 64 which was a 292 v8 Y block with the motor mount on the front. I also made the Borg Warner T98 4 speed transmission with the mounts on the bell housing. While I was at it, I made the Dana 24 transfer case. I looked through all of my Ford kits that had Y blocks to try and find the correct valve covers to no avail so made those too! For the interior, I made a heater box to go under the dash and a different dash bezel, pedal assembly and shifters. I went with a 3 spoke steering wheel and horn ring as some (I believe the custom cabs??) had the 3 spoke wheel. On to some progress! I ground down the kit gauges to prepare for my bezel. Another mock up to visualize how it is looking. Thank you for looking! Comments welcome! Edited January 1, 2021 by bill lanfear 3
Painted Black Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 Cool build, never did like the wrong bed ideal Ford chose..
avidinha Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 That's really cool! I remember seeing one or these 20-25 years ago and thinking the owner had put a different year bed on for wheel clearance.
Biggu Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 Really cool, love the attention to detail, especially the 'horn ring'...... loving this, Bill.... Jeff
leafsprings Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) Excellent work on this one Bill ! Great period correct details and period correct paint work. Only you could pull this off. IMO, a version of the Ford pickup that would never have been offered by Moebius. Your creation of period correct items, that have been ignored by others, never ceases to amaze me! I'll be first in line when Rookie Resins come back. Another unique piece you might be interested in is the '63-'64 only custom cab ( without molding option ) door handle plates, which would look perfect on your '64 build. Edited January 2, 2021 by leafsprings 1
mk11 Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 (edited) Fantastic work, Bill! Thanks for taking the time to apply your talents in this direction and share the results with us Edited January 3, 2021 by mk11 2
1930fordpickup Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 This looks great Bill. I am glad you are finding time to build for yourself. You picked a good bed to make.
bill lanfear Posted January 1, 2021 Author Posted January 1, 2021 10 hours ago, Danno said: Stunning! Way to go, Bill! ?? 4 hours ago, Painted Black said: Cool build, never did like the wrong bed ideal Ford chose.. 3 hours ago, avidinha said: That's really cool! I remember seeing one or these 20-25 years ago and thinking the owner had put a different year bed on for wheel clearance. Thank you guys!, I never understood it when I was younger but for some reason they have grown on me over time. I actually painted a 1-1 63 4x4 for a guy about 20 years ago and talked him into putting a 66 bed on it. I stretched the wheelbase 6 inches by relocating the rear suspension and didnt have to add to frame or anything. All he needed to do was get a new driveshaft made.
bill lanfear Posted January 1, 2021 Author Posted January 1, 2021 2 hours ago, Biggu said: Really cool, love the attention to detail, especially the 'horn ring'...... loving this, Bill.... Jeff Thank you Jeff!
bill lanfear Posted January 1, 2021 Author Posted January 1, 2021 54 minutes ago, leafsprings said: Excellent work on this one Bill ! Great period correct details and period correct paint work. Only you could pull this off. IMO, a version of the Ford pickup that would never have been offered by Moebius. Your creation of period correct items, that have been ignored by others, never ceases to amaze me! I'll be first in line when Rookie Resins come back. Another unique piece you might be interested in is the '63-'64 only custom cab ( without molding option ) door handle plates, which would look perfect one your '64 build. Thank you Tom, I have been brain storming on how to do those door handles. Been thinking just BMF around the handle....maybe I will try and 3d print some, will be tough as they are recessed into the door.
bill lanfear Posted January 1, 2021 Author Posted January 1, 2021 39 minutes ago, mk11 said: Fantastic work, Bill! Thanks for taking the time to apply your talents in this direction and share the results with us Thank you Mike!
bill lanfear Posted January 1, 2021 Author Posted January 1, 2021 33 minutes ago, 1930fordpickup said: This looks great Bill. I am glad you are finding time to build for yourself. You picked a good bed to make. Thank you Andy, it does feel real good to be able to have some time for my own builds!
wrenchr Posted January 1, 2021 Posted January 1, 2021 That wrong bed looks so right..............Nice work Bill!!
maxwell48098 Posted January 2, 2021 Posted January 2, 2021 I worked in the service and parts departments of a local Ford dealership while in high school and college from '66-'72. That "wrong bed" started life with the '57 Ford F-series pickups, and continued to be used on 4X4's from late '61 until '66. The dealership I worked for sold lots of fleet trucks and the local Reading body conversion up fitter would sell the "new" used pickup boxes back to our dealership for $50.00. We had an off-site storage building where we must have had 50-75 of these boxes on racks that we used in the body shop to repair wrecked pickups, or sell to other dealerships and local body shops for $300! Sometimes the color of the replacement box was a perfect match for the wrecked one. A.J.
Jordan White Posted January 3, 2021 Posted January 3, 2021 This is looking great so far! I really think you should reach out to Joseph at Fireball Modelworks and see if he would be interested in working with you to make a resin conversion for the '65 4x4 kit. This would be great to go along with his 1970 F250 conversion kit!
2doors3pedals Posted January 3, 2021 Posted January 3, 2021 This is an awesome project Bill! Your technical skills and creative ability are inspirational. This level of work is what keeps me striving to do better. Thanks.
leafsprings Posted January 9, 2021 Posted January 9, 2021 (edited) On 1/3/2021 at 6:47 AM, Jordan White said: This is looking great so far! I really think you should reach out to Joseph at Fireball Modelworks and see if he would be interested in working with you to make a resin conversion for the '65 4x4 kit. This would be great to go along with his 1970 F250 conversion kit! That would be a great future project if things work out . Both have been godsends to us. The kit would require a complete frame as well, the unique 120" wheelbase is completely different than a '65 129" 2WD frame. Edited January 9, 2021 by leafsprings 2
Jordan White Posted January 9, 2021 Posted January 9, 2021 6 minutes ago, leafsprings said: That would be a great idea. Both have been godsends to us. The kit would require a complete frame as well, the unique 120" wheelbase is completely different than a '65 129" 2WD frame. My bad, I forgot that the 4x4 kit is a '66, which you're right that it has a different wheelbase than the '65. Granted, the frame could be shortened to the 120", though I guess I don't know how different the widths and layout of the two frames are.
bill lanfear Posted January 19, 2021 Author Posted January 19, 2021 Well I have an update for those following. I completed the engine and most of the chassis. All of the suspension and engine pieces were created on my computer and 3d printed. Of course Murphy's law kicked my but. I change something for accuracy and wouldn't you know it, I have to change five other things to make it work! I made a complete 292 engine but the firewall wouldn't let it fit very good and the firewall isn't right for a 64 so I cut out the bulge on the firewall that was giving me fits. Got the engine to fit nicely but when I mounted the front shock towers on the frame, the inner fenders wouldn't work. I had to cut out holes for the shock towers. I made some inner fenders that cover the shock towers but not 100% accurate for this truck. They are beyond my abilities at this time to do 100% accurate. I started on the headliner using the same technique I did on my 66 1 ton. Anyways, here are some progress pics. 3
Mattilacken Posted January 22, 2021 Posted January 22, 2021 Beautifull work! And the details are amazing!
leafsprings Posted January 22, 2021 Posted January 22, 2021 Your '64 4x4 conversion adds a completely new dimension to this series of pickup. You have inspired many of us to tackle this very worthwhile project. Love the 292 and styleside bed!
mikemodeler Posted January 22, 2021 Posted January 22, 2021 Glad you have been able to get back to building, that looks fantastic! Great details and accurate suspension.
bill lanfear Posted January 23, 2021 Author Posted January 23, 2021 On 1/22/2021 at 4:08 AM, Mattilacken said: Beautifull work! And the details are amazing! Thank you Anton!
Recommended Posts
Create an account or sign in to comment
You need to be a member in order to leave a comment
Create an account
Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!
Register a new accountSign in
Already have an account? Sign in here.
Sign In Now