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I'm working to take mine out. I was just checking if I am on the right track or not, removing all the phillips head screws from the floor.

It will come out, won't it? I know the wheelwells have to come out, and the cover over the fuel filler neck. Is there anything I am missing??

May I ask why you are removing the bed? Are you planning to do a frame off resto? Just curious...

You are on the right track. Don't forget that there are a couble of long bolts at the end of the bed that have to come off. Mine were rusted and I had a hard time finding replacements. At the end I welded the head to a new bolt and from the top you can not tell the difference.

Good Luck


Carmen

Unless I'm mistaken, to remove the bed in one piece all you need to do is remove the 6 (8? - I can't count that high) elevator bolts (look like carriage bolts on steroids) that go through the bed and frame. They are 6-8" long. Yes, there are also 2 that go through the rear cross member.

If you want to "just" remove the floor, you need to unscrew (translation: drill out) all of those phillips head screws.

Unfortunately: http://apollosaturn.smugmug.com/gallery ... #222123037

This huge hole snuck by me when I didn't look all the way under the plywood covering the bed.

Ouch. But still a good deal anyhow.

Nickathome wrote:May I ask why you are removing the bed? Are you planning to do a frame off resto? Just curious...

I think I am getting away with something if I just take the panels loose from the frame and whatnot. Will the sides come off along with the bed floor? Or am I going to wind up taking all of it off?

That sure is some hole, alright! I think a total replacement of the bed floor is in order. Fortunately, reproduction floors are available.

I also noticed lots of Strata blue. Musta been an Air Force truck. I sure hope you plan to repaint it the same color. I like OD, but blue is better. (I'm retired USAF, so I may be just a tad biased. )

I'm in a struggle with myself over the color. The truck is indeed Strata blue, but I had in mind a OD truck when I bought it. It was afterwards that it was obvious it was a blue truck.

So, I am still making up my mind. A blue truck would be nice, but would all the OD guys still allow me at the meetings with a blue truck?

I don't see why not. After all, it IS an M37. If it were in at least as good a condition as my non-running (yet) Army model, I'd swap you in a heartbeat. I was looking hard for an AF truck when the Army one sorta fell into my lap. As it is, I'll probably paint mine blue when I get that far along with it. Gotta get it running first.

I have had my bed apart so maybe I can give you some insite. Its going to be tough to get just the floor out. The bed sides have lips around the wheel wells that go over the floor for starters. The 2 parts of the bed floor are spot-welded together so you'll need to drill those out to get it apart. The bed sides and front panel are pretty simple to remove and can be handled by one person.....kind of. Make sure if you remove the sides to remove the screws in the rear crossmember that secure an L bracket that goes up into the rear of the bed sides. My best advice is to disassemble it to get to the floor, its easy and you can clear up any rust before it gets too far.
Rick C

Rick, my plan was to disassemble the sides and front so the floor would lift off, so I'm headed in the same direction as you. I can strip and repaint them better that way. I just have to find *all* of the bolts!

I starting to lean toward a blue truck now....

I can't recall any hidden ones. You'd be surprised what a little work clearing out the slots and some heat will do to get the screws out. Two things.....first, the wheel wells flare out below the bed a bit so you need to drag them off sideways first. I had to remove tire to get them to slide. Second......the "L" bracket that is inside rear-most upright channel and rear crossmember must be unbolted or the side won't come off. The screws are above Tailgate hinge on upright and on rear ends or rear crossmember. They can be a bitch to get out if rusty and the "L" bracket is almost impossible to find if yours is trashed. You might need to cut a small slot in the big step bolts holding down the bed...the square holds in the bed floor will round off easily if the assembly is rusty. I was lucky to find a couple good used bolts at a show last year.......
Good luck!!!
Rick

The slots on 95% of these bolts are nothing but rusty shadows at this point. I am getting out the grinder to try and grind down the heads flush with the old bed surface. I am pretty disgusted at this point. No Mustang I ever restored was this bad!

I broke off one of the tailgate hinge bracket bolts...GRRRRR. A gallon of penetrant, 30 minutes and one good turn and *snap*.

Time to go upstairs and take a break before I set fire to it....

Oh yeah, I took mine apart this summer. What an effort!

I also broke off a couple of rear bracket bolts, had to cut off most of the nuts from under the truck (though I didn't think to grind off the heads and just push them through), and ended up with a lot more stuff to fix than I could see from on top.

Once you get the sides/front off, the bed will come up. I ended up just unbolting it from the frame and tipping it up on end to seperate the floor from the crossmembers. You'll find two hidden weld nuts at the outer front (forward) corners of the wheel wells that you can't access from under the truck like the others. These you will have to drill or grind if they won't come out with a screwdriver.

You'll probably have to replace most of the screws. I got some correct, fine thread, screws from John Bizal (even in the original issue boxes) or you can replace them with the same size truss heads but with coarse thread. Those are easier to find and even come in SS. The two weld nuts in the wheel well corners will have to be replaced unless you reuse old screws for them.

I've taken a few days off from the project, and if I can get my turkey stuffed self back in there, I'll hopefully get something done in the next couple of days.

I have a buddy ready to help with welding and such this Saturday, so now I have a deadline!