the seriousness of slickitis, uni conversion new pics 9-11

[ICEMAN6166]

is it possible.
this started actually several years ago when i decided it would be easy to do a separate uni bed or uni conversion

some of you may remember these
plans that while might have worked, never fully materialised.
besides build threads need lots of pics.

f500 uni crew..



uni and 65 2wd cab on 68 4x4 frame, extended cab style.





then the separate uni bed like South America


slickitis getting to you yet

so now i got this uni bed trailer.
specifically to replace the rusty wrongbed on my 4x4
came on a 63 2wd frame just like the one i got the wrongbed from
so i get a new matching uni bed and get to bolt the wrongbed right back on the trailer frame
gives me a basically free slick trailer too.


started cleaning up the bed the other day, 40 years of dirt and grime.
no rust holes in the floor or torque box
some dents i will deal with once its off the frame

got down to some very serious measurements and found out a few things, some of which you may know.

long unis use a 122" wheelbase
long 4x4s are 120"

on a uni, the back of the cab is the front bed wall.

uni beds are 1" shorter in the rear than the front
i measured this 3x

wheres my tinfoil hat...

if the uni bed is pushed directly up against the rear of the cab, the bolt holes in the frame line up
so does the body line at the door with 1" lift on all the bed mounts.
you see where this is going

warm dry conditions melted Ices brain, hes cooked

theres a spot in the corner where the door line is that if you attached the bed the connecting area would be in the corner where the door rubber meets
and very minimal body work. gas tank hole in the right spot
hey
that sort of solves a rusty cab corner issue too
hmmm......

more measuring
sure the tape measure is not acting as an antenna for the tinfoil hat

if one very carefully cuts the curve along the painted line where the uni roof was attached that will match the body line on the back of the cab.

only real issues i could come up with was first i thought the ribs on the back of the bed and cab might not line up
turns out this is not going to be a problem

then i discovered i might need modification of the lower back of the cab corners.
basically some rust removal and maybe a flat square piece of steel

cant see strength being an issue, back of cab will be double thick.
rib on the top of the uni bed adds strength there
some welds in the door lip
along the back under the window.

tune in next time and see how slickitis progresses

can you convert a conventional cab to a uni

or will i be taken away in a straightjacket to the kookoos nest

[foodstick]

sounds like worth waiting for to me ..... the twisted truck, not the twisted mind !

[Truckrat]

I say ''Go with it'' Brian. If ya did it once you can do it again.
Would make a unique Slick for sure. Keep working in it and I will
be watching this thread to see how it comes out. TR

[1964WVFORD]

I'm getting ready to do the same thing and might even install the big back window in it also. Hope to see some progress on it soon. Please keep us up to date on your progress.

[ICEMAN6166]

well only been able to give it about 1.5 hours not every day and of course weather permitting

i have removed a lot of the excess tin (free patch metal)
and made the cuts along the back of the doorline
those came out good was easy cutting following the inside corner
also got the step removed where the tank sits

wife said she would take a few pics with her cell and send to me.

[Gary Seymour]

Pictures would definitely help me understand this, but if the goal is a separate-bed uni like the ones south of the border, then that would be very cool.

I must admit, I didn't understand the structure of the uni, until I had to start cutting mine up to fix some rust, and I didn't put it back together as it was originally...

[ICEMAN6166]

I'm getting ready to do the same thing and might even install the big back window in it also. Hope to see some progress on it soon. Please keep us up to date on your progress.

that will make the entire thing much easier to do

i found that the rear window section of the uni is really needed if you decide to attach a uni bed to a standard cab

after i had made the cut along the bed top at the front very carefully (and i had a nice paint line to follow) i discovered it seemed to be short a bit over 1\4 inch


was not until looking at this pic i realised why



the area below the window the body line juts out id say a little more than 1\4 inch


another small issues i think due to the 4x4 frame is a 3\4" difference in bolt hole location.

pretty much got all of the cutting done, been raining so no progress since last weekend

kicking the whole separate bed vs total conversion ideas around right now
separate bed is ahead due to time and ease of installation

going to take off the bumper and unbolt the uni bed from the frame soon as i have the time.

[ICEMAN6166]

progress up till last weekend

bed is now off the frame and over by the garage on a barrel and some blocks
took the gate off and started attempting to straighten it some

[foodstick]

Its good to see you wading into the deep water again Brian !


Are you sure you can do truck work without the mind numbing cold?

I heard your FIRST uni was a truck that the ice and snow never melted between the box and cab for two years ! I think Pat told me that... Of course he always says your floor mats were Grizzly bears hibernating.. and that Salmon swimming upstream often swam thru the holes in the truck box..


Man I can't wait until Pat wakes up and starts adding to this list !

[ICEMAN6166]

Are you sure you can do truck work without the mind numbing cold?

well down here if you smash a finger or something it hurts right away rather than an hour and a half late when it thaws out

Pat obviously mentioned the real cold mornings where i had to shovel the exhaust away from the back of the truck

guys say what you want as far as that goes but fact is i changed an FE starter at -45 once. laying on the ground.

seriously me and the wife had the discussion recently about wussing out in colder temps now
went out later and worked 3 hours on the uni bed

need to find that pic foodstick made

[ICEMAN6166]

heres that uni





and this one, a much younger iceman




sems to me there was another, with the abominable snowman

[ICEMAN6166]

3 days off thought i would progress but weather not cooperating

yesterday morning it was sunny to begin with so i was working on the passenger side lower rear where there was a big dent looked like from a trailer tongue or something

so after i beat on it for a bit then i sanded the area down to bare metal
thats when the rain came
i retreated indoors and worked on repairing the tailgate
had a torch cut 1.5" square hole at the bottom of the F
the gate is seriously whacked my intention is only for the functional use for now ill just look for a better one
been awhile since i did the last sheet metal welding so some practice on this wont hurt before i get to some of the other things i need to weld up

[ICEMAN6166]

first off lets thank my wife Terry on her first outdoor walk after ankle replacement last month to help with pics on her smartphone

now the pics

this one is sideways because of the sun we really should have done these at a different time of day
Dan and i were talking about the cut in chat, this is how i left the side so far



i will be putting a couple drain holes in the lip of the torque box


welded in a tube for strength in the front bedrail


top view


using a thin angle underneath the lip


after i trim the edges to match the curve


after im done with the welding i will get started on painting the bottom

more pics soon

[bobenhotep]

Good thing that you didn't have to reconstruct the front of the bed like I did. I would have had a lot of other stuff done if I didn't have to do that.

Dan

[ICEMAN6166]

but still a bunch of holes i have to weld up as wellas the corner floor pieces behind the wheel wells im going to fix

i have the bed now way up in the air, beefed up the area over the garage door so i could use a chain and comalong and pull it up as high as it would go, i set the back end on horses and ordered a new 4 ton comalong from work and use another beam so now when i get ready to put it on i can just back under and let it down slowly onto the frame i have been reallymoving forward just not fast mostly odds and ends but now its undercover so weather wont be an issue.

[ICEMAN6166]

first off thought i would show where im doing the work
the tailgate hanging from the rafter is the one im thinking about grafting in to the uni gate



got the bed hanging up



one patch welded in


one to go


my least favorite thing to do, bodywork and fill, thickest point is not quite 1\4 inch in a small dent i could not reach from the other side

[The Big M]

Nice progress! The older-style Ford script grafted in to the uni gate would look pretty cool I think.

Love your shop too.

[ICEMAN6166]

car show in town mid august
hoping to have it on before i dont care if its still in primer, never took anything to a show before
going to take the rambler too

got the topside of the sceond patch in and 80%smoothed during the week
95F outside right now, not really in the welding\grinding mood plus we drove 200 miles today
probably just going to clean up the shop and have a cold one

[ICEMAN6166]

things to assess late at the end of the day 10:30 pm

my slick looks weird with no bed on it

i have a wrongbed trailer, set on the frame not bolted but out of the way in the yard
i knew when i removed the wrongbed it had to then go right on that frame and moved.

my slick is backed up to a hanging ini bed

going to do some degreasing and cleanup before a test fit

[ICEMAN6166]

new government job


hanging bed over truck frame