box floor

[professor229]

Hey..... Got a lot done on the Ranger this morning starting with the bed/box floor... The floor is in respectable shape except for a 6x6 inch area where something happened... leaky battery sitting in the box? pile of salt? something... but I cut out the bad section this morning and now need to weld in a patch... Has anybody done this? experience? suggestions? Where do you get a corrugated steel patch without throwing in your billfold? Are all Ford corrugated steel beds the same? In other words do they have the same dimensions in case I find an old junked out "something" that I can steal a patch from? Other ideas? and one more question... Has anybody done any research on this and know what gauge the metal floor is in a Ranger bed (2004)..... Thanks!!!

PS... Second goal was to detail/buff out the door jambs and got the drivers side 90% done when I decided to buff out the bottom of the door so crawled down on the floor, looked up, and saw the rust... extensive BUT lots of good metal too.... so I got out my wire brush on my drill and started in.... not much progress so I switched to my grinder (4.5 inch grinder) and that worked extremely well... I am 99% sure I got the rusted mess ground down to clean metal... then used some self etching primer followed by some sandable primer and tomorrow I will paint..... and then start in on the passenger side which I checked.... not bad at all but there is some surface rust in a couple spots... seams mostly....

Also got the neighbor to help set the used topper on the box too... IT was a good day....

 

[alwaysFlOoReD]

I believe that all boxes are the same from 84-the last year produced. Hit a junkyard and find any ranger, it should work.

 

[professor229]

Already contacted two junk yards.... both had an "attitude".... you want what? So I will look for someone with an abandoned Ranger.... Also, this is a styleside seven foot box with a lot of major dents on the passenger side.... My friend, many years ago now, removed the side from a Ford full sized truck but drilling out the welds and replacing the entire passenger side of the truck... it looked great... So I just spent the last half hour looking for a replacement side for a 2004 7' Styleside... OEM part # 5L5Z9927840EA ....... geez... "discontinued"..... and there doesn't appear to be any laying around in inventory..... so.... maybe need to find someone who hauls fairly decent boxes up from Texas to Minnesota... anyone know of anyone who does that? Thanks....