[expavr]

I don't know how the factory painted the bed on your 38 Tonner, but I can offer some thoughts on what they did on my 40 Tonner. This truck was a one owner low mileage vehicle when it came to me so I think that what was there was unmolested OEM Ford factory product. Photos 1 and 2 show the bed before removal. There was evidence of the body color green on both the steel strips and the bed wood. Photo 3 shows a section of the bedwood where the hold down washers are placed. Note that the wood which was under the washers is also green which leads me to believe that the wood was painted prior to anchoring the bed to the frame. Photos 4 and 5 show one of the wood crossmembers that supported the bedwood. After cleaning off the crud the exposed wood appeared to be covered with a coat of red primer then painted green as the rest of the bed. That red primer also showed up on other crossmembers. I think that the crossmembers were primed elsewhere then painted green as an assembled unit since the top of the crossmember had no green paint. There was evidence of green paint on the bottom of the bedwood close to the front of the bed. No primer evident on either the top or the bottom of the bedwood, but traces on the metal strips. I think the bed and all bed wood were painted top and bottom in the body color while off the truck. This guess at how the bedwood was painted using what forensic evidence was still there isn't cast in stone and I would like to hear how it was actually done.