Re: Previous owner '68
 

You are a creative fella. I'm enjoying your build!

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Thanks joey, I like to try to solve problems, but sometimes I make new problems! This build thread is about to slow down a bit, the posting is about to change to real time! Plus I have most of the easy stuff done, next comes rust repair.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

I'm glad it's slowing down soon, your posting pace was making me feel pretty dumb about the amount of time I spend looking at my truck and trying to decide what to tackle first :lol: Maybe I'll start a VERRRRY SLOOOOWWW thread for Big Blue.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Slow is good. You should start a thread, there are some multi-year build threads out here.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Worked on the column paint, not happy about it yet. Here are some pics of the shifter column and shaft.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

I've also been working on a steering wheel. I think it's out of a Pontiac Lemans but not 100% on that. I do like me some Pontiacs. It's pretty ruff. It is an art project to be sure.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

You're making some great progress!

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Thanks! I've always enjoyed your builds.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Not much grass growing under your feet with this build.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Trust me, the grass is coming. Didn't do anything with the truck today, my wife kidnapped me to go junking.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Cut out the angle strips on the bed. Also removed the steps and front panel. The upper roll of the front panel was full of rust/wasp nests/crap.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Who we are...

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Well, a good friend from my first ship (27 years ago) came and visited me for awhile. We had a great time, but now he is back in Kansas and I'm back in the shop.

I had noticed some rust on the roll of the front panel so I spent some time with the welder to fill in the holes. Some used patch panels, some were small enough to weld up with no patches.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

I had noticed that the front panel seemed to stick up higher than the bedsides and when I took it off I found that the welded in nut pieces were welded in about a 1/4" off-center. At least they were consistently wrong on both sides.

Took a spot-weld cutter and cut the spot-weld on the threaded plate and then rewelded it in the correct position.

I know, it's bowed, I'll get to that later.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

While I had the welder out I cut some filler panels for the bed stake pockets and filled those wasp nest havens up.

I have a 12" shear that works great for patch panels, especially on the thicker stuff that is tough to cut with hand shears.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Worked on the radiator surround. I know I want to put a filler plate between the support and the grill so I moved the protrusions on the strengthening ribs down to clear the filler plate. Pretty basis cut and weld job. I had done some work on this surround years ago but deemed it unfit for use in one of my trucks. Now I'm older and not so picky, and I am the future previous owner, I have a reputation to live up to! Some bondo and sanding and it will be just fine.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

I also decided to remove the "points" on the top of the support. I have always hated them. Again, some bondo and paint, it should be good. As you can tell I love bondo (when applied by me).

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Roger,
finally made the time to read through your build thread ...besides the child's play you made out of making that headboard look better than what the General left us with....... the core support mods are awesome ...wish I had your metal work and welding talent ...plus seems like you are setting some speed records with this build running the quarter in the low 9s :) Im going to keep close eye on what's next appreciate your attention to detail and making tired parts come to life and useful again GREAT BUILD
Jess
Ps I got a thing for Pontiacs of the 48flavor and that medium green color too

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Thanks Jess. I do tend to try to save as much as I can, even when I know I would be better off buying repops. But I already know how to bolt things on, I need to try to learn something (even if I learn what I will never do again!) I'm not really very fast at anything, I tend to think too much, but since I retired I have made a point of working on my projects as much as my wife will let me!

And from what I can tell the headboards vary a LOT in their fit.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Nice fabrication and welding!

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Thanks Kirk, thank god I have a grinder!

Re: Previous owner '68
 

What in the name of western Kentucky redneckery is this? Well, I need a bed floor and I happen to have this short fleet bed floor I pulled out of a GMC that I put a different bed on. It isn't a good floor, but it ain't that bad, so I'm going to try to use it.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

The donor, sold years ago to a guy in Tennessee.

Most guys told me to part it, but do I listen? Nope.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Measure, measure measure...

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Screw it, cut, cut cut!

Re: Previous owner '68
 

And test fit. Now all I have to do is weld in some side strips, weld up the rust holes, grind down the surface rust, rust treatment, prime, paint, and everything else. Ain't trucks fun?

By the way, the inside edge of the fleetside wheelwells are 50", exactly the width of a stepside bed.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

you, you , ..... you are good:metal:

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Not good, but I am persistant!

Re: Previous owner '68
 

I like where this is going.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Thanks Clay, I'm hoping to get the bed floor to look good enuff so that one day there will be a guy on here claiming to have a one off Chevrolet prototype steel floor stepside! Most people will never even notice the steel floor, but the real truck guys will.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

I must admit I am not up to speed on my stepside knowledge and I NEVER realized there wasn't a steel bed offered. Your bed is looking awesome, and those clueless like me will never even know it's not original!

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Someone told me that they have a squarebody step that came with a steel floor but I can't find one on the internet. I wanted to see one so I wouldn't have to do so much thinking on this one but I finally gave up and started cutting! Now comes the slow tedious fitting and welding.

I have something else I'm working on that I don't think I've ever seen done, but it is still in the plannng stages.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Hey Rg, do you know what the best wood for a truck bed is? LOL! That sounds like a set up to a joke! But seriously it's not. I new a good ole boy in Colorado that owned and operated an old saw mill for over 40yrs before I met him. He ran it another 20yrs after I had met him. The place was like a museum. He had 20' tall re-saw band saws with 8' wheels and 14" wide band saw blades. He cut big timbers for the mines and big chock blocks for binding tanks on train cars for the military. All kinds of stuff. Any way he always had these huge logs piled up and one day I asked him what did he use that species for. He told me truck beds. Ive recommended to everyone I've met that needed a truck bed. The ones that did use this species have all said, yes! Best wood for truck beds hands down. And it is the only use I've ever found for this species. Except firewood of course.

Go ahead and guess. Let's see if anyone else knows. It's going to have to be a good ole boy in the know for sure. 100%

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Speaking as a longtime Coloradan, the only trees I can think of that would be easy to get truck-length strips out of would be ponderosa pine. Maybe aspen, but I wouldn't use aspen for much of anything.

Speaking as a born-and-raised Ohio Valley guy, I'd think you'd want a nice hardwood, the likes of which don't much exist in Colorado. But maybe they're too brittle.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Hey Joey, just remember who I heard it from. The fella was none other than F H Stags. He went on to glory in 2011. He was 94. Seeing that old wooden truck bed like it was made me think of him. I just saw the work Rg did on the metal bed. It's nice to had old stuff laying around. Good work Rg.

So... are you ready? Drum roll please....... COTTONWOOD!!!

Not too heavy, but dense. Won't twist, splinter or split. Things slide easily yet it has a felt like grip. Now I've not ever heard that from anyone else. Fran was a squared away dude new about wood.

That'd my story and I'm sticking to it!

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Ah ha! Cottonwood. Makes sense. Didn't even consider it. Was thinking of the high country, not the water corridors! I dig it.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Never even heard of cottonwood, I'll have to look it up.

Since I was working on the bed floor on my front porch I haven't been able to work on it lately due to the weather. I like to do as much grinding and cutting on the front porch to keep the inside of my shop a little cleaner. So I started looking for something to do inside.

Oddly I ended up grinding and welding anyway!

Re: Previous owner '68
 

I had an old utility bed I bought from my neighbor years ago. I didn't need it but he needed the money so I bought it. I started looking at the tailgate on it and jumped straight into the rabbit hole.

Would this fit in a stepside bed?

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Why, heck yeah! All it needed was some cutting, welding, and cussing and it fit kinda okay.

Re: Previous owner '68
 

Oh, I had to evict the previous tenants...