68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Do anyone know if/when the 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides will be available?

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Most likely never. The repro companies don't like us :whine:

Mike

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

i'd wish they would mine are nothing but bondo
and primer

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Mar-K has a part number for them in their online catalog!

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

what is the number i got the numbers but it says these parts aren't yet avilble

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Well we have a Mar-K vendor on the board...maybe he'll chime in.

Mike

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Well, MAR-Ks short fleet bedsides are just the same import repros everyone sells...they just charge more than anyone else...
So, I am sure they are probably just waiting for imports of the long fleet sides, too.
I haven't heard any rumors, yet. You will know it first here on this board.

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Well hopefully I'll have a nice bed from another board member this upcoming spring/summer. I did inquire quite a while ago to goodmark and they said there was no plans for ever reproducing them again. There was a place in canada that had them listed as "coming soon" with a very ridiculous price. I will see if I can find it.

Mike

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Guess I had better hold onto the long fleet bed sides that I had been thing about getting rid of..

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Mrk-K says Dec 2006.

I heard that they want to break even on short bed sides first!

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

They haven`t?If they actually produce them(and I`m not sure they do)then they should have made plenty off sales to the many vendors that would have bought them wholesale,as well as retail sales.They`ve been out for many years.Many vendors like us in the dark about whether they are producers or middlemen.Some will print them to be coming soon just so you will keep checking with then until they are actually made.I`m not saying this is so with Mark-K since I really don`t know.

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

I would pm wes at classic heart beat as he is pretty good about knowing if parts are gonna be reproduced or not...

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

So I guess I won't be getting a set from Xmas in the morning!

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Pickmup already said he hasn`t heard tell.He`s a dealer.

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Hey Northern, Ihave a couple decent sides, let me know if you need some, wont fit in a stocking though.

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

I can't belive their isn't a manufactorer producing these yet. Whoever can make these fleetside fendors and get the price down (less mega-greed) to a decent price could really clean up in the marketplace for a long long time on this. Like every non-Californa/Arizona native truck is a canidate for bed replacements.

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

goodmark industries sad there is no need to make longbed panels. they said that there are more longbed panels out there than short. if everybody would email them about longbed panels they might just start making them. so start sending them emails for longbeds.

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

I will try to clear up a couple things about Mar-K involvement here. We do not manufacture the fleet bedsides, we purchase from an importer. What we do (did) was inspect each part, return damaged and defective bedsides to the supplier, and repackage the cherry picked good ones in stronger boxes or crates for re-shipping to our customers. The time and cost to do this was not practical so we will probably not continue carrying the fleet bedsides. We may have one pair left in stock.

Regarding the long fleet bedsides that show up on the website, that is a mistake. It will be removed. We do not plan to manufacture the long fleet bedside. Projects with this much large tooling and presses required are beyond the production capability of our company. Sorry for the confusion this may have caused.

Mar-Ktech

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Thanks for the answer MAR-Ktech, but may I ask (genuinely) since there are short bed fleet tooling and presses already stamping out these out fenders out, how much more can it cost to build, I presume from scratch, the same fendor only 4 feet longer? Would it be a $500K tooling job? Any ideas?

Thanks.
-Roger

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

So if I read between the lines, Mar-k did have a supplier making those. Is that supplier still making them even if they are not so good ? Could it be possible to bring up the quality on those rather than retool ?

Oh, I don't think they are 4 foot longer, that would be a longhorn on steroids:lol:

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

I understand MAR-K to say that they are no longer going to carry the SWB fleetsides and that LWB fleetsides are not being reproduced.

I think other parts vendors are still selling SWB fleetsides.

Yes, 4 feet longer would be quite the truck.

LWB are 8ft, but are SWB 6 or 6.5 ft?

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Yeah yeah I see know 4 feet is ridiculous but I hope you got the gist of the message!

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

This is correct. Sorry I was not clear on this. They are still being produced and being imported. Our corporate decision is that we will not carry them at this time because of quality problems. These are the same quality issues that have been reported in these forums. We were dealing with an importer, not directly with the overseas manufacturer. Other vendors are still selling the bedsides. To my knowledge the long bedsides are not being reproduced, but a more accurate answer may be available from an importer that is working directly with the overseas manufacturer.

Mar-Ktech

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Roger:
I would not even want to guess the cost of tooling for these parts. Multiple operations for each of four parts (inner and outer skin, each side) in dies 9 or 10 feet long, presses the size of a childs bedroom, etc, etc. Other board members probably have experience with this type tooling, but not at Mar-K.

Mar-Ktech

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

I used to work in a stamping plant, and to launch a a repo is costly. GM junked all the dies years ago. We had a plant manager that had contacts at GM. Remember when the 67-72 Burb sides was talked about bein' reproduced? He made some calls to GM about the old dies, all were scraped. If Dyacorn can stamp a '69 Camaro body,how come they don't the LWB sides? Supply and demand. As far as fitment goes is steel we're usin' these days. I've seen panels change in a hours time due to a roll change in the blanker area. Unless you find OEM,most of the time you'll have issues. When the SWB repos came out I was ready to buy a pair, I got a deal on some used,for less than one repo cost.

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

Some friends and I have taking some LWB bedsides apart and we are consulting with some manufacturing engineer friends about doing some repros.

To keep costs down and not go into the red we see us being able to manufacture the outside LWB bed side sheetmetal only.

The good news is that we plan to manufacture in the USA (California), and yes, we actually used real chevy bedsides as our mock-up models. To keep retail prices down we would be the only distributor.

The bad news is that after doing analysis, we are going to have to run the machine and dies until they pretty much disintigrate, and have to sell 99% of bedsides we make. We might also have to use a different guage steel.

We do not plan to get rich off of this venture (no greed!). We want to keep more of these great trucks on the road.

The reason I'm posting this is to see if there is interest in the outside fleetside shells being made or would people only buy complete bedsides.

If this is successful, we would like to make repro doors that fit (designed from actual chevy doors), and cab parts (roofs, dashes, inside cab sheet metal etc.). We have also started taking a high hump A/C cab apart.

Dano

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

I applaude you for your effort but if you can successfully create a stamping for the outside sheetmetal (the most important part) then you should be able to go all the way and create a stamping for the inside boxside sheet metal and finally assemble the two.

If you create just the outside skin, then something is better than nothing. But trying to marry my old inside boxside fender sheetmetal to your new outside fender would quite a job for the customer. How the heck does one pry apart the two apart moreless crimp your replacement fender back together?

Don't skimp on the thickness of the sheet metal. Nobody wants a shopping cart bumped into the panel and dent it. Those are some long pieces of metal that need the strength.

I would concentrate all my dollars and time into the fenders. That is a UNIQUE product that NOBODY has that has demand (just what you want). If they want it, they have to come and buy from you. Doors/hood/other you can buy from anyone and in order to compete you have to get customers away from the competition who have money and resources to wait you out and under price you.

Keep the QUALITY in your work and you'll have it sewn up. Made in USA alright! I'ld pay extra for that.

Uh? To wear the dies out you are going to have to pump out millions of these or else you are doing something wierd here. Why wouldn't you want to produce a these till the dies wear out (ie. dollars are flowing in, why turn the money machine off)?

You should do some market research and see what people are willing to pay for a complete fleetside box side made in the USA and see if you can still do it.

Good luck.

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

I agree.

To me, the advantage of a complete bedside is that any idiot thinks he can replace one himself (myself included).

If you were to just do the outer part, I think you'd lose a lot of potential customers, as I don't think most of us are body repair experts, and we'd probably just keep hunting for a bed that's in better shape than the one we currently have.....

I was quoted 500.00 to install a rear patch panel (from midway of wheel well to tail light). That's not very cost effective to someone like me. I'll either keep what I have, or find a better bed.

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

I remember back in 88' a friend of mine in California repro'd the tail light assemblies for the 56 Chevy cars. The dies, he told me, cost around $50,000. That was back then, and just a small die for that price. I seem to remember that the sale price for the repo'd lights were $300 for the pair. I lost contact with him over the years, so I don't know how long before he broke even with in that investment. I can't imagine what it would cost for a bedside die.....

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

I`d like to see floors made.Alot of bedsides outlast the floors.How many 1/2 decent beds have you seen that are only rusted behind the wheels in the floor or have floors that are all banged-up?I`ve passed on alot of bedsides that haverust on the inner panel and none on the out,too.
I would think outer skins would be more prone for distortion and shipping damage.Good beds go for $1,200 or more.I`d be willing to pay $800+/- for an OEM quality bedside.I have two 6`California bedsides I gladly paid $400 each for back when the repros first came out.

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

When ever you need a lon bed, just go to Mexico (north) and you can find a rust free bed for 300 bucks.

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

:)
Ever see any Longhorn beds down there?

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

classicchev, I pm'ed you about the bedsides.

Do you still have a left one for sale?

Re: 68-72 reproduction long fleet bedsides
 

If You Want Goto Impalas.com This Is The Sight For Impala Bobs He Also Sells Chevy Truck Parts And He Has The Front Half And The Rear Half For A Longbed Chevy 67-72 You Just Have To Weld Together And Do Some Bodywork On Them. Better Tham Nothing I Guess