Spring is coming Have Plans for bed repair and suspension drop

[chevymotocross]

I've had my 87 swb silverado for almost a year now. So far it's been a very reliable driver. All I had to do major with it, within the year, was replace the rotted driver side gas tank. This spring, I want to do more with it. The bed has some rot that needs to be addressed, which has gotten worse over just the year. While the bed is off, I plan on stripping the frame down, as best I can, and painting. I also plan on giving the truck a drop, not sure how much I want to go, I'll address that later. Thing is, I still need to drive this truck. Have any of you guys driven your trucks w/o a bed? How did you mount up your tail/turn signals? Is anything else required? I think in CT, if a truck has no bed it must have mudflaps? I need to make something temporary while I work on the bed, any ideas? I have included some pics of what I'm dealing with for rust. These pics were taken before the winter, and the areas have gotten a bit worse. All the vendors I have looked at, are all close in price, and fairly cheap. I was thinking about getting a pretty good bedside section, not a complete section, but enough, and just cut out what I need for patching. The back cross beam, where the bed bolts actually go through and bolt the bed to the truck frame, is almost completely rotted away. I can't seem to find these anywhere? It seems like a pretty basic concept, cut out the old beam, weld in a new one. Also, the tailpan section is in pretty bad shape, any tips on installing one of those? I have a good Lincoln mig welder, and my father has done body patching before, actually with his old 86 c10 with very good results, but we aren't really that knowledged with body work (body filler, getting it all to blend). This ain't gonna be a show truck but I would like the treated areas to be presentable so any tips would be greatly appreciated. Here are pics of what I'm dealing with.

Rotted wheel arch, it has gotten worse since this pic was taken


Rust popping through on the same wheel arch


Rust popping through, same bedside, in a rather odd spot, looks like this one should be fairly easy to tackle.

WOW, that cross beam is GONE!


What the truck looks like, presentable but boy does it hide some rust underneath that bed!