wood bed header panel

[Hartje]

Question pertaining to the header panel of the box. Its my understanding that a wood bed sits on top of the header panel flange. Correct?

In my case my truck is some sort of monster and its been quite the mess... Took well over 8 hours to get the rotten wood out of the way for my new boards.

Question is (and I already have the wood) do I need to replace the header panel with the correct part for the wood to fit correctly or can I run it the same way the PO ran the wood. Which is under the flange all the way around the bed. Near as I can tell I have the correct cross braces and the correct tailgate panel for wood just incorrect header panel.


Cut my boards using the old cutouts as a guide of sorts


was left with a few sections of ply wood after the tubs were removed.


Got most of the wood out still have a few sections left to fight every nut in the bed was rusted to the bolt. I can't even begin to explain this night mare. PO had a rotten bed and instead of replacing the rotted wood he just put another layer of 3/4 ply right on top which has left me with a bit of rust issue.


was left with some fire starter after it was all said and done!!!!
And yes that is a porterbuilt c-notch in the foreground of this pic
build thread to come soon.