building a great looking wood bed for cheap

[Chibueno]

New to the community. I bought a 1966 C10 Longbed for a birthday present for the wife. Money was tight, but I am always up for the challenge. The wood bed was gone so here is what I was able to do for less than $150.00 I figured you would want to see the finished product first

[Chibueno]

The bed is made from redwood that was found in local lumber yard. The whole family went out and picked through the wood pile to find the best pieces. her is a before pic of wood piece that will be replaced by the piece of wood along side of it.

[Chibueno]

Some of the products used; a table saw with a dado blade. I used a micro-calibrator to measure out the right size for dado. I found that the best tool outside of this forum was a good cordless impact drill. I was able to reuse the old metal strips. I cleaned them up with a wire brush wheel then use the rustoluem black primer and paint

[Chibueno]

The bed has about four months on it right now in the So. Cal weather. I has been through 3 rain storms so far and some very warm days.

[earl84]

Wow, that looks great.
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[Greg63]

Looks really nice.
Greg.

[Chibueno]

Here is our truck that received the new bed I built

[Chibueno]

Here is the truck bed in the beginning and some of the stages before it was finished.

[westcoast5]

Nice!
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[Realnoisy]

Beautiful job! Subscribed.

[tincan1966]

Great looking work!

[aerotruk63]

Man that looks nice.

[63chevy4x4]

Looks awsome!! how many coats of urithane did you use? did you thin it at all?

[62 Barnfind]

Your bed came out real nice. I did my bed myself also. I just couldn't see spending over $200 for pre cut wood and then new strips and bolts. By the time I finished pricing it it was over $500. Good job! Love the color!

[Chibueno]

RE: Looks awesome!! how many coats of urethane did you use? did you thin it at all?

I used three coats of urethane and applied it in thin coats and sanded between using 220 grit, then a tacky cloth to remove and dust. I did not thin product, but I did use a wide sponge brush because I was creating too many bubbles with a quality brush.

[DesertCat]

Nice job!

Did you leave the lumber at 5/4" or use a planer/jointer for the final thickness?

EDIT> Sorry, didn't think you may have got it as 1x material, doh! I am used to buying rough-cut wood...

[Chibueno]

Originally Posted by DesertCat

Nice job!

Did you leave the lumber at 5/4" or use a planer/jointer for the final thickness?

EDIT> Sorry, didn't think you may have got it as 1x material, doh! I am used to buying rough-cut wood...

I bought rough cut 5/8 redwood and just sanded it with a Home Depot brand [Rigid] 5 inch rotary sander to get it to the smooth finish I liked. I would of used a planer but did not have access to one, that would have made the job much easier. Here is an example of the rough wood I started with:

[Chibueno]

Thanks for all the kudos, I am now looking to tackle the power steering conversion for the old 66. All the builds and the knowledge provided in these forums are just awesome.

[Indian113]

Awesome job,that's thinking outside the BOX!

[61_FL_Apache]

Very nice job!!

[RANDY COX]

Very Schweet,That Looks very nice,

[socaljess]

nice job that bed wood looks nice

[rideblue00]

Looks great!

[LDO]

That looks really clean. I noticed you didn't use any of the large bolts that secure the main boards to the frame. Did you just leave them out or use some tricky method of mounting them from underneath somehow?

[Chibueno]

I bolted the cross members to frame. You can use the original bolts from frame without going through the wood if you allow some space underneath your new pieces of wood. I will post a pic of what I did.
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