Identity Crisis 51 Project

[KINETIC51]

My old bed panels are being brought up next week for me to start working on. Thinking about what you said this evening made me make arrangements to get the three bed sides brought up by a buddy so I can start on them in my free time. I am like everyone else that has a budget in mind. Especially having to pay for two households while I am working away from home. These will be my first attempt at true body repair, at least the bed sides and front are straight.

Eric

[KINETIC51]

Got the bed sides last night in the garage and thawing out. Took some photos of where the previous owner removed the fender bolts the "easy" way. Lots of patching needed. I think I will see about having them same blasted to see exactly where I need to replace the rotten metal.

[ptc]

I just did a bunch of bedside repairs.... what a PITA....


you may just 'think' about buying new....

[KINETIC51]

ptc

I have thought about that a lot the last couple of weeks. This will be my first attempt at body repairs and I figure this will be good practice for my patience when it comes time to replace the cowl parts on the cab that need to be repaired.

I have been watching a lot of how to videos on patching, most say you don't want a perfect square patch due to the corners shrinking when welded. Is it better to cut the area out to round the corners and then make the patch and weld in place? Any advice would be greatly appreciated. I know I will need to go really slow to not warp the bedside.

Eric

[99 to Life]

I come from a bad snow belt and those are def what I'm use to seeing. If you are painting the truck, I'd find something from out west and ship it greyhound (still be cheaper than new). I like the idea of practicing on something like this, but... you still will have potential rot in the stake pockets and rails etc. its going to be very hard to get to all them areas and stop the rust. bedsides are def hard to work with, but I'd say practice on these and then save them or sell them if you find some better ones.

rounding corners on straight pieces is a good thing, but isn't mandatory. it really just helps with burning the corner off your patch. just practice, make sure your metal is clean, and stitch weld which is bouncing around. on thin metal (hardest to weld IMO) you gotta keep the heat right, too much or too little is gonna kill yah. I like to weld off of my previous weld on thin metal. So say you stitch a couple tacks and start running very small beads or more tacks, that welded tack will withstand more heat than the initial metal that is but together. So it helps with burn through. hard to explain but you just gotta practice. On heavier stuff you want to weld into a tack, not off of it as when you heat up the tack the structure can potentially move a little. assuming you have a mig welder? tig is ideal for sheetmetal, but like me and many others it still can be done with mig. I do alot of metal repair on my builds so Im finally trying to get a tig this winter. If you do mig, I'd highly suggest. .023 wire and weld with gas, not fluxcore on sheetmetal. having .030 wire isn't terrible and is a good medium for sheetmetal and thicker stuff, but .035 is better for heavy duty stuff. welding is fun, but it takes practice so working with crappy parts makes you a better craftsman IMO.

[Advanced Design]

That bedside looks like it needs a lot of patching. While potentially rewarding, it can be frustrating learning with this much patching to do.

Just for consideration, can you make a bedside? Use your original as a pattern, find some 16 gauge for the bedside, cut out to shape, then find a shop with a brake to make the bends needed. Use exhaust tubing to imitate the top bed roll and weld to the new bedside.

Mar K has the stake pocket supports priced at $45 for each front one and $55 for each rear one. A complete bedside is $320. And shipping to Alaska is probably expensive.

I saw a truck this summer and the owner built his bed this way.

Just throwing the idea out for you.

[ptc]

Lots of great advice on many ways to approach this. Mine were in good condition, I warped them by trying to work too fast. I got them straight again, but it took way more time and PATIENCE than I wanted to spend on it.

I agree with 99 in that you wont find everything and be chasing the rust issues forever. and when you see rust coming thru a brand new paint job after 6 months.... it will likely REALLY piss you off!!!! -

Looking for 'better' sides from the west coast like CA, AZ, NV will probably do you better than buying new. Have them dipped and then coated and you'll be good to go for 50 more years.

AD ideas of making from raw materials may be the MOST rewarding way of doing it, and least costly too. I just bought a 4x8 sheet of 18GA and it was $108 and I had them shear it down to the sizes I needed for all my fab projects and was like a $1 per cut. Muffler tubing is pretty cheap too.

Check out a HVAC shop for bending and cutting shapes or circles too. I had a local shop cut my wheel tubs for me and they were happy to do it for a 6 pack of beer for the shop guys!

good luck to ya

[99 to Life]

The ball is in your court, I think we def gave you all viable options. 1. work with those and practice, 2. find better ones in mean time 3. build your own. PTC- I got a 4x10 sheet of 18g for $60 where I'm from. Regardless materials aren't too much and you could realistically bend them yourself if the shop charges too much. You still need to source the headboard and good tailgate, so factor that into your price too. You can make or your own cross sills in the bed.

[KINETIC51]

Thanks for all the advice I have received from everyone. I found a complete '54 bed for $300 in California that has been stored inside for the last 20 years but it seems like it would need some work as well and then I would have to wait until I either drive down there or my buddy drives up with it. I just spoke with a coworker and he has access to a sheet metal brake and the guy that owns the shop has really good prices on sheet material. I think I will just practice on my old ones and build knew ones taking everyone's advice and buying the stake pockets to add to the bed and then take my time to find a really good set of fenders to add to it. I will update as soon as I can get materials and start bending. Thanks again.

Eric