wood bed

[chevyhed53]

Somewhere along its no-doubt colorful history, the wooden bed floor in my '56 stepside was replaced with a fairly heavy-gauge sheet of steel. It's welded in all around. I'm starting to plan for replacing it with pre-cut-and-drilled wood bed strips, and was hoping to get some advice, especially regarding removal of the existing steel bed floor, and how to stabilize the sides once the bed floor has been cut loose. I still have my gas tank behind the seat, so there's no issue there. If there is a previous thread on this that was helpful, please steer me to it. Thanks!

[dsraven]

first check to ensure the steel below the welded in piece is shaped like it should be and not rusted out.
if you are going to use a zip disc or some other grinding or cutting method you may want to take the box off the trruck so you don't get grinding sparks embedded into your paint and glass. also cover all the rest of the painted parts of the bos for the same reason. take the fenders off as well.
zip disc is what i would use, with a set of safety glasses, a full face visor, hearing protection, thick gloves, coveralls, garden hose at the ready for any flash fires in surrounding area, etc etc. you get the picture.

speaking of pics, post one up so we can see whsat you are dealing with

[vintovka]

I found this looking for info on installing a bed. I like his work.

http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=599574

[Dan in Pasadena]

I too had a steel plate welded into my bed but over the original bed wood. I cut the hell out of my finger grinding the spot welds off with a cheapo Harbor Freight 4-1/2" grinder so wear heavy gloves and BE CAREFUL.

Pictures in post #22 of my build thread.