69 homemade short bed

[rjs53]

Going from LWB to SWB but to cheap to get the new bed sides, so shortening the old long bed. I decided to try two of the popular methods as far as the front goes. I drilled all the spot welds out of the front brace and homered the edges. This is very time consuming and measuring from multiple places is a must. In my case the bed has some pretty bad damage which made it hard to find a spot to measure from that I could use on the other panel and have both turn out the same length, or at least proportionate. The other side I simply cut sections out and welded back together. This is not as easy as I thought. When trying to line everything up the bed sides sag from the inner brace being cut. Its taken me about 4 days to get to the point I'm at. Worst case is they turnout looking like junk and I buy the bed sides or I found another bed in good shape for $450 and I cut that one. The first picture is the one I tried to make look like factory with the end crimped over. It looks crooked but just the way I took the pic. The 2nd is the other method of cut a section out and weld back. As you can see by the bottom picture I'm going to have to get a patch panel and do more work, about a 1/2" of filler was covering up damage.

[tutone]

Doesn't look so bad . You really, really need to focus on your inside cuts. Too much gap, hard to weld, too little and your outer panel dips. Take your time welding, maybe an inch on top and move to the bottom and back and forth from front to back seams. A good rule of thumb is not to weld on a spot that is too hot to hold your bare hand on. Keep at it and look at as many different threads as you can. Mine has the exact same approach and you can access it on my signature. Lots of different ways to skin this cat.

[rjs53]

Nice job on your truck. Yes cutting on tape line was easy enough but seems no matter how straight my cuts were it still didn't just line up. By the time I massaged some places others opened up. I think once I finish it'll look ok, heck a little mud and nobody but us will know. What's next on your truck? Any interior ideas.

[tutone]

It is tough to metal finish a 67-72 bedside because of all the contours and the sloping body reveal. don't forget to remove and fill in your center stake pocket holes. Stay tuned to my build thread, got lots in store.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Yes, the guys on instagram, etc make it look way too easy.

I have A LOT of time in this bedside, but I'm happy with it. I haven't fully finish welded it, but the tacks are down to +/-1/2" apart.



I went with the Z cut at the rear because I wanted to eliminate the markers from this bed (my truck is a 67),



This thing was my best friend. I was constantly checking for flatness. I let a few very very minor dips go, but if anything started to pull in too much or push out I worked it, or cut the weld and tried again. It will definitely need filler to be super nice, but shouldn't be anymore than +/-1/16 in most places.





I did a lot of practice welding on an extra bed floor I had. It's a nice clean floor, but the blue floor was absolutely pristine and I didn't want to mess it up. Came out nice though.



Blue floor:

[rjs53]

Nice job! I started to do the Z cut but couldn't get my angles. I think ill patch the marker lights also, don't really care for em. I think with about a 1/16" of bondo, ill be looking good. Someone literally put over a half inch o cover up some minor sings and dents, for what reason beats me.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Because it's easier than doing it right...

I had a bed that had top and bottom trim and someone beat in all the trim holes like 1/2" and mudded em up.

I started that like a year ago. Floor is fully welded. DS bedside looks the same, and the front of the PS bed is cut and tacked together, rear is taped and marked up but still uncut

My wife and I talked it over and we're completely finishing our house this year. I've spent the last 8 years fully remodeling the inside of our house and it's done. It has a new roof, new windows, and I'm halfway done with the final thing, residing the whole house. When that's completed, I'm looking into building a 24x40 shop next to the house this year, so my project is on hold. It's OK though, truck is still complete and drivable, this was to swap a step to a fleet.

The Z cut looks scary at first, but isn't bad. It perfectly eliminates the signal hole.

[rjs53]

Thing about projects is their always there. I think that's partly why I like classic vehicles so much, there's always something to do. I have home projects going myself so I have a little guilt going knowing I need to finish those first. It only took a week to do the bed sides, so I can get back on track with home stuff

[rjs53]

Shortened the frame, got the C notch done and got all my early classics parts for the 4-6 drop. Have been working on the rust, seems to be more and more every time I cy some out there's more behind it. Just got all the panels and pieces ill need I hope, to fix it

[Richard2112]

Looks sharp.

[rjs53]

Got the new gas tank in from Brothers, took a break from rust repair for a day. Waiting on cab supports

[rjs53]

Come a long way since I last posted. Rebuilt the suspension, new driveline, painted twice, went overboard on the patina look. Just got the wheels, 650 ridlers black, fronts 8.5 (4.5 BS) back 10" (5.5 BS) haven't got the tires yet and I need to replace rear axles with 5 lug from the six. Having a hard time finding tires that match with the size I'm going for. Also replaced the steering column with a tilt and fixed wiring. Next is a seat, carpet and bumpers. I replaced cab corners, inner and outer rockers and a section of floor. Hope to have it driving in the next couple months.

[rjs53]

Picture without the strip is first attempt at patina, the second is current. Gonna stick with it for a while. Has a semi gloss clear, haven't gotten it pit in the light to see how it'd going to look.

[raggedjim]

Nice work, Rg