1957 Chevy 3100, meet 1994 Dodge Ram 1500

[Purcell69]

Until I get a new laptop and decent internet service at the house, I'm not going to worry about it much. YouTube has some sort of editing software available and I would need to learn how to use it, but again, it is a back burner priority.

I've been shopping around for new bed floor material this week. Wood isn't a viable option for me here in Oklahoma. The climate is too damp and i don't have indoor parking at this time to keep the truck out of the weather. I'd really hate to see all my work rusting away from moisture being held in the lumber and winter time freezing.

Initially, I was going to use 3/16" steel plate to make the bed floor out of, but that stuff jumped $60 in price since last year. In reality, 3/16" is overkill anyway. I'm not using this truck as a farm truck or a welding rig, just a driver for me to enjoy. I had considered doing what Old57 did and reclaim some bed floor steel from a later GM truck and even found a donor trailer on Marketplace for $75 with the metal I would need. Still, I like the idea of using plate steel.

The local yard has a 5'x12' sheet of 10ga plate for $170 which will give me everything I need for the floor and extra plate for something else when the time comes. I'll have to cut it myself, but the cost savings is enough that I can by blades as needed.

I figure once I have the plate installed, I will bed line it and then add the bed strips as well. The bed strips will break up the look of a plain steel plate, add a bit of extra rigidity to the flat steel and will sit on top of the bed liner so larger items can still be slid back and forth when the are not strapped down.

-Joe

[Rickysnickers]

How about using some of that Treks material? You know the stuff they use for decking.

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

How about using some of that Treks material? You know the stuff they use for decking.

I'd never thought of that. If they made it in a 1" thick board, I imagine it would work, but I'm guessing enough to do the bed would probably be more money than the plate steel will cost.

I wonder if the Trex would start to sag between the cross sills over time.

-Joe

[Rickysnickers]

I don't know about the sagging, but if this is what you can use, it doesn't look terribly expensive. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Trex-Enh...ES01/203140659

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by Rickysnickers

I don't know about the sagging, but if this is what you can use, it doesn't look terribly expensive. https://www.homedepot.com/p/Trex-Enh...ES01/203140659

I went with a piece of 10 gauge plate steel from the local supply store. I had to buy a 5'x12' sheet since they don't carry the 4'x10' sheet, but out the door, the entire sheet was $175. I clamped on a fence to keep things straight, and cut it down to the proper 49 1/2" x 97" for the floor, using a metal cutting blade on my 7 1/4" circular saw. Now i have plenty of plate metal left over for future projects and a floor that will out last the truck.

Once I got it cut to size, I tack welded five pieces of 1" angle stock to the bottom, between the location of the cross sills. Then I tacked on a length of 2" square tube down the middle, to act not only as a spine, but to use for lifting it in to place. It worked like a charm and I was able to use my engine crane to set the floor in to place on the upside down bed.

I have been drilling the holes in the bottom for the cross sills now and then I will add the holes needed for the bed strips and recessed D-rings. Once all my holes are drilled, I will cut the welds on the angle stock, weld in the D-rings, and clean the bottom of the bed floor for paint. After that, I can reinstall the cross sills and flip the bed back over so I can bed line the floor and install the bed strips.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Here is what I have in mind for the D-rings and bed strips. My OEM strips are trashed after all these years and a very good friend just gifted me a set of stainless strips to use for the build. They should arrive about the time I am ready to install them if all goes well. The one good strip is more or less installed, just to get a better idea of how it will look, before I drill a bunch of holes in the floor. Keep in mint, the picture isn't upside down, the bed is.

The addition of the D-rings will also give a little drainage for the bed as well so I don't have to worry about water being held in the box.

-Joe

[joedoh]

funny co-inky-dink, I just cut the steel floor OUT of my bed


looking good, probably last forever!

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by joedoh

funny co-inky-dink, I just cut the steel floor OUT of my bed


looking good, probably last forever!

Lol! I had considered re-purposing some square body bed floor last week when a long bed trailer popped up on Marketplace in OKC for $50, but since this truck may see some actual farm use, I figure to 10 gauge was a better choice, and yes, it should probably last forever.

I have the bed down off the sawhorses now, but it is still upside down at the moment. I need to get my recessed D-rings and then cut the holes for them. All of the holes have been drilled for the bed strips and aside from the D-rings, I only have the hole left to cut for the recessed gooseneck hitch.

I'm going to recheck my measurements for the location of that hole and mark the cut for tomorrow morning. After that, if the weather dries, I should be ready to paint the underside of the bed.

-Joe

[joedoh]

I think you will be happier with your working floor than a fancy aluminum one, especially in the wallet!

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by joedoh

I think you will be happier with your working floor than a fancy aluminum one, especially in the wallet!

That’s no lie. All of that dirt, debris, and old paint on the underside of my new bed floor, from using my truck like a truck. Lol!

The aluminum is pretty, but not practical for someone who intends to use their bed for pickup truck stuff.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Time for an update...The excessively wet Oklahoma weather has really played havoc with trying to get the new bed floor coated. I welded in some 3' long pieces on 3/4" x 3/4" x 1/8" angle stock under the floor that will run parallel with the frame on either side of the well for the gooseneck, to give the floor a bit more rigidity where there are no cross sills due to the hitch plate. I also boxed in the opening for the gooseneck hitch with some 3/16" plate steel to make the opening a bit stronger and provide a lip for the cover when the hitch is not in use.

I flipped the bed upright and the D-rings came in very handy, in conjunction with the engine crane and some nylon straps. I also found I had goofed on one of the D-rings and had to open the hole up with a die grinder so the D-ring could drop back in the pocket.

I remounted the bed to check the fit and it seems good, but I can trim a little off the 3/4" ribs since they are in direct contact with the hitch plate. About 1/8" trimmed off should do it.

I finally got a few hours of warmish, dry weather and was able to sand and prime the bed floor. I still need to recheck the fit of the new bed strips, add a piece of base angle to the front of the box where the floor meets the front of the box, and then coat the floor with the Monstaliner. After that, I can reinstall the D-rings and bed strips and remount the bed. Once this is done, big steps will be on hold until next Spring, since Winter is coming on fast this year.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

The bed is off the truck one more time now. I did a little work underneath and on the truck frame since I was having issues with some of the mounting bolts.

I fixed the issue with the bowed panel at the front of the box, so no need to fit an angle strip there.

I laid out the new bed strips to help locate the holes to mount them. I will need to re-drill some of them, which I will be doing this afternoon, when I get home from work. Once all of the holes are done, I can mask the sides fo the box for the bedliner. I'll use the desert sand for the floor, up to the top of the angle strips and when the time comes, I'll use "one nighter" for the inside of the box walls and top of the bed rails, since it closely matches the original color of the truck, which I'm going back to.

I thought I had ordered my bed strips as a natural stainless finish, but these appear to be polished. Either way, I think they are going to look good. I am going to cut the center strip where it goes over the hidden gooseneck hitch. The piece of strip that I cut out will be attached to the cover plate for the hitch to continue the look.

-Joe

[joedoh]

looks like a real truck with the bed on! nice work JOE

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by joedoh

looks like a real truck with the bed on! nice work JOE

Thanks Joe. It's coming along. I finished marking all the holes for the bed strips this morning and I am in the process of drilling new holes now. I can't do the Monstaliner today. I realized it would be wise to have some extra rollers on hand after watching some videos about using the stuff. The rollers should be here tomorrow, so depending on the weather, the Monstaliner should be on later this week. Then I can reinstall the bed strips and mount the bed again.

Lots of little progress.

-Joe

[Old57]

Looking good, nice progress

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by Old57

Looking good, nice progress

Thank you sir! I was going to scuff and degrease the bed floor this morning and then apply a second coat of primer, but it seems I caught some sort of stomach bug. The second coat will have to wait until later this week, after the rain today and tomorrow. Once that is done, I can scuff and mask for the Monstaliner. If all goes as planned, the bed will be back on early next week. Right now, it is strapped down to my flatbed trailer.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

The stomach bug that has been going around Oklahoma hit me hard last week. Wednesday through Friday I was out of commission. I did manage to get the second coat of primer on over the weekend and yesterday, I scuffed out that coat, followed by a good wash down. Once that dried, I masked everything off and then tarped the bed to keep the barn cats and leaves off the prepped surface.

Today, after work, I got the Monstaliner rolled on in a coworker's shop. the bed is now curing in an enclosed environment and I can bring it home tomorrow afternoon. Weather and time permitting, I'll have the bed strips mounted and then the bed back on the truck.

In all, the floor only used about 1/2 gallon of Monstaliner for the two coats, not the 3 quarts they indicated. Had I known, I would have had the rear fenders cleaned and prepped for the bedliner to be spread on the insides for a protective coating. Lesson learned.

-Joe

[ambryatim]

Thanks Purcell69!! I really appreciate it!

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by ambryatim

Thanks Purcell69!! I really appreciate it!

You are very welcome. Hope these helped.

-Joe

[ambryatim]

Lookin good Joe!

[Purcell69]

Well since Photobucket stopped hosting images without charging non-commercial users, all of the original image links are now dead. I’ve got nearly 1,000 pictures taken of this build so far and it would be very difficult to hunt down all of the images from the first part of the thread. As a result, I’ve begun creating short slide shows from the original images and made several 3-4 minute movies. They are on my YouTube channel:

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCyc...FXSmXuzOULBTsQ

Feel free to stop by, check it out, like and subscribe. I still have a lot more to go and I’m still learning how to use the editing software. The first two videos are a bit rough, but I am getting the hang of it. I will keep working on videos as well as updating here as progress is made.

-Joe

[mikebte]

Nice job. Love the truck and hope your able to get the photo stuff figured out. Sucks loosing build photos.

[Purcell69]

Originally Posted by mikebte

Nice job. Love the truck and hope your able to get the photo stuff figured out. Sucks loosing build photos.

Thanks Mike.

I'm lucky, in that I haven't lost the photos. A while back, Photobucket decided that they would charge everyone who used their site to host images. There was little warning given to the site's users before Photobucket disabled all of the links. The only way to reactivate the links was to pay up. PB did this because they felt their sites users were hosting photos for commercial purposes and PB wanted their piece of the pie, despite what efect it would have on non-commercial users.

It turns out that after many months, PB reactivated the non-commercial links after their ransom demands were not met. Meanwhile, I had downloaded all of my images to a few different hard drives and a USB drive, and then deleted all of my content from PB. As a result, every image I posted in any forum has a dead link if it was hosted by PB. Initially, I was going to go back and ad my photos in locally, but we are talking nearly 1,000 images, maybe more.

When I downloaded my images from PB, all the metadata for the images was lost, so I can't sort them by image date. I have to go picture by picture and then remember what I was trying to illustrate at that time. Rebuilding the threads with the correct photos would take months, after sorting the images. The file names are no help, because I used several different cameras for the original images, so they are not in any sequence, though the originals still have the metadata files.

Instead of trying to replace all the PB images in sequence, I think the YouTube slide show option is a bit more practical. I'm sorting the images into groups relating to specific events or parts, like the engine, or frame modifications, etc. By doing this, I am starting to reorganize the images and I may take some time later on to replace the PB images so the links are functional again, but I don't trust Photobucket to continue to do the right thing.

-Joe

[Purcell69]

Here is the next installment.

https://youtu.be/4gRqvuDqSTY

-Joe

[Purcell69]

The weather outside was crappy today, so what better way to spend the afternoon than editing the next video.

Please enjoy!

https://youtu.be/nPK7Li7i4ec

-Joe