1972 Stepside SWB

[whiteyandreddy]

Here are some more in process pictures of the truck beore paint in November 2011

[72SWBChevy]

sweet paint!
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[67c10rustbuket]

Originally Posted by whiteyandreddy

Do you have any advice on steel vs. aluminum vs poly?

I just sold my plastic poly fuell cell and bought an aluminum one from a vendor here boyd's welding. Pricey but dang sexy and I needed it for EFI. You could prob use a rear mount blazer tank, I think on a step you just remove the floor support above the tank. then figure where you want to put the filler neck, in the wood floor? bed side? hide it in the step fender? where ever you want. Im really liking the og green paint color, theres a few others on here that just got painted that color also. Very nice color for sure!

[whiteyandreddy]

I ordered my gas tank today and decided to go with one from Golden State pickup parts. I needed one pretty quick, so hopefully, haste won't make waste. I have added some more pictures of the truck before paint. These pictures show the cab after welding in new cab floors and rockers.
This week is bed wood, cross sills and gas tank.

[72SWBChevy]

Those floor pans turned out good, just keep at it!

[67cheby]

looking great !!

[whiteyandreddy]

Things are really moving along now. I bought the bed wood yesterday from Consolidated Hardwood in Denver. Good folks. I was able to find the Ipe hardwood I was after, although it was in longer lengths than I needed since it is sold as a decking material. I ended up with about 25% excess in length, but was still cheaper than buying pre-fabbed oak planks. I have been told it will last 35 years untreated. Here are some before finishing pictures, in process and after. The as purchased wood was two different thicknesses, either 3/4 to 1". The boards were planed on one edge to be flat, cut down to length plus 6 to 8" for surface/face planing, planed to thickness alternating sides, cut to width, then started routing. We had trouble with the table router and ended up making two pasees on each groove to get the channel right. After routing we cut to the finished length of the bed strips. My plan is to apply a clear Penofin oil.
I also received a new poly gas tank from Golden State. I also purchased the MAR-K steel cross sils. I want to say I am very impressed with the quality of these cross sills. I wasted money purchasing others (from China). Lesson learned: buy your cross sills and reinforcement strips from MAR-K.

[whiteyandreddy]

Here are the boards in order, after final sanding with 60, 120 and 180 grit paper.

[WIDESIDE72]

Nice!!!

[whiteyandreddy]

Thanks WIDESIDE. I just got done in the shop tonight and had a great time today actually creating something. I am looking forward to getting the boards in and the bed mounted. My goal is to have it on the road by Father's Day this June.

[67cheby]

sweet

[whiteyandreddy]

Updated from today: I resanded a few spots and stained the bed wood with clear Penofin oil. My daughter was excited to help. She loves to paint.

[67c10rustbuket]

Bed wood looks nice! does that box say Bamboo ?? Your cab floor replacement also looks top notch. great job man.

[whiteyandreddy]

Originally Posted by 67c10rustbuket

Bed wood looks nice! does that box say Bamboo ?? Your cab floor replacement also looks top notch. great job man.

Thanks, 67c10RustBucket. The box does say bamboo, but it is not for the bed wood. It was holding some scrap from another friend's project table. I used Ipe (pronounced "e-pay") wood, based on a recommendation of a woodworker friend of mine. I combed through a bunch (and I mean a bunch) of decking planks to find some nice boards to cut and plane. I used the dimensions sent out by MAR-K on this blog. It is a very hard wood and heavy, about twice as dense as oak. It ages well outdoors. I will post pictures when it is installed.
Thanks for the compliments on the welding. I wish I could say I did it. I had the rust repair and paint done by an outside shop.

[whiteyandreddy]

An update: The body shop finished the paint and clear coat buffing. We installed the glass and bed wood. We also attached the bed. In moving the gas tank to the rear frame, I hit some snags on the filler tube routing. More on that to come. I also received the wheels from Coy's. They are really sharp. Here are some more pictures.

[whiteyandreddy]

Some more pictures of the bed and bed attach. I used the black fender welt between the finder and bed side, and between the step and the bed side.

[whiteyandreddy]

Here are some images from the driver's side, nearly complete.

[whiteyandreddy]

These are the Coy C5 wheels just received. The are chrome C5, 17" by 8" in the front, and 18" by 9.5" in the rear. Front tire height is 28". Rear tire height is 31.5". I will be installing them next weekend and will post some better pcitures.

[67c10rustbuket]

Very nice!

[RexDodge]

Originally Posted by whiteyandreddy

Thanks, 67c10RustBucket. The box does say bamboo, but it is not for the bed wood. It was holding some scrap from another friend's project table. I used Ipe (pronounced "e-pay") wood, based on a recommendation of a woodworker friend of mine. I combed through a bunch (and I mean a bunch) of decking planks to find some nice boards to cut and plane. I used the dimensions sent out by MAR-K on this blog. It is a very hard wood and heavy, about twice as dense as oak. It ages well outdoors. I will post pictures when it is installed.
Thanks for the compliments on the welding. I wish I could say I did it. I had the rust repair and paint done by an outside shop.

Looks great! I have heard of the Ipe hardwood. They say it is very tough stuff and holds up well to moisture. Minimal shrinkage when you get it out of it's element. Nice job...

[whiteyandreddy]

More progress this week. The plan is to move it back home this weekend. I still need to finish the fuel line routing, interior, electrical and a few smalled tasks but it is getting close.....

[whiteyandreddy]

Some more images, including the bed wood after stain and installation

[whiteyandreddy]

OK, here they are. Hit submit too soon

[whiteyandreddy]

A couple more....

[VA72C10]

Truck looks great!!!