Project 58 blast from my past

[Madd Doc]

Today was our local car show "sea cruse", spotted a few nice trucks, thought I would share.

[Madd Doc]

Finally getting some more work done, decided to tackle that ugly pink bed and try my hand at some metal shrinking, the left side of the bed is in pretty rough shape I ended up cutting the rear section below the tail light off and taking it to the shot bag to get it close to shape. I had a large area to shrink right behind the wheel so went after that next, once it was close enough I worked on the crease in the bullet. I re welded the rear piece back on and started in with the filler, looks like none of it will be more than a 1/8 in thick. A few more holes to weld up and maybe even weld up the stake pocket holes.





Didn't get very far with the filler, thought I had more that that on hand, trip to the parts store will fix that tomorrow.

[Kim57]

That's coming out nice.
Kim

[Rude Dude]

Nice work on the bed keep posting!

[Madd Doc]

Got some more work done on the bed, 1st photo shows the 4 major damage areas which I numbered with red numbers. #1 a long crease, #2 the bullet was smashed down, #3 this area was a real mess, when the bed was a trailer it was dropped and bent upward and it looks like some one with a large "shall we say, back side" caved it inward. #4 creased, folded and bent. I think in an earlier post you can kind of see the damage.



The second photo is the results of a lot of hours of work, My wife bought me a stud welder for my birthday and wow what a great tool, took care of a lot of dents with it especially in area marked #1, as for the bullet (#2) I pulled as much as I could but still ended up about 1/8" away so out came the filler, now I have almost no experience with body work and that compound curve with a body line down the middle was a chore. I ended up marking the body line and used a long board to get a flat, level start, I then remarked the body line and using the long board worked above and below my mark until I had it close, took a couple of attempts, had to go back and add a little plastic and sand it off again.

The reason I am spelling this out is that I am not sure this was the right way if any one has a better technique I am all ears as the other side is just as bad. Oh as for area 3 another new technique for me shrinking metal but after a few hours had it close enough that a 1/16" skim coat covered it nice. Area 4 I cut it off the truck, beat it with a hammer and shot bag then welded it back on, a skim coat and it looks good. I deliberately filled over the seam and went back with a cutoff wheel and put it back, now its nice and even.

Still have a few low spots but I was tired so I sprayed a coat of filler primer and when I can get the truck outside I will wet sand and deal with them.

[Kim57]

That came out real nice.
Kim

[OrrieG]

I feel your pain, I had the same issues in the same places. I am still working on the spear center line. Mine had the bottom of your #4 cut out for a lift gate so I had to find and weld in the bottom corner. I have hours in that area on both sides getting the curves right and keeping the plastic to just a skim coat. I used a thin hack saw blade on the vertical crease to get the plastic out that bleed into it.

[Madd Doc]

Been a while since I posted, haven't gotten much done lately, with the cold weather and holidays but I did make some progress, the right side of that bed is worse than the left side so I decide to take a different approach. I unbolted and removed the bed side since the bullet is smashed almost the full length I cut the inner fender out of the way so I can get to the bullet from the back side and started hammering it back into shape. I'll weld the inner panel back when I am done beating on it with a hammer. I will get some pics posted as the work progresses.

[_Ogre]

i did not know that the fleetside beds were double wall.
i didn't think they did that until the 70s.
it never ceases to amaze me at how much i don't know about these trucks that i've owned for 40 years
boy, that statement makes me feel old...

[Madd Doc]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

i did not know that the fleetside beds were double wall.
i didn't think they did that until the 70s.
it never ceases to amaze me at how much i don't know about these trucks that i've owned for 40 years
boy, that statement makes me feel old...

Ogre, take a look inside the bed half way down is a piece of metal folded out about an inch then goes down to the floor of the bed, if that section of double wall wasn't there you would be able to see the inside of bullets. shocked me too, i didn't realize it was a double wall until i removed the bed side from the truck. I used a body saw to remove them so I can hammer and dolly the metal, when I get done I'll have to weld them back in.

ps. I know how you feel about that old thing :-)

[Madd Doc]

Here is some pic's of the work on the right side of the bed, got it removed from the truck, what a chore that was almost every bolt had to be cut off or just broken off, most of the house paint removed and discovered a large area of lead filler, the second photo is the areas ware I removed the lead and now I have some old screw in puller holes to fill, kind of makes you wonder how many years ago that repair was done.

[dubie]

things are coming along nicely.

[tpimuncie]

Nice!!

[Madd Doc]

Progress is progress, attacked that messed up corner had to make a patch, a quick bend on the brake then some quality time with the shrinker/stretcher, tacked in place pretty happy with the outcome.

[Wheelie]

I love shrinker /stretchers. I dont use ours much but when we do it saves sooooo much time. Your repairs are looking great!

[Kim57]

That came out real nice.
Kim

[dug224]

My bed sides are pretty much like yours. Good idea to take it off and work it. Mine is already apart so I will be sure to fix them before reassembly. dug

[Madd Doc]

Originally Posted by dug224

My bed sides are pretty much like yours. Good idea to take it off and work it. Mine is already apart so I will be sure to fix them before reassembly. dug

I'm glad I removed the inner liner to get to the back side of the bullets, its a lot easier to hammer/dolly it back into shape that trying to pull it with studs, especially since the right side of mine was crushed almost the full length. I'll give it a good coating of rust prevention before welding them back in, should take care of any rust issues there, at least in my lifetime.

[Desert.Chevy]

Nice Build, looks good.
Posted via Mobile Device

[BC Toy chest]

Nice work, looking forward to seeing more.

[Madd Doc]

Slowly making progress on that bed side, here is one pic of the inside of the bullet, I cut out the inner fender to gain access with a hammer and dolly. Since this pic I have welded it back in, I'll get some more shots as I go.

[_Ogre]

nice work on that patch panel

[Madd Doc]

Been getting some work done just not much of it photo worthy, bed sides are about 90%, still need some fine tuning but coming along. This pic is of the really bad side.

[_Ogre]

looks good doc.

[Kim57]

Nice.
Kim