Grandpa's 72 restoration

[MDPotter]

Glad to see you were able to get your gaps in better shape!

[landarts]

Looks like you are getting there on the gaps. Truck is looking great and cant wait to see it all back together. What a great build and a great way to remember your grandpa. I hope when it is done you will drive and use it like it is meant to be. Again nice job!

[Snake72]

Thanks! The truck will be driven and used like the old farm truck it is...just a little more gentle during it's second life.

Bought some wood for the bed last week. I wanted something local with history for the wood, not a generic kit. Thought about barn wood but couldn't find the right size. Ended up finding Amana Forestry. Amana is several historic colonies in Iowa, 30 minutes from my house. Their forestry department logs the local hardwoods and mills onsite. Chose a wood I've never seen used in truck beds before, hackberry. It's a hardwood in the elm family and kinda looks like ash. $100 for all my boards, had them planed to 3/4". Basically 1x10x9's. The wood has fantastic coloring and grain, should look beautiful when finished. Plan to leave natural or antique american stain, covered with epifanes.

[68Gold/white]

I took a tour through a furniture factory at the Amana's, years ago.

Look'n Good!!!

[cornerstone]

The grain pattern is very beautiful on your future bed floor, please post pictures of the staining and progress. Looking forward to seeing the finished product! Brian

[Snake72]

Thanks guys, the darker grain of that wood is the heartwood, when I rip them down to width most of the lighter sapwood will be cut off, should be pretty and I'll post my process.

Just ordered 2 new bedsides today, my last piece of the puzzle to finish up assembly before blowing it all apart to paint. Need to sand blast my cross sills yet.

My front bed panel was pushed forward on the top middle like a long bow and could not get it to straighten out. I ended up jacking up my duramax front tires and slid the bowed panel underneath the tire and gently let down the truck tire like a huge hydraulic press. Put some blocks underneath the edges of the panel to press the bow a little past straight each time as the metal would "rebound" some when I took the pressure off. Came out perfect and it even pulled out some kinked metal from the bow. Some hammer and dolly work and it looks great.

[RedRider]

Originally Posted by Snake72

I ended up jacking up my duramax front tires and slid the bowed panel underneath the tire and gently let down the truck tire like a huge hydraulic press.

That's a great idea.

[Snake72]

Had a few hours over the long weekend, my driver side gaps are as good as I can get them. Had to shim the core support up 3/8", enlarge lower fender mount holes, cut the front of the rocker 1/4" back and reweld. installed strikers and door latch. They open and close perfect and gaps are good enough. Sprayed some rattle can medium blue to better see the gaps.

Passenger side is 90% done, will need to grind down the vent window frame to fit better. Panel fitting kinda sucks...

Cutting the bed wood this weekend. New bedsides and all the cross sills are on their way. Only the front panel will be original to the truck. The rest of the bed metal is garbage and beyond saving. Already have a new tailgate and tubs. So all that will be getting assembled and fitted off the truck first.

Also ordered 2 wheel vintiques 62 series in 15x8 for the back end. The fronts will stay 15x6 and will be painted white.

[Ol Blue K20]

Looking good, your patience is paying off.

[Snake72]

Big day yesterday. My new bedsides came in, got a great deal on them from my local supplier. No shipping cost because I picked them up at his shop and $525 per bedside, however the driver side had some minor damage from shipping so he knocked $100 off that side. Less than 1K for 2 new bedsides, I'm happy. They are triplus brand from Classic Industries.

I previously had bought all new cross sills and rear sill, had new tubs and new tailgate. Bought a bunch of 5/16 bolts and went at it. Went together pretty well, had to hog out a few front panel bolt holes to get the bolts in them but not bad. The tricky part was getting the rear sill to slide into the besides to bolt them up. Had to cut a little bit off the sill for clearance then they bolted up fine. The tailgate went on fine and gaps seem to be pretty good for rough fitting. I'll blow it all apart for paint and raptor liner on the lower inner bedsides and tubs.

Last weekend a friend and I ripped and grooved the hackberry boards on a table saw. Dado blade worked awesome for the grooves. I set the boards in just to sit back and look at it.

The only original metal on the bed is the front panel and tailgate trunions and straps (painted blue in the pics)

I'm a happy camper. Can't wait to set it on the frame.

[rustytruck50]

Nice, nice work!!!

[MDPotter]

Nice progress! You're coming down the home stretch of body work.

Don't make the mistake I did and put the nuts that hold the bedsides to the front panel on the outside of the bed panel. I convinced my dad to do that on his 64 to make it a little cleaner and the bolts were long enough that one of them scratched the back of the cab.

[Snake72]

Thank you. The front panel nuts are inside the bed, read many stories on guys scratching the cab with bolts facing out.

My aftermarket tailgate blows. Body lines don't match up with bedsides very well, can't shut tailgate without it pushing down and flexing rear cross sill. Have tried to adjust the hinges up and out to gain clearance but just wont clear. Sloppy trunion joint, weak flimsy metal. May try to rework my original tailgate. Its all close and would work for a beater driver, but the fit is not satisfactory.

On the plus side the bed wood is coming along nicely. I first squared the bed and test fit everything prior to drilling holes and made some relief cuts and other minor changes to the bed flanges that the bolts go through. Then did about 20 test pieces for color and finish to find my formula. What I did first is oil the boards with teak oil to somewhat seal the wood so the stain would not make everything one uniform color. I let the oil sit for maybe 5 mins then wiped off excess and let dry several days. Then using minwax dark walnut thinned 50% I applied that quickly and wiped off quickly. Let dry. What this accomplished was to darken the white sapwood to match the gray/brown heartwood without completely blending and loosing the natural highlights and lowlights. Then started top coating with Epifanes gloss spar varnish....which is AWESOME stuff... 5 coats on right now waiting 24 hours between coats with sanding between coats. Followed directions to the letter. Tonight I will start 2-4 coats of Epifanes matte finish which does not require sanding between coats. These products build very well but thinning is necessary otherwise its like painting on thick honey.

I got my new unpolished stainless strips in yesterday so I threw them on quick over my lunch break. Still too shiny for me, may take red scuff pad to them to dull them up a little and match the matte wood finish. We'll see.

[MDPotter]

Where did you get your tailgate from? Was it a complete bed kit or did you order them from separate vendors?

[Snake72]

I bought the tailgate probably 1 year ago, from my normal body panel guy but was a scratch / dent deal...bought it cheap. Had a small dent on the bottom I already pulled out that doesnt affect fit or function.

[sprint_9]

Look into these, eBay item number:171709178881 Brothers also has a version.

I bought the ebay ones and they help a lot with slop. I also had to slot the holes quite a bit on mine as well as work on the box with a dremel where they mount but I got mine to fit decent. One of the body lines is pretty good on mine, the other isnt that great but Im going to live with it.

I would also mock up the tailgate handle while your at it, mine fit like crap.

[Snake72]

Originally Posted by sprint_9

Look into these, eBay item number:171709178881 Brothers also has a version.

I bought the ebay ones and they help a lot with slop. I also had to slot the holes quite a bit on mine as well as work on the box with a dremel where they mount but I got mine to fit decent. One of the body lines is pretty good on mine, the other isnt that great but Im going to live with it.

I would also mock up the tailgate handle while your at it, mine fit like crap.

Thanks for the link, i've never seen those before. Sounds like we have the same fitment issues with the new beds. I trimmed some excess folded sheet metal where the trunion bolts up and used 2 washers on each mount bolt to remove some of the slop and that helped quite a bit, much tighter now. I enlarged the holes on the trunion mount again for more adjustability and the tailgate will now shut pretty well without contacting the rear cross sill.

Also the Epifanes matte wood finish is absolutely incredible. Pics to come after another coat.

[Snake72]

Pic of the matte finish, has the perfect sheen and very level and even coverage.
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[Snake72]

Also spent several more hours with the tailgate. This thing was a real bugger but I have it closing great and gaps are kinda ok.

The pic shows how mismatched the body lines are on the tailgate vs the bedside though...no fixing this. I will have the custom deluxe tailgate and tail light trim so hopefully that hides some of the poor fit

I can only upload one pic at a time on my phone
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[Snake72]

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[sprint_9]

Its off alot more than mine was, is it like that on both sides?

It almost looks like the problem is with the box side and not the tail gate, was the box side dented in on that corner?

[Snake72]

Originally Posted by sprint_9

Its off alot more than mine was, is it like that on both sides?

It almost looks like the problem is with the box side and not the tail gate, was the box side dented in on that corner?

Yeah both sides, driver side worse. No dents or issues with bedsides, the tailgate has been a fight from the start, nothing is symmetrical on it and poor joints/welds/quality control...

Here is a pic from the top, tailgate contour sticks out 1/4" on driver side
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[Snake72]

This is passenger side from top. 1/8" proud on tailgate contour. Sorry pics are sideways...
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[Snake72]

I've been working on the bed and wood at my house so this weekend I tore it down and loaded it on the trailer to haul it up to the shop. Reassembled the bed and had my dad and a few friends help mount to frame. Body lines all flow very well for the initial fit. Have a few dents on driver side to bodywork then will blow it all apart again for paint.

One issue I have been noticing is that the front driver side of the truck sits about 1" lower than passenger creating a slight twist in frame front to back. You can see it with the bed mounted rear view picture. Not sure if a spring isn't seated correctly or maybe driver side spring is weaker? I'll have to investigate.

Also installed the honda civic weatherstrips on doors, fantastic fit and doors shut great, seals well all around. had to cut 1" out to fit was all.

My son sure liked testing out the steering for me haha...

[Snake72]

Here is the honda civic weather strip, would highly recommend.

Also the new rear leaf springs create quite the rake front to back, looks beefy but might have to take out a leaf or two..