Fleetside box repair

[63chevy4x4]

I have 2 boxes for my 61 gmc, neither of them are too rusty but have plenty of dents and dings in front and behind the wheel wells. Comparing the 2 boxes I found that I have enough straight steel to make 1 good box if I cut patches out of one and welded into the other, for example, the front drivers on my one box is bad from the seam down but on the other box the passenger front is good from the seam down, would it work to cut the boxes apart and butt weld a patch in? has anyone had experience doing this?thanks!

[luvbowties]

Originally Posted by 63chevy4x4

I have 2 boxes for my 61 gmc, neither of them are too rusty but have plenty of dents and dings in front and behind the wheel wells. Comparing the 2 boxes I found that I have enough straight steel to make 1 good box if I cut patches out of one and welded into the other, for example, the front drivers on my one box is bad from the seam down but on the other box the passenger front is good from the seam down, would it work to cut the boxes apart and butt weld a patch in? has anyone had experience doing this?thanks!

Seems no one else has answered. But my thoughts are very positive on the merits of such a project. Looking at several sites where long beds have been cut down to make shorties (cut-and-welded vertically in two places), that is almost exactly what they did. Butt-welding such gauges of metal seems to make quite adequately strong joints, even without using any type of reinforcement strips.
Maybe someone who has done exactly what you propose may chime in; but I see no negatives they might have run into other than proper cut-and-alignment prior to welding.
Good luck with making a beautiful box!
Sam

[Captainfab]

As long as you are familar with welding sheet metal, that is certainly doable. You might also weigh the cost difference between buying the aftermarket bed patch panels and selling the other box, or cutting up your extra box for the patch panels.

[fleetsidelarry]

off hand, I would think that straightening the warping from the welding would be at least as time consuming as fixing numerous dents. 'course if you're talking about large buckled areas or really mangled panels then you're probably better off patching.