Hard shell toneau cover

[mwerfner]

Does anyone make one and can any other lids work with modifications?

[earl87gta]

I made one one time it looked good but I dont have pics. but i can tell you what I did to build it. do you want one that is flush with the inside up the bed or the one that goes over the top of the side covering the stake holes?

[mwerfner]

one that covers the holes

[earl87gta]

Hear is how I did it. First I made a frame to mach the inside of the bed with 2x2 you don’t want this to be tight so make it a ½ in shorter and narrower . I also had 1 center brace. I ended up with a frame that looks like a later. Then I took and ripped some 1 in by 1in strips you will need one for each side and above the tail gate. Then I used 2 pieces of tong and grove ply wood. I used ¾ of an inch. If you have a 6ft bed it works out good. First measure the out side dimensions of the bed. From ware the cover will start and stop. I don’t have exact figures here so for this we will say it 72 x 60.
I cut the sheets of ply wood to 36 by 60 with. Make sure you cut one with the grove one with the tongue. This is ware they will come together on the center brace made earlier. You can then screw the ply wood to the later shaped brace. This is ware you have to start shaping it. To do this put what you have made up to this point in the truck. You will now need to draw out the corners mine at the time was a step side so it was all straight on a fleet side you may need to curve them some. Now that you have got the corners the way you like them end every thing lines up on the bed good you are ready for the 1by 1 strips we made. I used wood glue and brad nailers for this and a lot of c clamps. Take the strips and nail and glue them to the under out side edge of the cover. Once again cut the corners to match the ply wood. This is going to give you an indention for the weather striping so it is sealed from the elements. When done. For the front against the back of the cab cut a 1x4 down to fit this area this is ware we have to decide on hinges. I don’t like the hinges that come with some of the manufactured covers so I always make my own version of what they use. You can also use a piano hinge. Or door hinges what ever you want but this is ware you need to decide so you can router out an indentation for them. I can draw out the hinges used by the manufactures if you like they make theirs so that the cover can be removed easily if needed. If you use hinges it’s not easily removable. If you use the factory style hinge it will be placed between the plywood and the 1x4 you cut down. You can use carriage bolt to bolt the hinges to the 1x4 and counter sink the heads so they are not in the way. Then you can glue or fiber glass resin to laminate the 1x4 to the ply wood. You can put a few screws in it but the glue or resin will be doing the holding not the screws. Now we have the basic cover made. Now its time to start making it look good. Take a router with a ½ round bit and go around the corners to round them off. I then sand every thing smooth. You now have your cover built. Time for the fun stuff. I bought fiber glass from a boat store but you should be able to get it on line. I then covered all the wood with a coat of fiber glass. Use one coat of woven and then one coat of chopped. The chopped is easier to smooth out. After it dries you have to sand and fill any imperfections. I used bondo to do this but you could use more fiber glass if you like. I then painted it to match the truck. Its heavy when done but you can walk on it and it wouldn’t hurt it. I bought some weather stripping from JCWitney to seal it up. I also use shocks from a 80s model Trans Am rear hatch to help raze and lower it.
I hope I didn’t confuse you with this. If I did or if you feel like making your own let me know and Ill try and draw something up for you.