Trade—my NEW short stepside bed (wood style) for short Fleet bed-Seattle

[ETsC10]

I’ve got brand new short stepside still in the boxes (Mar-K): Sides, Head Panel and Bowtie Tailgate plus another pair of complete bed sides with fenders, lighting and associated hardware, all in good condition. Cross rails have been Hammerited in silver. I have no bed wood or strips.
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I Want a very nice Short Fleet bed; prefer wood floor but a nice steel floor is OK. I already have a tailgate and wheel wells. No shipping unless we find a member doing the journey.
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Pics on the way—my camera broke…ET
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Well its a done deal! Dave (Knifemaker) and I have swapped truck beds!
Thanks to all for your interest...ET

[WinDancer]

Sent you a pm, heres a couple pics.
Thanks,
Dave

[PICKMUP]

That is really a nice looking bed Dave has in the pics.
I don't know if I can help you or not. I do have some options that might work if his doesn't meet your needs.
1. MarK (NEW) wood floor changeover: head panel, cross sills, rear crosssill, SS bolt kit, and SS bed strips (no wood).
2. Used metal floors.
3. New bedsides.
4. A complete used bed, metal floor, due in 2 weeks.
You can call me to discuss it, if you like: 360-956-7170.

[stllookn]

PM sent to ETsC10 and WinDancer. Frank...you got a short fleet sitting down there in your stash?

[WinDancer]

PICKMUP, I will be needing a short step metal floor very soon. what do you get for one in very solid condition?
I will probably just end up with plain, flat steel depending on scavenged prices for the steel versus the used factory bed floor
When i saw your first post many months ago I was hoping you would be a source for used parts right here in scenic Olympia. Maybe we can start with a used metal bed?
Thanks to all,
Dave

[PICKMUP]

stllookin: I might have a nice one in a couple weeks...depending on how the deal goes.
windancer: There were NO metal floors for stepsides, only wood w/strips (I have ss strips & ss bolts). Some used parts---LOTS of new parts.

[Husker]

Not to hijack or anything. Hey WinDancer how well did that fuel fill work? How did you vent it?
Thanks
Ron

[WinDancer]

I stole the idea from John, who did a much better job on his truck.
The tank is about an inch too high. I am going to add spacers to drop it down another inch for a better fall angle of the filler tube.
The filler setup is from a marine shop- all coast guard approved for safety. I bought the fill top [stainless], four feet of approved marine rubber hose, and some clamps. It took three hours to figure out how to improve the fir to the tank connection- then my eyes finally landed on a bicycle inner tube- the local bicycle shop told me that the inner tubes are impervious to gasoline so that worked real well and made a good, tight fit. I also used two clamps on that connection because you have to pull the tank to get at it and it is hard to muscle the tank back into position by yourself.
The PO had done a very bad job of setting the fill up behind the marker light. I have seen some nice jobs, but this one wasn't. There was actually a gooseneck in the filler from the poor design and implementation. They hacked the bed up pretty badly, too.
So I re-routed and replaced the old setup with the hose, and it now has no low spot and will fill on its own on the slow speed at the pumps.
I ran the main hose and two vents with smaller hose from the tank all the way up to the filler cap. I took the tube to an exhaust shop and had them weld a small-hose nipple just below the bed. The second tube is capped with a dirt-bike breather that can blow air but not suck it.
I had a friend bend me up a cover to hide the whole thing. It is hinged, held shut extremely well by a big old speaker magnet. I trimmed it with vinyl door edging from the local parts house. I painted it to match the truck and folks don't seem to even notice it. There is room behind the cover for jumper cables, too.
It looks and works 10 times better and safer that the PO butcher job. I love these old Chevy trucks and it is painful to see what happens to some of them.
I have more pics of the before, during aand after but they are all way too big for the forums. I am going to do a truck page on both my knife sites, but haven't gotten to that yet.
The folks on this forum have some GREAT ideas and some unconventional ways of implementing them and they are first-rate.
This is my daily drive year-round so if it takes more than two days it will have to wait 3 more years until I retire
Hope that was some help- if it still isn't clear I will try again.
Thanks,

[WinDancer]

PICKMUP- are the metal floors large enough for the step bed floors?
Is there a reason I couldn't make a metal floor work in a stepper?
Or will I be forced to buy a different kind of steel?
Thanks,
Dave

[PICKMUP]

I suppose anything is possible, but one heck of a lot of work would be involved. A later model bed floor would probably be nicer and much cheaper. 67-72 SWB floors are hard to get. New ones are available, but $1,000 is pretty high to be cutting up, and that still makes good used ones a little expensive.
Flat metal may be do-able, but not easy. You might add the stainless strips on top to break up the smooth flat floor and give it some "pop".
Stop by sometime and I can offer some other ideas.

[PICKMUP]

Ellen,
Here is that SWB fleet bed. I will give you the first look at it, before I list it.
Let me know ASAP.
Thanks, Frank

[ETsC10]

Great looking bed, Frank! Dave (Knifemaker) and I have swapped truck beds already but I'm sure yours won't last long! Thanks for thinking of my quest, Ellen

Originally Posted by PICKMUP

Ellen,
Here is that SWB fleet bed. I will give you the first look at it, before I list it.
Let me know ASAP.
Thanks, Frank