We were able to get back to working on the bed Saturday. I have added 15 photos to the gallery (link below) of our progress.
We assembled the tail light pockets and welded them onto the bed. The pockets are made of two pieces. The outer piece was fabricated from a Mar-K stake pocket, split in half and turned upside down. The inner piece was fabricated in the shop for the tail light to mount recessed just as it did in it's stock Ford application.
I have been asked why I went with '78 Ford F-series tail lights on a 53 Chevrolet 3100. Well, after looking at just about every tail light available, the Ford was selected because the outside curve of the tail light very closely matched the outside curve of the stake pockets, so it blends better with the style of the truck...in my opinion. I have been told that I will be struck by lightning for putting Ford parts on a Chevy. LOL
Then we fabricated mounts for the tail gate hinges. The hinges we used are from 1990's Chevrolet pickups. We installed a piece of pipe, inside, across the bottom of the tailgate, the correct size to pivot on the hinges. The pipe was notched on the right side to allow for the tailgate to be lifted off, just like a modern pickup tailgate.
We used a square bar across the top and two pipe clamps to hold the tailgate in position in order to determine the locations for the hinge brackets. Once it was all tacked on, we removed the bar and clamps to test the operation of the tailgate. It opened and closed very smoothly...so smoothly that we were surprised at how well it worked.
There was a bit of grinding necessary to get the tailgate removal to function smoothly. Our tolerances were so close that as the tailgate was tilted to remove it, there was some metal contact. A little precise grinding in the right spots and that minor issue was resolved.
Then we installed the tail lights just to see how it all looked together and take a few photos.
That's all we got done before time ran out. Granddaughter coming to visit trumps truck bed. LOL
The tailgate still needs vertical pieces to be fabricated and welded on the outside edges. These will close against the back of the bed edges, functioning as a stop when closed and also make a clean appearance across the back of the truck.
We also have a few spaces to close up and then pan off the area below the tailgate. The dress grinding, blasting and primer.
As we were working on Saturday, we discussed that it has been almost a year since we initiated this project. The design began last November. While it has taken a while, we all agreed that the time allowed us to think the project through and make a number of small changes that have greatly improved the results.
Questions and Comments are always enjoyed. I am having a great time working on this project and always happy to share.
