The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Steel Bed for 60-66 Short bed

I'm doing a steel bed for my 1960 GMC short bed fleet. I thought about the wood, the strips, the finish, the polyurethane, the gouges, the eventual refinish and the money. So I decided to call it a custom steel bed. Using a 67-72 donor long bed. Long beds easier/cheaper to find. Here are a few beginning shots. Don't know if it is worth a "Tip" or just posts.
Of course, careful measuring of original bed and making a drawing is the first step. Will post more soon. Not using my good Ridgid angle grinder for this job.


First pic is donor bed as purchased. Bed liner is the scourge of the earth. Gotta get it off the edges for MIG welding,

Don't ya just love it when a plan comes together. My Brother has property near Kingman, Az. When out there instead of his main home in Mena, Ar., we would get up at 6am and go outside to work until around 9 or 10am. Then back inside in the AC until 8pm then back outside for a couple of hours. Real challenge to handle the heat at our age.

This method is, of course, also used for those who are cutting a long bed down to a short. New metal floors are available for a huge delivered price.

Interesting stuff... keep posting please.

-W

Moving along.... Glad someone is interested.

Meanwhile, back at the ranch:

Morz:

Rib repair rough in. Used a donor rib from another part. Sounds Biblical but Hey, it's just a bed floor.

Sides, tailgate and Bulkhead mock up.
Looks like it all fits. Bolting bed down now. There really is no reference point/feature to locate modified bed to truck frame.
Next step, take all off to blast and paint.

Note: Up front where floor meets bulkhead mounting flange, there will be a space between floor and the flange. They will not mate up. This is due to the fact that the truck had 3/4" boards as a floor and now has only about .063 -.125 thickness. So there is about a 5/8 gap. You can cut the bulkhead and move the flange up to support floor bottom or you can use a spacer of 5/8 square tubing between floor bottom and flange or any idea that suits. Just FYI.

Hey Bartomas,

Thanks for the pics and the Idea. I have never met a wood bed that I liked. I think this mod is in the future for my '46.

Steve

It's cheaper and longer lasting for sure.

You do good work!

I had missed this project post. Nice work. Gets me thinking.