The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Probably a dumb question- - - - -

Has anyone ever tried using a piece of marine-grade plywood that fits a stovebolt bed, and simply cutting precise grooves with a router to accommodate the metal hold-down strips? I've never done it, but it would seem to be a viable alternative to hassling with multiple pieces of wood, and unless someone is some sort of anal-retentive purist, the end result would seem to be the same. I'm suggesting marine-grade plywood rather than exterior because marine plywood has no voids anywhere, while plain old exterior can expose openings that could trap moisture when being cut to fit. The glue is supposedly the same (waterproof) but marine ply is designed to stay wet for extended periods of time.

Just a thought- - - - -comments?
Jerry

Jerry, yes it has been done. Saw it several years ago on one of the car/truck shows on TV. Too long ago for me to remember which one.

F@#d stepsides in 80's were born that way.

Jerry -- I did my '39 bed that way ...

My buddy has a panel truck and it has the original plywood bed with the bed strips on it. The older panels (not sure what years) had wood like the pickups, but there was an issue with exhaust fumes coming through the cracks.
BTW, there is no need to for creating any grooves in the plywood. The bed strips will lay flat on the plywood.
Carl

As Carl posted:

In 1950, “. . . the floor boards of panel and canopy express models were changed to plywood construction. In the new construction a single panel of wood and five skid strips replaced thirteen floor boards and twelve skid strips. The new floor was positively sealed against dust leakage and the plywood made the floor 25 to 30% stronger than the former construction.” (from an article in the light commercial vehicle association, 1984)

The hard part will be to find a sheet of plywood over 48" wide and 6 or 8 feet long.

Order the oversize at your local lumber yard......Lowes/Home Depot.

Or, if a boat repair shop is nearby (or, if your lumber yard is flexible/helpful), get a large enough sheet of appropriate thickness marine ply/grade plywood.

I did it five years ago when I first started with my 55.1 3600. I used a standard marine plywood from home depot (48"x96") cut it into four pieces (two at 6 3/4 " and two at 16 3/4") I only had enough rotten metal strips to make three complete strips. no grooves and no sealer because it was supposed to be temporary. five years later and outside in New York weather every night and day and used for light cargo with leaves and bird droppings and never washed I can honestly say I'm impressed with how well it held up

With the bedside strips welded in place. I would rip the plywood into 2 parts. It would make the install a bit less frustrating.. The gap in the middle would be covered by the normal metal strip and no one would ever know.

I actually like Jerry’s idea. If you’re not a purist, and you’re just looking for performance and durability, a sheet of stained marine plywood would work really well. 52Carl says there’s no need to route the grooves ‘cause the strips will lay flat. If that’s the case then that’s an extra bonus!

Without grooves, the metal strips will be on top of and therefore sitting above the wood. Seems to me that the strips should be either flush or slightly below the bed wood.

John

I really like this idea. I might have to steal it.

Why would that be? Aren't the strips designed to protect the wood while sliding cargo in and out?
Carl

Carl is correct.

So the question may remain as to why is the bed wood of the pickup trucks notched for the bed strips?
My guess is to contain the edges of wood, preventing separation from shrinkage during dry weather.
Why would GM notch the plywood beds? Maybe to maintain the exact distance between the top of the strips and the plywood so that it looks just like a pickup bed?

This may be a bit late in the conversation, but if you look at the way the notches and strips mate, I suspect that they are made they hold down the planks but allow expansion and contraction so they don’t warp. Just my 2 cents.

WOW, love this site! I was planning on oak from a logger in the fam. $100.00 would have been a bit much for my 40' Midwest, prior resto, dirt road beater! I'm going with the ply-board. I was thinking 5/4ths deck boards as an alt.

I was thinking of using marine grade plywood to build a slide out using casters in the metal strips so I would not have to crawl under the bed cover to retrieve things that I have in the bed. I bought low profile casters for another project that did not work out.