So, my flatbed has some rust through. The cross-members (wrong term? lateral supports from edge to edge) are almost totally rotted out. The metal surround is OK and repairable for the bit of rust through they have. I've been looking around, emailed Mar-K, etc for where I might be able to get parts to repair mine, but have come up empty. Is my only option to find someone getting rid of a flatbed and scrounging for parts, or does someone out there make repro pieces? I really like the rounded corners and the "beaded" surround, I've had people suggest just putting a modern flatbed on it, but that kind of ruins the aesthetic I think.
My thoughts if parts aren't available:
1) Get some sheet steel and weld up new cross members. (or find someone who could bend them up out of one piece?) 2) Cut out the rot from the surrounds and a) weld in new sheet metal, b) find steel tube to match and weld it on to replicate the beading (fill, shape, paint). This would obviously be super tedious, but I'm not having any luck finding parts, so I'm trying to think of alternatives
An additional factor is I'd liked to widen the bed by ~4-5 inches so I can fill in where the previous owner cut out the bed rails to "fit" the duals. This would mean wider cross members (not a big deal), but more to the point, would require cutting and extending the rear surround to add the extra width.
What are your suggestions, bolters? Appreciate any other angle I might not be thinking about.
That is a great looking flat bed. in my opinion, you should do whatever it takes to save/reuse the "beaded surround" of the bed. Any decent fabrication shop should be able to replace the crossmembers. After owning a number of trucks with standard pickup beds, I now find that I much prefer flatbeds. Of my 4 trucks, 3 are flatbeds; a 1956 3800, a 1959 3800, and a 1979 C30. Good luck in your quest to save the flatbed.
That is a great looking flat bed. in my opinion, you should do whatever it takes to save/reuse the "beaded surround" of the bed. Any decent fabrication shop should be able to replace the crossmembers. After owning a number of trucks with standard pickup beds, I now find that I much prefer flatbeds. Of my 4 trucks, 3 are flatbeds; a 1956 3800, a 1959 3800, and a 1979 C30. Good luck in your quest to save the flatbed.
Been a long summer and a weird year. Truck has been on the backburner, but am getting back into it. I absolutely want to save the beaded surround, it's one of the most attractive features of the truck I think. And I agree with you on flatbeds. I trailer motorcycles and ATVs a fair bit and having put them in standard pick up beds before, I much prefer a flat trailer. A flat truck bed just means I don't even have to use a trailer to haul 2-3 smaller bikes! One of the things I have planned for this truck is being my hauler for MotoAmerica race weekend at Road America. That track allows spectators to bring small motorcycles (have to be street legal and plated) to "get around" the track campus. It's huge and takes ages to walk across, so there's a healthy collection of small CC bikes running around all weekend. I've got a few 2-stroke bikes that I take every year and next spring I want to take them on the 3600 and then use the flatbed as a raised viewing platform
Originally Posted by Frank50
Cool old truck. Was the truck originally single rear wheel? You may need to find a local fab shop to make some new cross members.
No, I have the original delivery sheet showing the dual rear option, so it WAS delivered as a dually. Not sure who cut out the notches in the bed as they sure aren't done professionally. Looks like it was done with a cutting torch It is confusing why Chevy would have delivered the truck with a flatbed that wasn't wide enough to fit the supplied axle/tires, but... there it is. The axle/wheels/tires are all correct to the truck, too so it's not like it was swapped at some point in the truck's life.
The truck may have been sold as a cab and chassis, and a dealer or first purchaser put the bed on. If the sides were torched out, it probably wasn't a dealer. They probably didn't get the bed blocked up high enough to clear the duals and decided to chop it out instead of doing it right.
Shoot a PM to user "MPandC" on here. He could probably fab something up to match your bed edges, or at least patch pieces with the beading on them. Robert is a metal artist. You can check out some of his stuff HERE. I don't know if he'd be willing to take on your project, but it can't hurt to ask.
Kevin 1951 Chevy 3100 work truck Follow this saga in Project Journal Photos 1929 Ford pickup restored from the ground up. | 1929 Ford Special Coupe (First car) Busting rust since the mid-60's If you're smart enough to take it apart, you darn well better be smart enough to put it back together.
It is confusing why Chevy would have delivered the truck with a flatbed that wasn't wide enough to fit the supplied axle/tires, but... there it is. The axle/wheels/tires are all correct to the truck, too so it's not like it was swapped at some point in the truck's life.