The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Bed Refinish and assembly question, 1954 3604

Needing advice on my bed refinish project. I'm replacing the front panel and rear cross sill, angle strips, bed strips and bed wood. The welding of the rear sill to the bedsides creates a problem with refinishing. I suppose I could shoot the bed sides, front panel, and rear sill with epoxy primer, assemble the parts and then sand off the primer where the rear sill gets welded to the bedsides , weld it up and apply epoxy primer to those areas that were sanded/ welded. Then complete the prep and final finish coat. What do the experienced bolters suggest?

That's the way I plan on doing my bed. I'll likely shoot color on the bed metal parts supported on sawhorses once assembled (and the rear cross sill welded in.

Kevin , thanks for the input. By the time I'd finished writing the post I'd convinced myself to do the same but wanted to get some advice. I noticed that the bolts on the bed front panel were the ocean green paint color under that red paint some previous owner had painted. I also noticed ocean green paint all along the bottom of the front cross sill which tells me that the bed was assembled when painted at the factory. There was even green paint under the bed to frame bolt large washers and remnants of the green paint on some of the bed boards. When I got the truck there was a sheet of steel welded in the bed on top of the bed boards. This is almost too much fun. Anyway, you have fun up there in Alaska!

Yep same here.

I am priming and painting, assembling, welding, and then painting again after weld area prep.

I think painting is important to stop moisture from sitting between panels. From what i can tell GM assembled, primed and painted leaving the metal between no protection.

That's a recipe for rust! I'll pay close attention to what I see when I disassemble the rest of the bed.

Here is another option if you are concerned with rust around the weld. Mine is a fleetside but the assembly is similar. I did not want to weld the rear sill to the bedsides on my fleetside so used this procedure. Assemble the complete bed sheet metal and tighten all fasteners exactly how I wanted it. Then, removed the rear sill bolts one at a time and drilled them out to a close fit 3/8 instead of the original 5/16 and tighten a 3/8 bolt in the same hole. Do each bolt one at a time making sure the bedside does not move relative to the rear sill. By doing this I was able to disassemble the bed, paint, and reassemble in the exact same position without any welding. I have driven the truck thousands of miles over the years and the bed sides are still lined up. Your mileage may vary.

Mark

Thanks Mark!