The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed Tackling the bed wood

Finally purchased the wood for the bed ,was going to just use pine but in my area it is white pine and to soft for my liking .After checking around I found that Windsor plywood in my area had rough cut red oak that was the best choice for me ,there were some private mills that had some hardwood but this was smooth on the top and bottom .The only downfall was you had to pick out the closest to the size needed and the lengths were 9 ft and 10 ft so by the board foot was a lot more than needed but maybe something can be made from the leftovers .The dammage was 250 Canadian plus the 50 tax.I cut the length but need a little more courage to start slicing the widths ,may have to plane the one edge to get a straight cut but I am not going after anything fancy just need a floor back there.

Do you have a table saw? If not, buy one for this job and sell it when you're done.

Here's some info that should help you. Link

Yes I do have a table saw but not a jointer but the planks look straight and I am planing on giving the old hand plane a try before I run it through the table saw ,I was planning to trim a hair off the one side then flipping to the other side to cut to size then use the imfo from gmc pauls to get the groves for the strips (Thanks Kevin I was already was aware of GMC Paul’s bed wood dementions on his site ).

OK. When you said you were going to plane them, I was thinking you were using a plane on the edges of the board after ripping with a circular saw or something.

Well made a lot of sawdust today,not perfect but I think it will workout.I had a bit of trouble cutting the groves they were not consistent so I switched to a blade on the saw that was a little thicker as it looked like the blade was flexing while cutting.I also had to trim the pieces closest to the box sides for it to fit under the L shaped strip,other than that I am happy that I am about half done ,next I plan on loosely putting in all the bolts to drill the holes then take it all out and I plan on putting some deck stain on all sides.i was going to put the por 15 paint and stain on top but now I don’t want to cover the wood in black .

Nice work Kevin. Years ago when i finished my 37 I went with a light finish and coats of spar-urethane. In over 25 years i refinished once and with a tat darker stain. It could use another finish now as nothing last forever, but I'll let the next man do it.
Good work and keep the pics coming.

Kevin, When did you install the new wood, with the bed on the truck or off? My bed is off right now and I'm getting ready to remove the old wood and strips. Is it easier to install the new wood with the bed on saw horses or on the truck? Or, is it just a preference to the person doing the work?

John, I'm not the same Kevin you're asking, but I installed the wood on my bed with it sitting on saw horses. With it on the truck, there are things in the way of some of the bolts.

Thanks "Other" Kevin!

I also assembled my bed off the truck, there were a lot of the strip bolts that would not be accessable with the bed on the truck.

I don't know the differences between my '56 bed and the older trucks but I doubt there's a lot. I installed new bed wood on my truck when the bed was on the truck. I jacked it up in the rear (with Jack stands) and removed the installed bed wood and then put in new boards. Even working alone at age 81 and laying on my back it still was pretty easy. One little trick that really helped was putting a short piece of masking tape on the top of each bolt to hold it down against the metal strip. That kept it down and locked while I threaded the nut up snug by hand. Then I could us a socket and ratchet to tighten it down. Took a while but all and all I'd do it again.

That "tape" trick is an excellent tip Mickey! Thanks for sharing.

I mean!! I was gonna say that. I used sand diving weights! Never dawned on me to use tape

John in Utah .I installed my wood with the bed sitting on the truck ,still not quite finished but close.It is difficult to get a few bolts in and the wood was one inch thick so I had to get some longer bolts but only the small bolts that go in the strips ,the others were long enough from the bolt kit I purchased.

I'm going to try it on saw horses since it's already off the truck. Long leaf pine is expensive here in Utah and since the cabinet shop would have to order it, I'm going with oak.

The pine in my area is a softer wood so non existent ,I went with the rough cut oak as it was the cheapest decent choice .The oak comes 1 inch thick but the top and bottom were planed and the only problem was because it was rough cut you had to buy the boards they had so to get the width I had to choose a few boards that were 10 ft long but for 300;Canadian Dollars I think it was okay

I think I got all the bolts. Nothing like lying on a creeper and still have to tighten the 6 bolts holding to the frame, but I have to look up if there was any rubber of sorts between the frame. Here is the top with the stain I used that I had trouble posting a picture of a while back

Kevinski - I think your Canadian GMC should have the same rubber pads as the Chevy's did. Should be the same as these offered by Classic Parts 13-555.

The wood looks fantastic!

Thanks Dan that looks like what I need.

Kevinski - You may have already checked it out, but you can get a set of those pads from Bill's Truck Shop too. By the time you add costs for shipping and what not from Classic Parts, it may be cheaper to buy "Canadian" for you. Screen grab below comes from Bill's current PDF Catalog.

I should have looked closer/remembered your location before offering the original source.

Yes I have ordered from bills a few times with good results and fast to ship only about 16 hours by driving about .They also have a few pieces that the other shops don’t carry .I was looking at were they go yesterday and I have a roll of 1/4 rubber that fit perfect so I made up 8 with holes and only cost me a little time .

Glad to hear you found an easy at home solution! On to the next thing to do then.