The Stovebolt Site Forums Welcome! Welcome Centre Do It Yourself (DITY) Gallery 1946 Chevy 1/2Ton in Utah - Here We Go

It’s totally up to you John, but I decided to put 12 coats of Epifanes Varnish on my white oak bed planks. It really is the toughest varnish out there, wears well and looks great. BUT, I’m afraid to put anything in my bed without laying down carpet or cardboard 😂 It’s awesome.
The wood bed in my first truck (a’51 3100 in 1974) had white oak painted black.

I think to this day a fella could still find enough long leaf yellow pine to do a truck bed with.
Most hand honed railroad ties are LLYP. I had enough to do my bed from pieces I had left.
Its great wood. It'll last.
The application of the marine varnish is to be followed. Just barely tacky and add a coat.
Roll or brush. Even pine you can buy at the store , cup side down to prevent cupping.
MV the heck out of it.
In the pic with the wood on the trailer, behind to left is the raw wood I had to work with after it was slabbed out. It was worth it.

That bed looks very nice. Might be too nice for my truck, but who knows.

I’d second the use of long leaf yellow pine for your box. Look around at any hardwood sellers in your area

Speaking of bed strips, how are yours? I pulled the set out of my bed and replaced them with stainless, and put the old ones in the shipping box the stainless ones came in. If you need any, they’re yours for the cost of postage.

I have a friend that has a cabinet shop and he said to let him know when I'm ready for the wood. He will router them for me and leave them a little long for me to cut to length.


Wow! Thanks for the offer Paul. I haven't check the strips yet, but will keep you in mind. I might go the stainless route - haven't decided yet.

When you go to put the clearcoat on it stand the board's up in a pan of the clear you're going to use and let it soak overnight. Those boards will eventually split on the end if you don't. I wished I had a picture of it, it's been in my 37 truck for over 25 years....but ill admit it needs to be redone now. It sits both, in my shop and outside. ( I used oak with light stain in case i ever want to go darker.)

I tipped up the bed and sprayed some PB Blaster. Looking forward to breaking some bolts tomorrow.

Looks like you'll be able to break it all loose. Reminds of my 1955.1 bed project years ago. Metal bed strips look like they can be reused, if desired. I used new zinc-plated carriage bolt hardware, rip-sawed and grooved the treated 1" southern yellow pine planks to three different widths, cut plank lengths to fit, bolted it all down and painted the bed floor truck body color. You're off to a good start.

Strips look OK, but I bought a new set of zinc plated bolts and maybe I'll get new strips if I decide to clear coat and not paint. Not sure yet.

Since all the wood was already cracked and falling apart, I decided to remove them first. The boards just crumbled and made a huge mess on the garage floor. It was starting to get warm, so I'll take a break for now.

If it’s not too late, measure and map out where the box mounting fasteners go in your replacement planks. It will make building your new planks much easier for your cabinetmaker buddy.

Paul, I haven't ordered the wood planks yet. Are you talking about these bed mounting points in the picture?

I got to tell you, this was more work than I thought it would be, but I got the bed strips removed. I tried holding the bolts in the square holes, but the rusted bolts would just spin. The holes stayed square, but the square part on the bolt got rounded off. With the wood out, I was able to use Vise Grips to grab the square part of the bolt and use my impact gun. This might be the first time I've used my socket for square nuts. The old strips weren't that bad, but one of them had a rust hole. There are three cross braces. The one closest to the cab was straight, but the other two have a little dip in them. They look to be in good shape, so I'll try to straighten them.

Those are the ones John. If I remember right, the washer gets let into the planks maybe 1/8th or a weak 3/16” and then the bolt hole is drilled off center. I had my old planks to use as patterns, but your patterns were/are dust.

Dan, Thanks for your input and suggestions. Using your GM# for the springs, I picked up a couple off eBay. I also ordered a 7" extension wire, but it show up at 8 3/4" and that was too long. So, I cut in down to fit. Here's my latest interpretation of how the brake/clutch return springs should be setup. I think I'm happy with this. Well, you know, until someone tells me I did it all wrong! 😁

That's probably right. It's amazing how ad hoc a lot of stuff looks on antique cars. It's like some things were afterthoughts and they rigged something up at the last minute to get it out the door.

You’re probably exactly right Otto. I’m sure there were a steady stream of engineers down to the assembly line to solve problems that looked fine on paper.
Figure it out, and then draw it the way it works.

John - It looks right on the money to me, but the biggest kicker is you're happy with it. No interference and it looks like the pedals all have their full range of motion. Yahoo!!!

More baby steps - cleaned and installed the toe board this morning.

Oh boy! My radiator showed up today. It fits great and I have about 1/2" clearance to the fan. Now I need to order the hoses and install the front fenders.

Is this a replica radiator or was yours rebuilt? I don't remember.

Your truck is looking awesomer and awesomer John. Can’t wait to see the fenders bolted on.

New radiator is from The Filling Station. My old radiator would have been close to $800 to recore. This one is much lighter.

How much was the new one?

$575 from The Filling Station. I believe they ordered it from U.S. Radiator. Took about 6 weeks to show up.

I just looked on the U.S. Radiator website and this radiator looks to be around $800? Looks the same as what I have.

I was able to install the fender supports and air deflectors (sheet metal). Left the bolts a little loose for adjustments when I get the fenders installed. Probably need to get these things done first since there's easier access right now: accelerator linkage, oil filter and hoses, temp sensor to dash and oil pressure line to dash. Maybe I better find my instrument cluster and firewall grommet.

Something else to think about is running the wiring harness for your lights before installing the fenders, etc.

I was thinking the wiring would be the last thing I do? Will I not be able to wire the lights if I wait?

Just found out my accelerator link rod is too long (from pedal to swivel point). I don't have the link from the '60 235 engine, just the one from my '46 216 and it's probably 3" too long. I've seen where you drill and tap a hole in the block and not cut the link rod, but I don't know that I want to drill a hole in the block. Might be easier to have my neighbor cut and weld for me.

You can wait, but it will be easier while the engine compartment is open and easily accessible.

Thanks Wayne! I guess it would be easier to reach locations on the firewall when routing some of the wires.

Also routing along the frame and under the radiator, up the cowl sides will be easier.

Isn't he the guy who welded your knee action shock levers?

Yep! My neighbor Josh has some skills.

So Josh just asked me, "Why don't you just cut it to length, heat the end up, bend it over in a vise and drill a hole for a cotter pin?" Ummmmmmmmmm - that might work too! He'll do anything to get out of work! 😜

Sure sounds like a workable fix. You did say he "...has some skills."

I connected the throttle rods today, but the new spring I have was much to tight. It was very hard to push down the gas pedal, so I install my old spring for now. I've seen some pictures where the return spring was connected to the drain port. The new spring was about 6" long and my old spring was a little over 7". If I keep this setup, I'll order a new longer spring.

15 minutes a day - I painted the three bed cross supports, cleaned/painted the windshield hinges, installed the windshield and installed the oil lines to the filter housing. Also, my oak bed boards are at the cabinet shop and I hope he has time this week to cut them for me. I'll need to start reading about the wiring process now.

Progress!!

John, in the stock setup, the throttle spring runs vertically and is attached to a clip that that is attached by one of the oil pan screws directly below it.