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

I'm going to look for that clip on the old 216. I installed the old spring from the oil pan lip to the little tab on the linkage bar, but the gas pedal was hard to push down. Lots of pressure to get it started and then it would move quickly. The way I have the spring now, the pedal is very smooth with equal pressure throughout the push. I did order a new spring and can try the vertical position again.

I made a clip out of a 1/2" copper pipe clamp. The original is almost the same shape.

Just adding some rust preventive paint to keep the surface rust from getting worse. Some pitting, but nothing going through yet and the bolt holes look OK.

Put the bed on saw horses. Not in bad shape, but the rear right corner has some rot where the bed hinge mounts. Not sure if I'm going to have it patched or not. I'll check with a friend at the body shop to see what the cost would be.

That hinge mount doesn't look too terrible. I needed to replace the whole stake pocket, along with the rear cross-sill.

Oh boy! My cabinet guy called me to pick up the wood for my bed. I'm going to get everything cut to length and dry fitted. He'll help me with the offset recessed holes for the mounting hardware. Need to pick up some sandpaper and varnish. I'm looking forward to getting this part completed.

Whoohoo!

Make a good choice for varnish or whatever you decide ,make shure it has a good ultra violet protection my last bed even when covered with a tonneau cover peeled off while the underside looked like new .In your neck of the woods there are more oil based choices than for us as our environmental rules are a bit more strict .my new bed I am trying a cetol brand deck stain .

I think you'd have a longer lasting finish in the Utah sun with black paint.

If you go with varnish John, the toughest varnish I have ever used (and with 18 years building yachts it’s the ONLY one we used) is Epifanes. Get the Epifanes brushing liquid to go with it and follow the directions.
Epifanes makes a specific thinner for brushing and another one for spraying. Both are exceptional depending on your chosen application method.

Lowe's has this varnish at $20 a quart. Some other stores have it at $32. I've heard this would be good?

The spar worked well for me in SC. Be sure to soak the ends overnight.

Alvin, I plan to cut the boards to length tomorrow and do some light sanding to knock off the sharp edges. Saturday I'm planning to drill holes as necessary and dry fit everything. Then, I will soak the ends. 👍

Where did your friend get the pattern for the boards? Or did he use your old ones as templates?

Whatever you decide to go with John, (Epifanes 😁) prep is everything. Thin the first couple of coats like water so you get good penetration. Succeeding coats thinned less to build up your protection. Let every coat cure, and sand between every coat. 220 paper, followed by a good rub with scotchbrite to dull every crevice and shiny spot. Take your time, and your finish will last. Hurry through the process, and strip and redo it in a couple of years.

Thanks Paul! I didn't know about the thinning, but I'm now reading about the application process. You're right, I don't want to redo this again in a couple years.

I did a search and found the board pattern on a couple different websites. My friend also has a '36 show truck and was pretty familiar with my truck. He knew how many boards I would need, but needed the widths and length. He cut them about inch longer so I could fit them properly. I also gave him the pattern for the trim grooves - I think I saw it on Deve's TechNet.

Nice and cool this morning, so I took care of some lawn work before it gets hot. Then, I broke out the miter saw to trim the bed boards to length. Joe left me about 3" extra on the boards - only needed a hair under 77". I double checked and the boards match up with all the holes in the cross members. I'll need to figure out where to drill the holes down the sides of the two end boards, so that the trim piece matches up correctly.

Wood widths: [7 1/8] : [5 1/2] : [5 1/2] : [9 1/8] : [5 1/2] : [5 1/2] : [7 1/8]

Oct 4, 2025 - Adding a note: I searched online a found these measurements for my '46 bed, but I feel my outside boards should be a little wider. The holes I drilled to attach them to the angle strips were very close to the edge. I would think the boards should at least be 1/4 inch wider (maybe a little more?). I am just now test fitting everything and I might have my cabinet maker cut me two new boards before final assembly. I know you cannot see the board edge under the angle strip, but it's bothering me a little and I'll know. I can fit my fingers between the board and the side of the bed, so there's room for a wider board.

Well, there goes my Saturday plans for the truck bed. 😒 I sanded the bed boards and was going to dry fit everything. I opened the shipping tube with my new bed strips and the square holes are not punched correctly. I can flip them and two of the cross members line up OK, but the holes on the end are not right.

My neighbor Josh (the welder) stop by to look at the truck bed. I told him my issue with the bed strips and he said, "Why don't you just use the old strips to test fit?" Go home Josh! I'll think of that on my own tomorrow! 😜

John - Friends are just so helpful - hahaha!

Adding some sound deadening. Not sure how well it works, but might as well try it since I have access. Also, I finally installed the upper and lower radiator hoses.

What company supplied the mis-drilled strips?

American Classic Trucks Bedwood - I'm wondering if Chevy and GM are different? My wrapper says 40-46 GM, but I noticed they have 40-45 and 46 listed separately. So now I'm thinking maybe they sent me the 40-45 strips? I sent an email and pictures, so I hope to hear something back tomorrow.

Gathered up some of the interior parts and got them installed. The last picture shows the order (after trial and error) I ended up installing the interior trim. There may be additional trim pieces - I'll need to do a search.

Look closely at your number 6 piece on my 54 they dimpled one side were the cardboard fits in so if yours is the same you will have to straighten out the dimples so your new piece fits properly

Just checked mine Kevin and no dimples. Thanks for the heads up.

This morning I got the rocker panels installed and then installed the new felt that goes around the foot pedals and steering column.

Excellent work John. Looks like your getting in more than your 15 minutes a day👍

Thanks Alvin! I try to spend a couple hours in the mornings before the garage gets hot. Sometimes I don't feel like I'm making progress, but the little stuff needs to get done too. I try to remember to take pictures that hopefully might help someone doing the same or similar job.

Update on Bed Strips - Vendor contacted the manufacturer and they are almost sure they sent out the correct bed strips. They are willing to refund or build new to my specs. I sent this picture to see if maybe they have something in stock or maybe they can match my measurements to the correct bed strips they may have on hand.

Judging from your composite photo and the info I provided in your related other thread, I believe they might think they sent the correct bed strips, but they are not. My guess is they pulled the incorrect item from the warehouse shelf and/or it was mislabeled from the supplier.

I hope so! I hope they look at the photo of the side by side comparison and maybe they did grab the wrong item. I'll keep my fingers crossed.

Not that uncommon.

Last week my buddy and I were redoing brakes on a '64 Fairlane. A rubber brake hose for the car came in a sealed plastic bag with the part number printed on the bag. The part number was correct for the needed part but the hose was nowhere close to what was needed.

Someone at the factory or warehouse had placed the wrong part in the bag. A new hose in a sealed bag with the same part number turned out to be correct.

People make mistakes like this all the time when packaging things at the warehouse.

I was going to order a new speedometer cable and the throttle/choke cables, but decided to save a few bucks and refresh my old ones. After cleaning and lubrication, all three move smoothly. Plus, the old knobs on the throttle/choke cables fit in nicely with my vintage interior. Also, I'm testing a couple wood finishes for the truck bed. I'm now leaning towards the stained version that shows the grain and darkens the bed a little bit. Then I'll go with black bed strips. Well, that's what I'm thinking for now. 😊

Sparky got an ebony stain and 7 or 8 coats on all sides of each board of clear polyurethane. Not long afterwards someone here recommended to someone else they read about a multi-year test report that Mark-k had done. The report was available on their website, which last I checked was gone. Had I known how well their recommendation was to use a marine spar varnish (?), I would have gone that route. My memory might be faulty on that particular option. So it might be best to search the SB for the many threads that I recall seeing since about 12 or so years ago. Some of those likely report the highlights of the testing.

The polyurethane finish looks great and has held up fine, but Sparky lives in a climate controlled shop and only sees CAVU weather when out and about. Based on the Mar-K testing that top coat choice would likely be regretted if storage conditions and practical usage were otherwise.

Oh boy there are so many different ways to finish the bed wood. I think many options have to do with where you live and if the truck is stored inside or outside. I've changed my mind so many times, but I do like the darker color and I'll probably use black bed strips to help match.

This past week while standing in front of the truck, I noticed the engine might be pointing a little to the passenger side. When I first installed it, everything looked good from front to rear - pretty straight. So, I started to question if I had installed it properly. I know the frame is straight as I had measured it crisscross in a few locations when starting my build. After a few days of being a little frustrated, a friend ("Otto") suggested pulling a string to verify the alignment. I was able pull a string yesterday and things look OK. With the cab mounted I can no longer see the complete length of the chassis and maybe my eyes are playing tricks on me. Someone once said, "You could worry a thing to death". Time for me to keep moving forward.

To second guess yourself is normal John, I do it all the time. Your attention to detail (as far as I can tell from my house) is outstanding, but time and distance work on your head. Think, but don’t overthink. You’re doing a phenomenal job on your ‘46, and you’re an inspiration to many, I’m sure.

Thanks Paul! In between my uncertainty of the engine alignment I've been working on the wood bed boards. My bed strips should hopefully be here in couple weeks, so trying to keep moving forward.