The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Making a Stovebolt Bed 1946 Chevy 1/2Ton - Bed Strips

Looking to see if anyone has knowledge about the bed strips for 1940-46 1/2ton trucks. Recently I ordered new bed strips for my '46. The holes were not punched in the correct locations. The website had the trucks listed separately, 1940-45 and then 1946 separately. The manufacturer is saying that 1940-46 are all the same and they sent me to correct bed strips. Does anyone know if all should be the same or is the 1946 bed a little different? Also, if I get no satisfaction from this vendor, where have you all order your bed strips? Starting to feel a little frustrated.

John - Have you tried flipping the bed strips end for end. Not enough in your pictures to tell for sure, but maybe that would solve the hole alignment issue???

Yes. Both ends are the same. My original strips have a punched hole at 1/2 inch and the new strips are 2 3/4 inch. Here's pic of the other end.

I've looked at other websites and some will list '40-'45 as one item and 1946 is listed separately. And some websites list the strips as 40-46. Not sure why the difference.

Just in case it helps, Google just told me:
Chevrolet
1937-1939:
1/2 Ton Short Bed: 78 inches long.
1/2 & 3/4 Ton Long Bed: 85 3/4 inches long.
1 Ton Extra Long Bed: 108 inches long.
1940-1945:
1/2 Ton Short Bed: 79 inches long.
1/2 & 3/4 Ton Long Bed: 85 3/4 inches long.
1947-1951:
1/2 Ton Short Bed: 77 inches long.
1/2 Ton Long Bed and 3/4 Ton: 88 inches long.

Also, is it possible that the bed on your truck has a bed on it that is from a different year than the original (as mine turned out to have)?

Nick, Did you see anything for a 1946 bed? I can't say this bed is original, but it's the only one since I've own this truck. Bed is 78 inches long and 48 5/8 wide. I wonder if the '37-'39 bed uses the strips I need? Could this be an earlier bed? I'm going to measure the new strips from both ends and see which line up with the cross members I have. Then maybe look for some pictures on the internet of '37-'39 beds to see if one end has the square hole punched at 1/2 inch.

John,

The 1937-'39 beds were 77" long and 45 3/8" wide.
In 1940 they went to a width of 48 1/2".
In 1947 and up they went to a width of 50".

In 1947 there was a change in that the front bed sill bolted to the front bed panel.

Most of what little I actually know about this topic has been found in the booklet from Jim Carter, "Bed Restoration Manual for Early Chevrolet and GMC Pickup Trucks". I have found that a lot of "Instructions" are less than clear.

Measuring from the rear, the three crossmembers are at: 24", 50 1/4" and 74 1/4". None of these line up with the holes in the new bed strips, even when I flip them around.

I saw a picture from "32vsnake" and he has a 1940 1/2ton. The punched hole in his strips start at 1/2". Looks like he has five strips and mine uses six. I've PM'd him to see where he purchased his strips.

Update: Said he got his strips from Mar-K. Dang - to bad they are out of business now. 😒

So with this picture, bed length is considered by board length? So my bed would be 77 inches?

Did you get your bed strips sorted out ? If I remember correctly the strips I put on my 54 truck came without holes I remember drilling the holes and filing them square .I don’t see any like that when I search so don’t know if they still are a option .

Found them .They sell bed strips with no holes in either steel or stainless .The strips are for a newer AD truck but the length is the same.Actually your pictures of what I can see of the bed look the same as my 54 so maybe you have newer bedsides with the older 46 fenders .The picture near the front of the bed shows the front panel with holes and then the cross brace about 2 inches back that is how the strips on mine look at the front as well as fairly close to the back like your measurement of 1/2 inch. The bed strips without holes I found on bills truck shop but I would think a US vendor would have them as well .

Utah
I will measure the bed boards, metal strips, and hole locations on my ‘46 tomorrow when I get back to the shop. Drilling holes for the strips seems like it would be a real hassle.
Surely, there must be some vendor out there that has the correct parts needed. Mar-k’s demise has really messed things up! They were once the gold standard, IMO.
Cheers!

KEVINSKI - Thanks for the information. I was hoping for square punched holes and not have to drill and file. But I guess that's an option. 77 1/8 inches would fit and I might go with steel and paint them black.

46Sparky - Measuring your bed strips would be great. At least mine would be similar to yours or maybe I'll find out that my bed is not original. Funny how some vendors have a listing for 1940-1945 and a separate listing for 1946. Then another vendor has 1940-1946 for the bed strips. I don't understand. My center board is 9 1/8", the two outside boards are 7 1/8" and the four other boards are 5 1/2".

I tried flipping them and lining up holes to see if maybe I could drill one or two extra holes to make them fit. Then I could just add some fake bolts to fill unused holes on the ends. But nothing lines up. So, I'll look at it again tomorrow morning to see if what I did today was correct. Sometimes I look at possible solutions a few times, just in case I missed something.

I just thought maybe I can look at the center crossmember to see if that one can be moved a little. The front and rear member are used to mount the bed, so I probably can't move them.

Easy to find some 1946 Chevy trucks with the same bed strips that I'm trying to get for my truck. These have the first hole at 1/2 inch. I forwarded these pictures to the vender asking if they'll work with the manufacturer.

Here is a link to an old thread here in the Stovebolt with bed board dimension information that should help.


https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php?ubb=showflat&Number=934224

As for the bed strip holes locations. The strips have holes 2 3/4” from front end panel, as shown in the attached photo. The holes at the end, nearest the tailgate are 1/2 “ from the end of the strip. See the attached photo.

The cross sills are at 26 5/8” and 52 7/8” from the bed front. See the attached photo.

According to the 1929-1946 Chevrolet Master Parts Catalog page 629, Group Number 17.438 shows “Floor board wear irons” (aka bed strips) being the same from 1940-1946, which would include the 1st and 2nd series 1/2 trucks. Maybe this will help with vendor discussions? Unfortunately, the Engineering Specifications book for the ‘46 models doesn’t seem to provide any references to the bed boards or bed strips.

Thanks for the pictures and measurements "46Sparky". I believe these are the bed strips I need. Where did you get your strips?

Also, I was told the difference in ordering 1940-1945 vs 1946 bed strips was the number of strips. Five strips vs six strips for 1946. But I can find many pictures with the bed strips I need. Puzzling?

Is it possible the bed strips you were sent were incorrectly packaged .It seems that the 1/2 inch hole at the tailgate end is correct for that year of truck .You could check with another vendor for a measurement of there stock and maybe return the ones that are incorrect.

Did you mean youCan't find pictures of the strips you need?

Utah
Sparky’s bed kit was bought long ago from Mar-K. They are no longer an option, unfortunately. Nick in Manitou reported in another thread discussion some months ago, finding a vendor that might be worth looking at? He might offer some info about his experience with a buying a tailgate from them. I think it was Mack Products? Jim Carters or Chevs of the 40’s might also be options.

The strips shown in photos I posted earlier are polished stainless steel. There are 6 of them with polished stainless steel hardware.

Thanks for the info! I've heard Mar-K was a great resource, but sadly no more.

My vendor just emailed me and said the manufacturer was pretty certain they sent me the correct strips, but will give a refund. I'm going to take some pictures of my old strips next to a tape measure and see if the manufacture has anything like these in stock or at least have something similar. If not, they said they could punch the squares holes to my specs if needed.

No Otto. I CAN find pictures, so I'm not sure why the manufacturer says these are the correct ones? I posted a few I found on YouTube in my post above. Looks like I posted those after your post?

Just posting up a picture of my new bed strips vs my old strips. I did send this picture to my vendor and he said he'll forward to the manufacturer to see if something can be done before my refund.

OK. That was confusing to me. I was assuming they were some mystery part but if pictures are easily available, you'd think the maker could get it right.

That's an excellent composite photo. Good work.

Good news - My vendor said the manufacturer will make a new set for me with the holes punched as specified in my pictures! It will be a couple weeks out, but I'm happy with that.

Here is some interesting reading from the parts manual. The first one is from 1929-1942, the other is from 1929-1949. The later ones were sold with no holes and cut to length.

Did they figure out what exactly the problem is? Were they made wrong? Placed in the wrong box? Do they actually fit another year truck?

I asked, but have not got a reply yet. I was thinking they have all blanks and punch the new strips when an order comes in - but not sure. I hope they don't send the same strips. They have my measurements, so I'm crossing my fingers.

Maybe someone can look at my picture with the tape measure to see if they would fit their truck bed? Maybe we can find out what they fit.

Nice surprise when I returned from my trip to Colorado. New bed strips arrived and they look correct! I'll take them for powder coating tomorrow.

Kudos to Billy at American Classic Trucks Bedwood! He was easy to work with and kept me updated. He worked with the manufacturer to get new bed strips punched to my specs. He's a good egg.

Glad it worked out well for you!

Doing some sanding today and test fitting. I'll put on a second coat of stain and be a little more careful when sanding. My first try left some areas lighter than I wanted.

Question: On the outside boards that go under the angle strip, does the wood sit against the bed or should they be like a 1/4 inch off and not touching? Trying to figure out if my boards need to be a little bit wider or not.

John - I think there should be a definite gap along both edges. Not sure a 1/4" gap is needed, but there should be enough to allow for at least some expansion/contraction of the wood. It would also serve as a drainage space for any rain/water along the bed edges. I would leave them as is.

Yes - expansion and drainage are good thoughts. 👍

Glad you went with black stain.

I think it will look better too. Now for some very light sanding tomorrow. I'll try not to be so aggressive and do just enough to see the grain a little better.

Since the outside boards are bolted to the angle strips, any expansion would be toward the center of the bed, so it wouldn't matter if the outside boards go all the way to the bedsides or not. But a little gap wouldn't hurt. It looks like some of your boards are pretty close together. There needs to be at least room for the bed strip bolts.

The black stain looks good.

Kevin - I just put the boards there to dry and the outside boards do not go under the side angle strips yet, so a snug fit for now. Hopefully I'll get the boards sanded today and dry fit everything to see how things look before drilling holes in the outside boards. Then, I'll need to figure out where the six mounting holes go.

I used a round file to round out were the bed strip bolts go through to give a little more room .The bolts are 1/4 inch so there is that much of a gap between the boards but with the bolts in the wood is up against the bolts so don’t know if it would help or not but did not think it will hurt .

I took the steel bed strips for powder coating - I didn't want them sitting around getting rusty. When I get them back, I'll fit everything together and see where the boards land. I'm hoping the outside boards will reach under the angle strips enough to drill holes. If not, my cabinet maker friend said he can glue a small strip to wider the boards or cut me two new boards.