The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk 1952 1 Ton Bed Saga Part II

HELP !!!

The saga of my 1952 1 ton Bed is back - I know you thought that was decided. (Thanks for all the previous help) And it was decided...really !! My decision was to use the Mar-K bed and fabricate the running boards and splash aprons, everything was lined up (The cab is done - see link for pics).

One problem !! I talked (e-mail) with Mar-K and they say the don't manufacture 1952 1 ton bed sides (AHHH..) ( - I was sure I saw it there last month.. d'oh )

So Bolters.. what are my options???

I can think of only 2 acceptable (as I want to preserve the truck's spirit..

(1) Stake truck or
(2) Find a donor truck. Where/how would I find a donor?

Thoughts on how to find one.. as these are not typically listed on ebay etc..

Make the sides..
Flat sheet with one bend approximately 45 degree, and weld a piece of tubing on top for the rolled part. Transfer all holes from an original.

When I get to fully restoring my 1 ton that's my plan.

Otherwise post a wanted add, or keep looking on ebay, Craig's list, and asking around town.

Grigg

Thanks Grig.. That's been the consensus.. However..I think I may have found a donor. It looks really rough except for the bed.. go figure. I plan to look at it tomorrow. Someone up there may like me :-)

If I am successful I will let you know.

The say pictures say a thousand words... well the picture I got of the donor did not seem to say enough. It was beyond hope. (darn). So the bed saga resumes. Has anyone actually made a 1 ton bed out of 1/2 or 3/4 ton parts?

Raptor,

It'll probably be less expensive to do as Grigg suggested and have the sides bent up for you at a local metal fab shop. You may want to use 16ga instead of 18ga sheet metal for the sides for a little more strength.

You may even find that the shop can form the rolled lip for you. If they can't, a piece of pipe or tubing the correct size welded to the top edge is easy enough to do.

If you had to buy 2 of each side and try to weld them together, you'd have to be very careful to get them lined up properly, as well as deal with the possibility of warping.

I was fortunate when I found my 3800 as the bed was in pretty good shape for a near 50 year old truck.

Lane

I have never done it, but I would think a long bed could be made out of 2 either 3/4 tons or a long bed and a short bed. The splice could be made at the post. If you do the weld on the post side, the weld would be covered by the post and then the post plug welded on. I have set in some pieces of the tubing. I was not making a show truck, but it takes a sharp eye to see the splice. An experienced body man could completely hide the weld. One of them I filled with lead just to see if I could still do it and it turned out really nice.

I think you should try Mar-K again, they list 1 ton bed sides on their web site.