The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Big Bolts Factory Flatbed Project

Made some great progress on the flatbed restoration this weekend.

Pictures here

To recap, I scored a nice original 12-foot factory flatbed from Mike B (from one of his TF trucks). During disassembly, found most of the cross members were rusted to far to reuse, but my local Mennonite welder was able to copy the good one and made all new replacements for me.

Also, the chairmaker in the community had the big 2x8x12foot oak planks I needed for the subframe.

My plan is to complete the trial fit of everything back together and then trim the oak frame planks to proper length and then drill all the holes. Take everything back apart for final paint. Sand and finish the oak frame pieces with clear polyurethane and then do the final assembly on the truck.

At this rate, it make be ready for Macungie

Thanks to Hambone who helped today.

John

Nice!
That's my very favorite design of flat bed with the 4 bead side rails and the big rounded corners.

Keep up the good work,

Grigg

Looks great! I'm looking for one of those.

It is really good to to see someone restore one of the original platform bodies John. It appears to be a GM unit (the Fords had their name embossed in the rear end-rail) and as such was built in Paris, IL by the now defunct MidWest body Co. They supplied GM with bodies up into the 70's.

Great work and good luck. Your truck is really looking good.

That's interesting to know, Dave. It seems an interesting and well-engineered unit -- Designed to be shipped in knock-down form and then possibly assembled at the point of sale?

Do you know approximately when these beds were first offered? I'm wondering that it may not be entirely "correct" for an AD truck. I've only seen two of them and they were both on TF trucks. I only care out of curiosity, I still like the bed and plan to use it.

The restoration isn't very hard -- as long as the outer rails are useable, the other pieces are relatively easy to fabricate and assemble.

pix look great!

I'm an old Chevrolet dealer and we got the platform and stake bodies directly from the factory at least as far back as 1939, probably further back. They were mounted on the truck at the factory and weren't available in knocked down version from the factory.

I remember that in 1967, I sold a C40 to the City of Greeley, CO that was going to be used to mount a generator and lights for the Fire Department and I ordered a 12', I believe, platform body on it. It took forever to get there and, when it came in, I didn't see the transport. One of my employees told me that it was there and I told my Service Manager to go get the platform that just came in and get it serviced for delivery.

A few minutes later, he came back and said there wasn't any platform out there. Mumbling to myself that I had to do everything, I stomped out to the lot and, to my chagrin, discovered that, while I had been charged for the body on the factory invoice, they hadn't bothered to put it on the truck.

I contacted the Zone Office and they refused to believe me. I finally got them to send someone out to look at it. I asked them to let me buy an aftermarket body so I could deliver the truck, but they stalled for about two weeks and then decided to ship the body to me from the assembly plant. That took about three weeks and, when it arrived, it was completely disassembled, with all of the small parts in a box about 24 inches on a side that weighted about 200 pounds. Every nut, bolt, lock washer, staple, etc. was put loose into the box and the box split open and Chevrolet couldn't come up with an assembly drawing. It took two mechanics two days to put it together and mount it. The freight was about $400 and my warranty claim was another $400. I could have bought an aftermarket body for about $500, but I guess they were covering someone's a**.

I guess it's a little off topic, but three years later, the Fire Department brought it back to us with a bad oil leak at the rear axle pinion seal. The truck had 37 miles on it at that point. When we disassembled it we found that the pinion seal had worn a groove about 1/8" in the yoke. What we determined was that the pinion seal area was above the level of the grease in the axle and was lubricated by splash when the truck was moving. The truck was parked in the fire station and, every Saturday morning, someone pulled it out onto the ramp to wash the floor where it was parked. Then they backed it back into the bay. There was not enough speed or time to splash the lube up and forward and the dry seal wore the groove. We suggested that they drive the truck around the block every time they moved it and the problem was solved. About ten years ago, I heard that it was still in use. For what it's worth, Chevrolet paid the repair bill, even though the truck was two years out of warranty.

Maybe some of us collectors might gain something from this experience.

As a final point, I would suggest that you use marine varnish for the floor boards, not polyurethane. Polyurethane will break down from sunlight and you'll have a mess to redo. I learned this with an elaborate carved mahogany front door that got the morning sun.

Hope this wasn't too far off topic. Excuse an old goat with more memory than sense.

Steve, I don't mind the story. I'd love to hear more stories like that. Those stories bring an aura of first hand "facts" to the rest of us.
Start a new thread and tell us some more. Being a Chevrolet dealer from the times of Stovebolt's is a great knowledge source for us. I'd love to hear from your memory banks.

Is it possible to find those rounded corners for making a flat deck?

It's possible to make something, but you're not likely to find just what you need.

I have drawings and (had) intentions of making that style flat bed in aluminum, beaded sides and big rounded corners and all.
I was looking into having the sides extruded, and the corners would be fabricated and turned as a circle with the correct profile on the lathe, then cut into quarters and welded to the sides.
Probably would be expensive, and in the meantime I found a suitable steel bed.

Grigg

I remember flatbeds arriving mounted on chassis at dealers. Just about everything else arrived as a cab and chassis. One of the old manufacturers is still around. Ace Trailers in San Antonio. I haven't been there in 25 years. I don't know if they can still make the corrugated side rails or not. I don't think there is enough steel in a bed to make the weight difference for aluminum worthwhile. Aluminum cross members are still common in van trailers and could be either bolted or Hucked to the side rails and insulated with mylar tape.

excellant

John, The bed MikeB sold you is indeed the version of the Factory flatbed for '55.2, & newer. The earlier version had smooth, more convex edges, along with the rounded corners. I've had a couple of them, but don't have any pictures.

Spanky,
Is this the original type bed for AD trucks?
http://rides.webshots.com/photo/2403357160080251109EpvEwY from a 53 GMC, looks original to the truck but not sure if it was installed by GM or aftermarket.

Grigg

That's an aftermarket bed Grigg. I'll try to find a photo of one, if I can. I've got color catalogs that show them, but no way to scan them.

Here is a scan of a GMC sales brochure.

http://picasaweb.google.com/crenwel...ON0qtUV3wpl_jYGZObZQ#5568881232215120978

The also show the same body on a flatbed.

Look'n good John...Mike B

Just a last thought. The factory installed bodies all had wood longitudinal members. All the aftermarket bodies that I remember had steel longitudinals.

Hey Fellas, I have a 57 1ton flat bed. My ? is where the bed meets the back of the cab the edge metal is is missing in the middle. Was there a piece there org. or not. I'de like to keep my org. bed but going to need a good metal man to fill in the areas that have rusted thru.I also love the rounded corners. Look at my pics to help with answer.

Off subject now, I was looking over my trk last night and was happy about the simplicity of the ole trk, when ordered it did not get many accs. No radio,one tail light,Driver only sun visor
my mirors appear to be after market, heater duct hoses only blow at floor can't see defroster ducts,no window washer and no seat belts. I guess this will all be a blessing when tear down and put back are concerned. I'm the third owner of the farm jewel and intend to use it for my mini farm.

I really enjoy reading all the stories and knowledge you fellas are sharing.

Steve is correct. The longsills were bolted to the crossmembers and thee whole thing was shipped in a knockdown form. The ends of the crossmembers were tapered up and there was no branding on them anywhere. Stakes were wood and the slats were pine with corner locking connectors.

Duwop -- That appears to be the exact same bed as the one I'm working on. It does not appear to me that there are any more pieces to the front of the bed. The side rails curve around to form the front corners and then attach to the front cross member about a 1/4 of the way in or so. I don't think there is a filler there -- that's the way it's suppoed to be. Maybe the guys with the first hand knowledge of these beds when they were new can confirm that.

The front and rear cross members are different from the 5 inner cross members. The five are identical (it appears), but the three forward ones "face" to the front (flat side forward) and the two aft ones "face" to the rear (flat side aft). Of mine, all of the cross members had varying degrees of rust damage (a couple of them were almost completely gone in the middle). I took the best original to him and he quoted me a good deal so I had him fabricate all of them (all five inner ones and the rearmost crossmember) It worked out to about $25-$30 each (nearly exact reproduction in heavier guage steel with the holes drill exactly and ready to paint and install) which I thought was a good price. He'd be happy to make more if you're interested. Let me know and I'll ask him.

Good and interesting info on the beds -- this has become a very interesting thread! Please tell us more. I think that's very interesting that the factory beds would come with wood longitudinals but the after market beds had steel. Why would that be?

And were all the factory beds black? Or would they have painted the rim to match the cab color?

And to answer the earlier question from Steve -- I'm just going to make the two oak longitudinals look nice with either the spar varnish or the poly. The actual deck boards are just going to be treated lumber with some dark stain. I am planning to put stuff on the bed (like taking the Gator to shows or doing hayrides around the farm during christmas tree sales, etc)

Thanks,
John

John, if you look at the sales brochure, it is the same color as the truck. However, it may have been a mock up to look pretty in the sales brochure.

http://picasaweb.google.com/crenwel...ON0qtUV3wpl_jYGZObZQ#5568881232215120978

All of the original GM factory bodies I've seen were black platforms with dark green stake sides. The floors were yellow pine and painted black also. For some reason there was no full width front bolster on them and were as John described, middle part omitted. The crossmembers were faced the opposing directions front & rear of the rear axle with the idea that they would retain less dirt and road contamination that way. I became a body dealer in the 60's for the company that built for GM and that is how I saw them being made at the factory.

The platforms were completely different than the companies own product line which were a lot heavier built and were of all steel construction. I personally think the GM bodies were of their own design and contracted out just as the installation was to several installation only firms in the Detroit area. Cost was certainly an issue and kits were much easier to ship than completed bodies. These GM only bodies were not sold to anyone else including the companies own dealers.

Thanks fellas,
John I'll keep you in mind when I tear her down, I think the cross members are salvageable its really the side trim that I'm concerned about.

Bruce, thats one nice 54 you have.

I changed the longitudinal wood a few years back for the PO he wanted PT wood. May reuse same wood after tear down and paint black.

New question for Ken/Dave et all who remember the originals:

Did the bed planks have metal strips to keep them in place like the pickup beds, or did the planks just get bolted to the cross members (with carriage bolts?)?

Thanks,
John

John, the '53 GMC at Griggs had the metal strips between the boards.

Billy

The metal strips on that flat bed I have from the 53 GMC aren't the same idea as the pickup bed metal strips.
These on the flat bed are a "Z" profile and slip under one board and over the next. They were also welded to the cross members, not bolted.

I'll look in my pictures, I think I have some good ones of the exact style/make of the bed you're rebuilding, and I think they are similar to pickup truck bed strips.

Grigg