1950 Chevy Truck (Ep 17) Wood Bed Strip Removal and Replacement

Today we will be drilling out all the spot welds on the bed where the wood strip rails are attached so new stainless steel strips can be fitted. I will show a couple of techniques and tricks to get the old metal strips off without damaging the bed sides. We will also cover new bolt locations for the stainless strips with a few tips and tricks to hide the fasteners as well.

[@8man753]

Yep, good information. LIked the solution for the back bolt.

[@rodneysterling1452]

Mark nice work, also good solution on rail with bolt metal fab. Remove those rail off bed can bed very tough!

[@rickb8538]

Thanks so much for making this video. I decided I would replace the angle strips on my 69 K10 while putting new wood down. They looked ok but I had noticed some bubbling around the edges and figured I better pull them off and address what is underneath but wasn't sure how to take them off. I searched and searched for the best (any) way to do it. Your video "is" the best way I have seen. Great work as it is no small job.

[@FoothillPaintandFabrication]

You are very welcome Rick and thank you, I appreciate the comment and feedback. I feel you on not finding a detailed video, so many just gloss over the hard part and show it when it is all done. That is why I started this channel so we all can share and learn. If you can please like and comment on my videos as it helps get them out there for others to find in their feeds. Mark

[@farmerbrown3768]

Timely video as I’m doing the samething. Now, please show the complete reassembly of the floor install and mounting onto the frame please!

[@FoothillPaintandFabrication]

The owner is handling much of the reassembly but the chassis will come to the shop to install the cab and the bed will more than likely come with the chassis so we can get both installed and aligned. It will be a bit before we get that far though. Stay tuned...

[@robertgrider4346]

My bed is so rotten, cab not bad , hard to make out what's going on ,sides and fenders not bad for 70 years old, wood, front of bed, cross beams, inside angle side pieces gone, rotten rusty , no count, got my spot weld cutter as to not have to drill a large hole thru side panels, good luck with your project 👍😉

[@FoothillPaintandFabrication]

@@robertgrider4346 The front panel on this one was rusted out down low where the wood sits. Unfortunately the rake of the truck lets water sit up front and promote rust. Unbolting the front panel may give you a better idea what is going on and just how bad it is. Putting a new one on was the most economical for this project and it fit very well.

[@fjbowen3155]

Got a 49 basket, slowly making patches out of scrap shelving, think it 18 gauge, shaping / hammering, "cut & butt", long way to go & a shortime to get there ..

[@FoothillPaintandFabrication]

@@fjbowen3155 This truck is pristine compared to a lot out there so I lucked out in that regard. There are a ton of repop parts out there and like you said you can make them yourself too. Send me a few pictures of your project, I would love to share what other people are working on and post them at the end of videos. Keep up the good work saving old iron. [e-mail]

[@OldRodder1964]

What length 5/16 button head bolts did you use, I have two beds to finish, 53 & 57 Chevy's. glad I found this video.

[@FoothillPaintandFabrication]

I am pretty sure I used 5/16"x 3/4" button head bolts. For the stainless fasteners always apply a little oil or light grease to the threads so they don't gall during tightening. Mark

[@OldRodder1964]

@@FoothillPaintandFabrication Thanks, appreciate the information

[@FoothillPaintandFabrication]

@@OldRodder1964 No problem, good luck on your projects! Mark

[@tylerc3477]

Glad I watched this before drilling on mine because there’s no indication of left and right on the ones I ordered and I probably would’ve screwed up lol. But how exactly do you tell because my beds taken apart and I guess the bed would have to be assembled to fit these? Also would you be concerned about having to put a little body filler under these?

[@FoothillPaintandFabrication]

I would definitely fit them with the bed rails all put together (even temporarily) to make sure they fall in exactly the right spot. Where they land at the rear (Tailgate area) I found to be the most crucial. Yes if you have body filler under where the strip will be attached to the side bed it could dent during tightening but fresh paint can also be deformed from over tightening. Make sure the side beds are as straight as possible so any filler is very thin. If you are still concerned Metal Reinforced Body filler is much harder than standard light weight fillers and will resist deforming much better. Mark

[@ryhunterpdx]

Where did you get the stainless side rails from?

[@FoothillPaintandFabrication]

Truck Shop/Car Shop www.truckandcarshop.com/index.html Wood came from Mar-K www.mar-k.com/ They sell rails as well. Hope this helps Mark

[@tylerc3477]

At 16:10 can you explain what the deal with the block was? I have a 3/4 inch block small enough to just be under the flat part of the strip. Will that not work? I can’t figure out why you changed it out to the other block.

[@FoothillPaintandFabrication]

Sure thing. The stainless strips sit in the grooves cut into the wood, not on top of the bed wood so the strips actually sit lower than the thickness of the wood bed boards. Take your strip and look at the end and you will see that the curved portion that holds the bed boards down is much higher than the bottom of the strip. If you have your boards and strips simply set 2 boards on a flat surface and then place a strip between them like it would be when installed and measure the distance between the bottom of the strip and the flat surface and that will be the dimension of the spacer block you need to use when drilling the holes. Hope this helps Mark

[@tylerc3477]

I don’t have the wood yet but maybe I can measure from the strip to the top of the bed on the back side and then use that measurement on the front. Would that be the best way to do it?

[@FoothillPaintandFabrication]

@@tylerc3477 Let me measure the thickness of the block and shim I used and get back to you. Do you know where you will be getting the bed boards from? Mark

[@tylerc3477]

No I really haven’t decided yet. I’ve had someone offer to make them for me but them possibly not routing the edges correctly kind of concerns me so if I can’t find some dimensions or something to go by I will probably just buy them from somewhere.

[@tylerc3477]

@@FoothillPaintandFabrication were you able to get the measurement?