Thanks, exactly what I wanted to know!

 

I use to have a truck of another make.... its bed wood was good as it had been in California most of its life. I wanted to clean it up a bit, but not replace it.
I belt sanded the tops and then painted with a mix of 50% linseed oil and 50% mineral spirits. They looked good for the year or so I had it. Since the boards were far from perfect, the finished covered a lot of sins, and dressed it up a bit. Cheap and cheerful approach!

 

I was considering using that approach, an old classic wood finish - sometimes poly can look like a sheet of plastic over your wood.

 

I used the chart posted above for cutting and milling the eight bed boards - these dimensions were consistant with dimensions that I have found with other resources.

I did a test fit on some sawhorses and came up with a total width of 48-1/4" which I think will work with the bed interior.

On the length.... I bought the steel strips and end cap from Mid Fifty, and cut the boards to precisely 78 inches. When I put the strips flush with the front, there is a gap between the steel end cap and the rear end of the strip of about 1/16".

It seems like it would be best to cut the boards a little shy of 78" so the steel end cap and steep strip ends butt tight. Did anyone have this experience or have any insights? Thank you.

 

so, before using the above drawings, make sure you measure pretty carefully. I didn't and I have to redo the outer 2 boards as they are about 3/8 too narrow. also, the 5/8 groove might be better at 9/16 for me. I'm not sure if the bed walls I have are oriiginal or what. I sure thought they were. I'm going to probably gel stain these, and then cover them in west system epoxy. I've tried spar varnish and whatever on some shed doors and it just doesn't hold up by itself. Mar-k did a series of finish tests that are interesting reading if you like watching paint dry.
Also I looked at some original 56 GMC floor boards on thursday, the old timer has used a snap on tonneau cover for years. The boards and strips were black, and have held up well.

 

Thanks - I did not yet drill any counter-bore holes & was going to wait until those specific boards were next to install. Did you have any issues with that?

 

no haven't got that far, haven't received the strips yet myself, the issue I had with 5 3/4 width was that the bolt holes on the bed wall angle will break thru the outside edge of the outside boards. so I'm going to mill some 6 1/8 boards and have the outside milled edge be 1 3/8 wide as opposed to the 1" wide in the drawing. I think these vary from truck to truck a little. P.O. had used 1/2 ply which I will yank tomorrow in order to get those holes counter-bored. I love driving this and didn't want to dis-assemble until the last minute, but I've got to get these holes drilled and the boards finished. I guess I'll be driving something else for a few days.

 

Got it, I wish I had ripped my outer edge boards a little bit wider than 5-3/4."

BTW, the bottom of my side panels had a bit of corrosion. Mid Fifty sells a nice angle that goes over the side edges. One edge of this angle matches the bed strip profile; nice detail and good solution.

 

That is what I did to my bed. It looks good, covers rust, and gives it more strength. I got mine from Mar-K.