Update:

I now have both bedsides 90% of way to being fully welded in place(just have to finish along the bedrails) and started a little bit of work on the tailgate.

After being a used as a work truck for so many years the tailgate was dented pretty good in some spots so pulled out the stud welder and went to town on it.


Behind someones crappy repair.......


I found this






Finished

 

noice! i havent touched my bed... i bought a 4" lift and that's in the process of installation

 

Update:

Its been a while since I've updated this so here it is

More work on the tailgate as this section was flat at one point




getting closer


Got the compartment door aligned and ready for bodywork


Some of the hinges for the compartment door were loose, after no luck searching for new ones or some similar I took them apart to find the brass pin holding them together was actualy broken.....come to find out it was the same size as the brass brazing rod I had laying around so they all got rebuilt and now work like new!


put in new inner wheelhouses on both sides


The stock fender braces use to run up to the floor supports but since its now going to be a custom wood floor I made some new brackets for them to bolt to.


After what seems like forever I think its finally safe to say both bedsides are ready for bodywork

 

Boy for someone who started out not knowing anything about body work you sure are doing a nice job! you're giving me the itch to start on mine.

 

you are doing a really good job on it...looks good!

 

Nice Bodywork!

 

Nice job hope mine goes that well if I ever get started on it. As for cutting spot welds I use these http://www.hougen.com/cutters/sheetmetal/Rotacut.html
I guy I work with that used to build custom spot weld cabinets recommended them and they work great, most of the stuff he cut was 1/8 inch and he said they last forever, mine are still like brand new after only being used on cars.

 

your going to have a very nice truck when finished, for not ever doing body work before, i would say you have a natural talent. trk looks real good so far!!!

 

Thanks for all the kind words guys. Ive been trying to take my time to get things right or atleast the best I can and I'm very hapy with the results so far. The last time this truck has seen the road is back in 2002 so I'm itching to finish it and get it out there on the road where it belongs. Its seeing others on here enyoing their trucks that modivates me to keep on this project, so its awsome to hear people saying my project makes them want to start/finish theirs.

johnboy427 thats a mean looking spot weld cutter, I think I might have to buy myself a new tool

 

The workmanship looks really good. Where did you get your bedsides from? and how was the fit?

 

The bedsides are from LMC. The fit was ok, I did do quite abit of tweaking to get them to fit correctly. The bend along the top of the bedsides were off so I had to take a few spot welds out and bend the top more. As for fitment around the side marker lights and tail lights its off a little, nothing major, so im expecting to have to mess around with that some. Overall is it worth getting aftermarket bedsides?.... in my opinion no but if you cant find a decent original bed in your area (which was my case) then its either fix your old or buy aftermarket. The steel they use on aftermarket panels is much different from the original panels. From what I found the steel tends to weaken and crack much easier when being bent. And the worst part of getting aftermarket panels, especialy panels as big as these are, is shipping dammage. Mine came with a nice big dent over the wheel arch.

 

Well I made some more progress the past few days

Filled some of the holes left by the original floor crossmembers


Returned back to one of the areas I had issues with from the new bedsides, as you can see the top of the tailgate is much higher than the top of the fender....you can also see were I tried pulling it with the dent puller put just ended up ripping the stud right out.


so I leaded up the area and got it close enough were I just had to use a skim coat of body filler


and to wrap it up I shot some primer on the drivers side

 

It looks like you have a natural talent for body work. I can only hope my project turns out as well.
Keep the pictures coming. They give a lot of us encouragement to keep going on our own projects.

 

Wow this is great the new guy gettin the old guy's going.

Nice panel work...subscribed fo sho

 

great work. keep it up