Ok so my project has led me to my bed. I pulled the bed liner to expect nothing but rust and holes but to my surprise it looks great! Some surface rust from the liner rubbing away the paint. But to my dismay the back half isn't so lucky. Seems like the bed sides are cracking away from the bed floor *see pictures* all the metal behind the tail lights is pretty flake rusty and the rear bed corner is rusting through pretty bad. The front corners were repaired and are in fair condition. One wheel well rusted through and was repaired. Poorly I must say...

So here's the questions
1. Is the bed worth saving?
2. How should I fix the bed separation, if at all?
3. What's the best way to treat the surface rust in bed to be primed.
4. If the bed is worth saving should I have the bed professionally bed lined or are the do it your self kits worth it?












***BONUS ROUND***
Anybody know where I can find the match to this connector for the license plate lights? NOTHING in this truck has been cut up all factory wiring is intact id like to keep it that way if possible. No big deal if I have to cut them off.

 

It kinda looks like a proprietary version of a bullet connector......A matching male bullet connector should fit.....And Boy is that rare to find unmolested factory wiring.....usually after this many years, you would find at least a 1/4 mile of mystery wiring

 

Cool I'll look it up. Thanks.
Yea when I first got the truck it was wired for a CD player, cb, scanner, tach, and daylighters. And the wiring was a complete mess.
Once the aftermarket wires were removed, I noticed it was all there. Nothing cut. I have over a dozen mystery plugs under the hood alone I need to have IDed.

The factory wires under the dash are kind of a mess tho.

 

Welding the bed back together honestly it could go either way, you really need to find how far the rust goes how much is damaged what is repairable and what has to be cut out and replaced.

Personally I would use it for welding practice but ultimately junk it

 

Beds are scarce and yours does not look too bad from the pics. With some patch panels and homemade patches it looks repairable to me. Welding required. Cut out the rust, clean surrounding metal, apply weld through primer and have at it would be my suggestion. My bed had some similar problems and is sturdy and good looking now.

 

So how should I go about welding up the bed? Just fill in the gap or weld in a plate?

 

Most bullet connectors on these trucks are 0.18 inch. These are available through many distributors, but they're bigger than the ones you find in packs at the parts store.

 

From what I can see it will need a plate or two plus exterior patch panels... and maybe clamps or a come along to pull everything back into position. Some of the bracing underneath in the rear bed corners is probably in bad shape also. If so, its not too hard to cut it out and re-make it.