I worked on the bed today to get it ready to paint. I noticed that when I rebuilt it a few years ago, I was not aware that the subframe for the hoist was out of square. I worked on that today and test fitted it on the truck. I still have a little work to do, but here are some photos to prove that I did work on it.
Thanks, Mark

 

I don't think I ever posted before and after photos of the back panel of my bed. The original was too far gone to save. It also had a couple of added stake pockets for the grain racks. I had a new panel formed and welded it in place. I cut the script out of the old back panel and cut a hole in the new panel with a plasma cutter and welded it in place. I also cut the original stake pockets out of the old panel and installed them in the new one. The bumpers were removed when the hoist was installed in 1950, so I made new ones. I bolted them on with 5/16" grade 8 bolts that I had turned the heads to look like rivets. I painted the insides of the bumpers and behind them before I installed them. I used Loctite 680 on the nuts, so they are permanent. I made the new panel a little deeper than the old one to cover the ends of the subframe. I also made it from 3/16" instead of 1/8".
Thanks, Mark

 

Good looking work as always.

 

Thank You, Fred!
Mark

 

I picked up my bed from the powder coater today. I also had the nine bed strips, inner fenders, battery box, all the air deflectors, fender braces, bushings for all the hoist pins, fan shroud and radiator frame powder coated as well. I had everything done in hammertone black to cover some of the flaws. They did blow a few small holes in a couple of the bed strips, but I expected that. They are still solid, so the holes shouldn't be an issue. I am very pleased with how everything turned out. I am looking forward to getting it all back on the truck, then I can begin wiring. I will post photos of the truck when I get everything back on.
Thanks, Mark

 

Looks good, Mark. I had a few holes in a couple of my skid strips also. A bit of time with the MIG and all is well.

 

Wow...looks great! Looking forward to seeing with all this stuff installed...

 

Looking good! Nice job on the script, can't tell it wasn't always there!

 

Thanks, Guys. I appreciate the kind words. I post more pics when I get it all back on the truck.
Thanks again, Mark

 

The bed, inner fenders, radiator frame, fan and fan shroud are back on. Hopefully for good. The bed is not very heavy, three of us picked it up off of the trailer and set it on the truck. It does ride better with the bed on. Adding the oak floor will help even more.
Thanks for looking, Mark

 

Really looks good, Mark. Coming together. Stu

 

Very nice, and the install of the Mercedes diesel looks great too.

 

The hoist works! It is a little low on oil, as it is not going up quite all of the way.
Mark

 

Thank you Stu and Topmoo for the kind words. I do appreciate it.
Mark

 

Looking good, I like the hoist.