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I have taken my bed and stood it up and need to begin taking the wood out to replace. I am afraid that the wood and braces also provide structural support and that when I take them out the bed might warp and bend at the corners, but I just don't know and am sure someone here would have some insight on my situation.
MB
all the beds, new or ole will move around, get out of square and warp if you let them. I built a frame with the same dimensions as the truck's frame rails. Then clamped the bed to that. Easy enough to get to square again with diagonal measurements and carpenter squares. and it's at a good height to work. If you have the room it's worth it
It's not difficult, start with the outer 2 boards in place, then 2 center braces and front brace then the rest of the boards and bed stripes bolts loosely in place, square it up and tighten the bolts then get a couple friends to lift it in place. I did it without any friends help but made use of my engine hoist and a fixture I made to lift the box as a whole..
You are correct about changing shape. But many of us get our trucks like that. A large carpenters square lets you easily set everything right or in my case better than new.
OK, so lets try this:
John, unfortunately I do not have the space.
I have a woodworking friend who agreed to help me find the fancy wood of my choice at a place where he is from(not this town). He has tools to cut the pieces true and do routing. I only want to remove the wood so as to give to him and say, "Here, replicate these".
It sounds like my best bet is to remove/replace one board at a time.
Could someone give me the dimensions of the wood for a '56 short bed? Could someone give me the measurements of the cutout for the metal strips(What he'd need to rout out of the wood)?
If I just give him measurements, then he can do the work without me taking my boards out and I can then do one piece at a time.
Thank you all, those are really well done jobs most of you did! I am kinda shade-tree-mechanic-ing this job.
They give pretty a pretty detailed description in that link of how they should be fitted to each, individual bed for best results.
LENGTH: This is a front to back length measurement of the area where the boards will be installed in the assembled bed. The most accurate measurement is usually along one side near the bed side where there will be minimal distortion of the sheet metal parts. Measure the distance between the front bed panel and the rear sill in the area where the rear end of the boards will be installed. Make the boards 1/8” shorter than that measurement to allow for expansion of the wood and for build up of the varnish or other protective coating. The boards will be installed with 1/16” gap at each end of the board. Cut the boards to final length only after all other dimensions have been cut. Be careful to cut the boards exactly square when cutting to length.
I built my new bed and squared it on a table. Then I placed it on the truck with no wood to see if it would fit. Once everything would line up, I removed it and placed it back on the table. (Jig)
then I fit the wood and viola!!
