Gonna put new bedsides on my '77 soon, just waiting on my buddy to say bring it. I've looked on line, people using spot weld cutters ans chisels, etc. My buddy wants to weld my new inner fender archs to the new bed sides, then after install, weld the arches over what's left of the originals after we've cut them, He and I were planning to cut the old bed sides lengthwise just after they turn down from the top lip, trim the front near the edge where the front bends back to attach to the bed box front wall behind the cab, and down beside the tail lights leavimng some of the OEM bedsides along the top and at front and rear so the bed will just slip down in place, overlapping old with new .... he said we could glue them on after stripping the paint off the remainder of OEM metal and inside of new ones and gluing / clamping ... after I suggested a buch of 3/16" SS pop rivets. Likely we'll use both methods, glue with some rivets. At the front vertical section, He said be fine once we trim some of the new bedsides front "lip" back. At the back, he said leave enough to correctly position the tail light openings.

As to the inner arches, he said we could bond (glue) them at the wheel oping lip too, he just had habit of welding. My OEM ones are just rotted a lo9t out near the wheel openi9ng, but are more solid back near the inner bed side humps. We can weld new onto old there, or bolt from the inside as I'll have a bed liner over them anyway.

Am I wrong thinking these new bedsides should almost snap into the correct placement?

Any obvious flaws in my expectations / plans?

My plastic OEM splash shields are still there, not torn ... and I have large one piece liners I bought years ago too, so I may not need the big ones at all. . All the braces are still there too. We can not very easily move the bed back away from cab back as I plated the bed floor so many years ago and covered the bed bolt heads. He said that was OK, I told him I could reach up into the space between inner and outer bed sides to drill holes maybe, if needed. I would use a short drill bit or a block of wood with hole to limit "drill through" distance.

I'm really sort of fishing here for any tips or experiences.

 

Without pictures this is hard to tell. Is your buddy a body guy? That seems like a lot of welding. Much room for problems afterwards with heat distortion. I seen one done like that and it was a mess afterwards. Safe to assume a new bed is out? I'm not a big fan of overlapping metal and glue, sometimes causes ghost lines in the sun. You would still need to do a lot of body work afterwards where the seams are.

 

Yeah, no new bed. I don't intend it be show quality or an heirloom, I want it presentable, fun, and useable still. I bought these bed sides in 1992, with doors and tailgate, been in my dehumidified dry storage ever since ... but at 67 years age I figured it was time to either do it or let go of it. I look at it as fullfilling a promise.
Bodywork is my buddy's work, since the mid '80s anyway, he fixes some up to take to big events and sell too. Like in Pigeon Forge, Tn.
The new bed sides completely overlap into the top of the bed, lip and all ... so there will not be any exposed seams. I haven't dropped one on like a second skin to test fit yet though as I figure the marker lights, race track trim, etc would prohibit that. We'll remove all of the current bed side's metal except for enough to attach the new ones onto. I had thought of leaving a little wider strip up top than was really needed to add rigidity, but if it'll lead to rust ... not gonna do it any wider than needed. I was wondering if anyone had done this and how the fit was, thinking they should virtually self locate seeing as they will extend around the front, top, and rear ends all. The only welding he's suggested is where the inner fenderwell arch attaches to the wheel opening lip. I call it glue but it's more like an epoxy I think, mixes two parts as you dispense it, something like this ... Can you Glue On Body Panels? | Eastwood Blog I'm leaning towards the glue and he uses it often, it fully cures in 24 hours, it's approved by major automotive manufacturers. The over lapping of the new bed side over the old would only be an inch wide or so up the back, along the top inside lip, & down the front ... and the glue that bonds seals it ... so no rusting and no heat. He can weld sheet metal, but I'm the one wants to shy away from welding that wheel opening lip, even though is only a foot or so on top. The arches mainly steady the bed side correctly in line with the front and back, keeps the bed sides straight as they arch over to the inner bed side where we'll use some small bolts likely. I have full size plastic wheel well liners like what is OEM on the front .... but they go under the rear. Bought them from JCW long ago too. I also have new polished wheel well opening trim so I'm good with mechanical fastening using counter sink screws or rivets or both ... and / or the glue stuff.

3M Tech Tips: Applying Panel Bond Adhesives - YouTube

 

If your confident your friend can do it, then go for it. I'm just a guy learning to do things myself. My '53 is the first time I have ever built anything so I do lots of reading and asking questions

 

Bed sides are on, primed, and looking good.

No rivets, he did reshape the inner arches at the lip side where they join the bed sides, then welded them in place. He used the bonding stuff at the front and rear ends and all along the top, just a couple spot welds. It's looking good too.

08-21-2022: And yesterday, I reinstalled my several chrome bed side top tie downs (only 6 but each takes a 5/16" hole, but with carefull measuring, I just redrilled the hole in the new bed side and though the old holes in the thicker original top rail under supports), futher securing the new bed sides, and the new stick on Pace "RAIL GUARD" in place, should be good untill I'm in the '90s at least based on past experience.