The Rust Damage Is So Severe On My 62 Unibody Im Gonna Have To Cut It In Half And Swap Beds Any Suggestions?

 

Your 62 integral bed style pick up, which you are calling a "uni" does not have a "half" or a bed for that matter, technically speaking. It's all 1 body piece, thusly to "replace" your cargo area, you must "REBUILD" it accordingly, one panel at a time. Although this is a task for sure, it's not "Rocket Surgery", but plain old sheetmetal repair instead.

I'm sure some good metal remains in most if not all panels, regardless of how bad it appears to be. Obviously it will be a tedious task, requiring a certain amount of skills, and equipment to accomplish regardless of who the technician turns out to be. I'd remind you "Expertise" is merely skills which have been learned & practiced to a high degree of proficiency. An advantage to that is there are 3 areas involved where Major Body & Sheetmetal Repair/ Work & Replacement are concerned.

After accurate technical evaluation/ assessment & careful disassembly,
they're fabrication in a structural context, fabrication in aesthetic context, plus fit and finish in "cosmetic" context. These "areas" play out pretty much in this order. Thus by the time you are at the cosmetic "fit & finish" stage you should be fairly accomplished at doing major body work.

Another advantage, at least with these early examlpes of integral, or one piece body construction, is the basic or simplistic nature & design. There are a minimum amount of compound curves involved. everything is more or less straight forward, and more or less dependent on "sub Structure". By that I mean chassis/ frame can be used as a "jig" or template from which alignment and fit can be gauged & maintained.

Most of the panels can be "patch worked" by butt welding new metal where original was damaged or gone. When fabricating patch panels make them so they cross as many substructure points as possible. For example, let's say a cab back, floor, wheel wells and rear cab door jamb have been replaced. Now a lower 1/3rd, of front part, of 1/4 panel has to be replaced. Fabricate your panel so it crosses door jamb & wheel well in horizontal plane & side flange of your new bed floor in the vertical.

There's more of course, but I wrote this to instill a notion there is a method to the "madness of it all" and anybody can learn to do it by being thorough & methodical. I speak with confidence since I have done this very rebuild on my 62 SWB Integral Bed back in 1970s. It's a learning experience with an easy curve because I had previous experience starting with metal Shop & industrial arts in High School & practical real world experience as a tradesman & Auto Tech.

At first I thought it was monumental & overwhelming, but qualified bodymen in my crowd pointed out it's really only "Major Body Work", not monumental or overwhelming if one has some knowledge, some experience, the right method in mind, and a will to do it, it can be done. A little knowledgeable help doesn't hurt either.

Some tips I'd include are:

Remove all Major Rust, treat all minor rust to convert & stop its' progress.

Make accurate measurements, take plenty of reference photos & make good sketches before you cut stuff apart & remove it.

Make straight cut lines wherever possible, avoiding curved/ radius cutlines wherever you can. AND make your cuts "clean". Use plasma cutter, nibler, or die grinder if you're good with a die grinder. Some people use reciprocal saws but I feel they leave jagged edges compared to other methods. Jagged edges tend to = sloppy/ dirty weld beads. Plus back & forth motion of blade creates a undulated edge of different degrees, in some cases. Hard to straighten out later with out a lot of extra work.

Where you butt-weld use heat sinks & always do stitches instead of running beads. When doing stitches move/ jump back forth across panel/ along seams
to avoid any excess heat build up & warping from happening.

Most of all take your time, ask lots of questions, learn as much as you can before you start, be openminded as well, as you progress thru the project.

As you are re-constructing cargo area think what can be done to enhance drainage and/ or reduce future corrosion & rusting. Prepaint areas you can't paint once panels are assembled is one of the preventative steps.

Good Luck & do your homework. Job will turn out relative to what you learn & do as you go along. Remember you're not 1st person to ever do this repair, and probably won't be the last either.

If you take plenty of pictures and keep a journal you can write about your project & perhaps even sell it.

Whew, that's Auto Body 101. . . . . . huh?

FBp