Hi - I'm having problems finding a shortbox anywhere near where I live, so I am considering converting my '65 LB into a SWB. Has anybody ever completed this ??

 

Bill, You can do it, but it is a big job. You have to make 4 cuts from top of bed rail to top of bed rail, inside and out, and weld back two seams. The bed has to be cut both in front and behind the wheel wells.

You can do a lot repair to your existing bed for less than it takes to do that job.
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John

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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

[updated:LAST EDITED ON 18-Jun-02 AT 01:06 PM (EST)]Man, that would be SO MUCH work it makes me tired just thinkin about it. Try looking for a good western bed, I'm sure they're still out there. Even with the cost of the bed and going after it, it's got to be easier than doing all that cutting, welding, and bodywork. Whew! If your 8' bed is any good you can sell it too. Good luck,

 

Ya, the box does look very complicated and not worth digging into. My 8' box will do just fine, until I find "the next project" ( I hope my wife don't find this post ) Mean while I'll scap this conversion idea

 

Good thinkin Bill !!

 

I did this conversion back in the mid 80's. The truck came out real nice. The front of the box was cut back about 6 inches from the front. 15 inches was remove and overlapped 1" for a total of 16 inches. The reas was cut 1" in front of the rear seam and overlapped one inch for a total of 6 inches. The truck and I parted ways after about 6 years. Another guy wrecked it in the early 90's. I recently started another short box project and bought back my old short box for the truck and it still looks great. Any project worth doing is worth doing well. It took about 4 week ends to shorten the box. The over lap area was also used to pop rivet the box together prior to welding. Later the pop rivets were drilled and welded shut. Good luck, and don't let 'em scare ya. Sure its a little crazy but, that is why we are "ENTHUSIASTS". PS I recently found a short box with a rusty floor but, the box sides looked good. One corner was slightly folded.

Truck4d

 

I tried a reply last night but it didn't work. I still haven't completely given up on the idea, but after doing some measuring I think I might scrap the idea. I had originally thought that I could cut the area out in front of the back wheels, without doing anything behind the wheels. If I want the short box look, I'm going to have to make cuts in front and behind the wheels. When you did yours, did you use an offset crimper for the splice, or just an overlap and try to blend it in (which seems unreasonable). I thought of using a Butt joint, but one would have to be super accurate. What about the cut- plasma arc? (everybody has one of those) or a saws-all? Later

 

Bill, I wasn't trying to scare you as one post suggested, but this job is a major undertaking, not for the faint of heart. Putting two cuts together on an outside body panel will seperate the big men from the boys. You can have a bed that looks great or like stinky stuff.
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In the cool still quiet of night, you can hear chevies rusting away.

 

Like Sheriff Mat Dillon from Gunsmoke always said "A man who ain't never a-scared's a fool", but like I said after measuring I'm still having second thoughts. It's presently 90 degrees by the radio and 105 by the thermostat so I ain't doing nothin!!!!

 

It was just overlapped an inch. I think the pop rivets helped by having the box all solide before starting to weld. An open butt joint on a panel would cause a lot of warpage. Good luck.

Truck4d