looking at purchasing and installing replacement bedside skins from a magazine if i can't find a decent cheap bed at a boneyard. How difficult is removing, then reinstalling the bedside skin? Has anyone ever attempted this?

 

might want to try doing a search.

 

I don't think it should be real hard. Been years since I've done it, and can't remember if did a ford, but can't imagine it really being too different. You will have a lot of spot welds to drill out around the perimeter of the panel, on the rail, back in tailight pocket, where the edge folds over the front of the box and wheelwells pinchweld area, ect. Drill only through the outside panel. If you get a replacement panel, you can sort of look at where it is going to attach and they should be located. We would then glue them on with panel adhesive- slow cure to give time to work with a panel that large. You will have to grind mating surfaces where the adhesive will be placed. I'd trial fit first to make sure the new bedside fits well and give you an ideal of how to get adjusted correclty and where you will clamp it. You should have several clamps and paint sticks (to protect your new panel to clamp it), the more spots you can clamp into place the better. Clamping while curing gives the bond strength. You should still place a few spotwelds in spots on a panel that large in addition to the adhesive. Mainly up at front folded over lip of box and back by the tailights, maybe a few on the bottom. Don't need a ton of them just a few front and rear of panel mainly.
If you are going to spot weld the new panel back on then you will still need to clamp into position while welding. use your old panel for a guide where to drill holes in the new panel for spot welding. You will need to remove any coating where you spot welds will go to metal and spray some weld through primer on those spots between the lapped seam. When your done welding into place, use a good 2k seam sealer to cover any open seam areas around the panel to prevent water from being able to get into between the two layers. The nice thing about adhesive for installing a full non structural panel is it will do a good job protecting the overlapping areas and seal it from water, and you are not getting hot with welding or burning off corrosion protection. Also save putting in a lot of spot welds. For a partial or patch panel, I would weld any seams full on the exterior of the panel, going slow to prevent heat build up. Adhesive sometimes a ghost line can show in the paint at the seam if not a complete panel.
Article on adhesives vs spot welds.
http://www.autobodypro.com/tektips/articles/panel.htm

 

thanks for the info kenseth