Fill panel under '50s pickup bed rail

[123pugsy]

Damn, just get Marcus to bend up some sides from a single sheet....ha......

[123pugsy]

My last post gave me an idea. A double walled box side and weld it right down the radius. A bit of brake forming, but doable.

[drivejunk]

Originally Posted by 123pugsy

Damn, just get Marcus to bend up some sides from a single sheet....ha......

Y'know if he could kindly throw in wheel tubs as well, he'd have a deal and it would probably be worth the wait.

Originally Posted by 123pugsy

My last post gave me an idea. A double walled box side and weld it right down the radius. A bit of brake forming, but doable.

Double walled box side and finned or otherwise modified rail ideas I illustrated long ago are all forgotten, passed over. Root ideas just about have to come from owners, that much I have learned over the years. But I still have one creative ace up my sleeve... I'd like to see how a tapered fill panel (pointy toward the front) would look under there.

But another buddy, Bill with the F-6, also mentioned having a pro sheetmetal shop with a long brake build a bedside with the desired shape which just fits closely to the bed wall.

Currently, in all that light I present this as the most minimal body labor approach possible short of doing that-



I'm just not sure what aspect is how significant to the owner but have sent him a message about not fully welding and am in no hurry for a response.

[drivejunk]

Originally Posted by pplace

The customer isn’t always (usually) correct. They aren’t in the business or trade. I wouldn’t tell a plumber, carpenter, electrician, doctor, dentist, etc. how I expect them to do their profession. I take their advice and input and figure they wouldn’t steer me in the wrong direction.

It is sometimes our “job” to explain and guide the customer of how or why you may do something a certain way. In the end the customer would have no idea if it was fully welded or plug welded and filled smooth.

Would I step and plug weld the bottom of a door skin on? Absolutely not, but in this case where all of the work is hidden and in not in a critical area, a person may have to do things a bit differently to achieve the desired outcome.

Dane, thats my trouble. I like to let them be right every chance I get. Thats part of my treating it like it's mine mentality. I would want to know, and to be given choices. But I tweak old car and truck bodies for a living and the guy with the truck is an electrical contractor. So yeah. Thinking I can explain is usually a fail and the less options one can provide in this situation is probably best. And its not a big deal at all, I just thought it sounded mightly adventurous so I asked around and you have helped to support my theory.

Whatever ends up happening, I'll try to update with a follow-up post.

Thanks to all for your participation.

[drivejunk]

Just got a reply about this from the customer. He "has faith" in me to do whats best. Gosh, now I have to pick. Um, umm... I'll think of something.

I sure am glad old truck guys are cool.

[drivejunk]

I went back to revisit some of the discarded, ignored brainstorms previously mentioned. Had to re-sketch the double wall thing, but it hides the fender-to-bed bolts so I think it may deserve further consideration-

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YBriAsiiz...827_162937.jpg

Heres what one of my brainstorms looks like. Long on wacky ideas, short on perspective-

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-jhgsRb-j4...116_185227.jpg

I have some thinking to do. Its easiest to think at home without all the din.

[drivejunk]

The double wall idea mainly shifts time from welding to fab and makes the bed heavier. But it does have visual benefits to my eye on the outside. No fender bolts visible inside the bed is at the top of a short list.

I don't think for a minute that anybody would buy it but they might. Sort of a bundled upgrade Anyway, I figured it was worth thinking through, and nothing short of these images could be a decent explanation.

As is-



Modified-



Zoom zoom-





Seems like a bizarre response to just having asked to fill under the bed rails, doesn't it? Well, at least theres not much welding and planishing involved if a guy wanted to do something like that.

[drivejunk]

I am going to bond edges except at screw holes then weld those. Simple as me.

[drivejunk]

Joining strips end to end is one of my least favorite tasks. FWIW, patching 10 fender holes I made using a template off the old bed is another. At least I stopped at two on the other side. Locations turned out to be no good. Anyhow, customer now wants to permanently join bed front and side panels so I extended the fillers at front to cover the area where nuts and bolts were.

Link to fullsize pic:

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-YSZ4axcZ4...902_165751.jpg

[drivejunk]

Bonded and welded. Zero shaping req'd. Sorry about that, its just the way the cookie crumbled this time. Thanks anyway.



Closer-up:

https://1.bp.blogspot.com/-ZTaqXrzBN...908_155429.jpg