SkinnyG's '61 Chevy Apache 10

How much will the ride height change when you get everything together?  Looking more like a vehicle all the time.

Ride height is 5" as measured under the crossmember. This is pictured with the "suspension aired out" (if it had any suspension).

I have zero toe change all the way from from ride height to on the ground.  Though it does get pretty drunk as it is raised above 5". 

I can also fully steer left and right aired out, so it -can- be driven with no air if need be.

My goal is to shorten the bed over Christmas break.

Put the bed (which had been stored outside) on the rolling stand I made for moving the cab around, and brought it into the shop.

Did some thinking and measuring, and things were not adding up at all. It was looking like I shortened the rear of the frame WAY too much. Oh no!

I scoured the internet, I looked for lots of pictures of a stepside frame, and couldn't figure out why the rear bolts won't meet the frame. I had cut 8" off the back.

Oh but wait.

A stepside bed is 14.5" shorter in the front, and 5.5" shorter in the back, to equal 20".

So the 5.5" the back moves, PLUS the extra 2.5" at the front, is 8".

I'm good. Whew!

Not entirely sure the bed mount holes behind the axle are really where I want them, but I can make something work.

Strange how they played with the wheel opening positions between long and short wheelbase trucks.  I'm sure that was a rollercoaster of emotions for a bit!

Yes.  I cut 12" from behind the cab, and 8" off the back.  A fleetside bed is cut the same: 12" and 8".  I was referencing existing cross sill holes in the frame, which might not actually be the same location between shortbed and longbed.

In fact, if you look at a fleetside, it is clear that the wheelwell is actually too far back from the wheel, whereas on the stepside, the wheelwell is too far forward (because you cannot get the fender back enough).

I also looked at a variety of bed floor options.

Options:

Bed wood kit: $750 CDN

Make my own wood using composite fascia boards: $630 CDN

If I do a wood or woodesque floor, I'll need new bed floor strips and angles: $150 CDN

New steel fleetside bed floor I can cut down: $1300 CDN

Maybe find/modify a bed floor from Pick-N-Pull: $190 to $430 CDN (I'm not sure how they would price this)

Find a local bed and cut a floor out: $500+ CDN

Decision:

In the end, I can buy wood through the school wood shop at cost and make my own.  So that's what I decided to do, in Red Oak. I ordered bed strips from Bill's Truck Shop in Ontario.

I intend to do a black stain, and then an oil finish so I can just keep oiling it off and on, maybe even with used motor oil since I will have some at every oil change.

Just finished installing this one in a 1950 F2. Boards were over 1' thick and weight a ton. SS bolts to put it all together were over $100 Cnd. 

When assembling what I thought was going to be a cake-walk, it seems that every single bolt that had to be tightened had a conflict with something under the bed that made it impossible to get at that nut. Exhaust, fuel tank, crossmembers trailer hitch, and whatnot. 

Second guessing the Red Oak option.

While LOTS of people are using Red Oak for the bed floors, these are mostly the "show" trucks with the miles-deep bar-table varnish on top.  Clearly not for going to Art Knapps Plant Land for a scoop of crushed granite, or skidding a big block Chevy to the header panel to haul home from Pick-N-Pull.

I looked at other wood options = I'm kind of committed since I have new bed skid and angle strips coming.  I looked at Ipe and Apitong, and Hemlock, and Hickory....

I'm back at my original though on going composite.  Composite works out to about $210, since I can get three boards out of a 20' length, and it's cheaper by the 20'.

Boss has a deck made out of Ipe.

Not even a 5-year-old can damage it. I swear it's cast-iron.

My tablesaw fence is made of it and it seems indestructible. I plan on replacing my kitchen knife handles with it.

Cost was less than composite decking when he installed it ten years ago.

Oak isn't really that tough.

We live in Canada. Maple is a weed here. If you've ever chopped mortises in maple, you'll know how tough it is, it's probably the hardest native wood we have. Maybe check it out as an alternative.

You may want to check out black locust.  I built a porch out of it and it is holding up very well.  It is honey colored but takes stain.  It is a North American tree and is more sustainable than Ipe.  The company I get it from is Robi Decking but I'm not sure about it's availability in Canada. 

I hear ya.

But if the $/bf cost even comes close to composite, I might as well go composite.  I'm not building to win a car show, and I don't want to be replacing it in 10 years. 

Also, composite isn't going to have so much waste as I cut it down to size and have to avoid defects.  I just cut to length, and the leftover makes a handy shelf somewhere. And I'd be less worried dragging a pick-n-pull BBC across composite.

I did contact a local supplier about Ipe - they have none, and don't expect to get any until maybe spring.

Wood, for me, is for wheel chocks, sub boxes, and protecting my drill press table.

SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:

Also, composite isn't going to have so much waste as I cut it down to size and have to avoid defects.  I just cut to length, and the leftover makes a handy shelf somewhere.

Good point, never even thought of that. 

SkinnyG (Forum Supporter) said:

Wood, for me, is for wheel chocks, sub boxes, and protecting my drill press table.

Not a good woodworker, myself.  Can never find the right filler rod.

I shortened the back of the bed today. I cut through the spot welds of the rear stake pocket box, and exiting along the top of the rolled edge so as to be able to cut a fresh end when it's all welded back together.

You are doing amazing work. You seem to be a few steps ahead of my project (and a few years more experienced!) so I've been finding your thread very helpful. Especially skinning the doors...going through that this weekend. Thank you for sharing your work with us.

For the front, locate the spot welds:

Remove the steps:

Get some first aid because thin rusty metal bites when the bolt breaks (yes, my Tetanus shots are current, I -do- work with metal):

The bottom two spot welds were drilled from outside (easier to get to):

Mark cutting lines (14.5"), cutting right through the spot welds:

Weld a brace onto what will be the new front of the bed:

Cut along the cut lines, removing the 14.5" section. Pay attention to which side of the cut line you cut on:

Remove the front, and clean up the spot weld remnants on the flanges:

Shove the front half on to the shortened bed:

Bask in a fuzzy picture of accomplishment:

For those of you with a good eye for colour, thoughts??

Roof, bumpers, grill, trim "Cameo White"

Truck itself "Grabber Orange"

Bed wood "Beach House"

Maybe second thoughts on the blueish board.  How aboot grey, eh?

Something a little more off white i think would be better. 

How' boot vanilla ice cream?

Think that about nailed it!

Ahhh, I was hoping the truck would stay in its current colors. Although I guess with all the rust repair I should have seen this coming a long time ago haha.

In reply to Shavarsh :

I'm a fan of "swimming pool green" on trucks of that era.

Dusterbd13-michael (Forum Supporter) said:

Think that about nailed it!

agreed!

Shavarsh said:

Ahhh, I was hoping the truck would stay in its current colors. Although I guess with all the rust repair I should have seen this coming a long time ago haha.

I waffled back and forth a LONG time about trying to save the patina, but you're right - the amount of work to save the patina following all the rust repair is greater than just blasting it all and painting it fresh.

There is also nothing I can do that will stop it from =continuing= to rust, unless I get rid of all the poo coatings of 1961, blast the metal, and do proper epoxy primer and urethane enamel.  I hate rust.  It's not a weather-faded truck, it's a rusty truck.  And I hate rust.

I can probably do a good job of faking the patina, but if I keep it long enough, the patina will come back 

Not doing Red Oak. I ordered composite deck boards for the bed floor, and one more skid strip since the Trex boards are too narrow.

A narrow window of dry weather meant I could blast the areas I needed to deal with. This is now Christmas break 2020, and I'd like to get the bed assembled and on the truck by the time I go back to school.  The hope is to have the truck ready for paint in the summer.

Trex "Winchester" composite deck board were ordered. In order to fit these, an eighth skid strip had to be ordered since these boards are much narrower than OEM. The single skid strip came with no holes, so I had to drill and then file square.

Also picked up some 2x4" 0.120 to raise the bed floor, and some 2x4" 0.063 to raise the rear of the bed frame.

The bed header (?) was disassembled, and the board flange raised 4". Also spent a LOT Of time trying to straighten and shrink and true the panel. I have no idea what I'm doing; I'm figuring this out as I go.