Quote:
Originally Posted by clayton1967
I was curious RUSH how long is your bed? I love the truck by the way!
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The way u see it now it measures 6'6 x 8'
-Since this is the "short" wheelbase version 1 ton it came with a 7' x 9' bed exactly like Tim Meyers SLOMOTION in this thread ..if u look closely you can see from the side that his bed overhangs the axle 12 inches more than mine.
Since he had committed himself to preserving a original appearance due to the rarity of his truck leaving the bed in its original proportions was smart. If I started with his truck I would have built it the same ...even the 292 inline!!
My goal from the start was a "restomod" so I looked at building more of a street rod appearance. The bed was definatly not going to work with my vision in its original proportions.....so first order was to reduce the bulky overhang, and i settled on 8 ft. by cutting out 12 inches and welding back together. The frame was now sticking out the back by around 6 inches so more cuttting.
Now it's close but still didn't look quite right.....it was the width, overhanging the tires .....more cutting. Took a section (about 6 inches from the rear center) and tacked it up....stood back and ...that was it!!!!!.....ALMOST
Look at Tim's bed height....and compare....mine sits about 2 inches lower on the frame which helps make it look like it's not floating to high above the frame....this was done with removing all the oak framework and building up the structure with channel iron in its new lower position.
This is an original Chevy bed (look for the rounded corners and detail in the bed sides). It did not come on all 1 tons trucks BTW ...it could also be ordered as a chassis only which is also done today on 1 ton and up trucks. Before '73 Chevy did not build a fleetside bed w/fender extensions as is common place today as 1 tons changed into dual purpose commercial and personal use.
Pre '72 1 ton and larger were considered commercial vehicles hence no reason to fab up a fleetside dually. One exception was camper coach builders in which the chassis was sent to another factory to add the camper back ...pretty rare ...there's at least 1 on the forum.
Ok thats all my secrets........almost.........this is what u get when u ask me a question ....ten times more info than u probably wanted .....thats just me...
...................................Rushnbobo
