Bed Time Story!

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

I've been working on installing my new bed wood floor. Thought I would share some progress pictures.

esll.

The following pictures show the opening of the box's and trial fitting the bed wood in the 70'. After fitting the wood in the box and fit is good one must mark the perimeter bolt holes and drill them.

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

My wife Linda is sanding the boards and getting them ready while I go about priming and painting the hardware.

esll.

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

I went over the frame and did a bit of a clean up as I drove my 70' with out a floor for a while. The frame, bars etc were already prepped with Zero Rust when the box was off the truck. I took out the support bars and painted them as well as the frame over again. Three of these particular bars (see picture) I had made at a local shop.

esll.

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

Linda is now staining the wood. We are almost at the stage of applying the UV clear protective finish coat. I like this product as it is made for out door weather conditions and the clear coat is tinted as well, it is available in satin, gloss etc.

I have to prime and paint the bed strips and the final install will be next. See you all later with finish pictures

esll.

[Pop's72]

Looking good!

[special-K]

Nice job.So,you had some or all of the cross pieces made up?Do you still have the specs on what was ordered?Did it come out better than ordering "made" ones from a catalog?

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

Originally Posted by special-K

Nice job.So,you had some or all of the cross pieces made up?Do you still have the specs on what was ordered?Did it come out better than ordering "made" ones from a catalog?

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Hello there special - K,

What brought this all about was the fact that I'm not a big fan of repo parts and then of course the price as well, as I thought was rather high for what they are and then I have to add to this exchange, shipping and brokerage which when added to the retail price soon starts to get pretty high.

Someone is making them out there so I thought why not me. I went down to my local sheet metal supplier and purchased the metal needed. We have a guy who makes high pressure water parts cleaning machines in town and he bent the metal to the specs of the old ones which I gave him for samples to work from. They turned out great. I had a total of three made $35.00 cash for bending the metal and $65.00 no more then $75.00 for the metal total $110.00 Canadian. I saved the shipping costs and had complete control over what I was getting.

Can't help you with store bought ones as I never have had the experience with using these. All I know is mine are built to factory specs.

esll.

I sent these two pictures which show the old and new bars side by side. They are leaning against the wall and are not standing even so holes may appear like they do not line up .... trust me they do.

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

Well here we go again .... thought I would touch up the frame a bit, previous post and ended up repainting the inside of the box. I just have to do the bulk head and that will be the end of all this. It happens every time and every time I say I'm not going to do this as this is going to be my driver and this one is a driver so why not one more time.

esll.

[Already Gone]

Thanks for this thread. I have an ECE rear mounted gas tank to install in my truck and do not have the tools or area to remove my box for the install. However I do have a garage and looking at your pics I can see that I can take my old wood floor off and then I'd have access to my frame to install my tank ,and I can also replace my wood floor like you have. My wife wants to help with the bed floor too. Looks like next summers project for us.

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

Right on! It's kool to get the wife involved .... good for you guys. I'll be adding more progress pic's so stayed tuned

esll. .

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

Originally Posted by EAST SIDE LOW LIFE

Well here we go again .... thought I would touch up the frame a bit, previous post and ended up repainting the inside of the box. I just have to do the bulk head and that will be the end of all this. It happens every time and every time I say I'm not going to do this as this is going to be my driver and this one is a driver so why not one more time.

esll.

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Finished the inside of the box! Linda finished clearing the underside of the boards and now just the tops remain to be done.

esll. .

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

Starting to lay the floor back into the 70' for the last time.. These pictures show Linda and I laying all the pieces back into the bed and lining everything up. Then we will bolt everything down.

Next set of pictures will be the final pictures of everything finished.

esll.

[Stepside65]

Lookin good.

[72BlckButy]

Can't wait to see the finishing result!

[Yukon Jack]

You're a lucky man getting help from your wife!

[Ogilthorpe]

Wow, great thread, thanks for documenting the installation! This is really gonna help me when I do mine. I made my girlfriend read it... then I asked when she was free to help - she laughed... with an evil stare

[oj70chevy]

Originally Posted by Ogilthorpe

Wow, great thread, thanks for documenting the installation! This is really gonna help me when I do mine. I made my girlfriend read it... then I asked when she was free to help - she laughed... with an evil stare

my wife did the same thing. keep up the great work and thanks for the documentation.

[02_GMC_97_FIII]

Thanks for the pics and write up. Soon to be looking at doing the same thing, very nice work!

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

Originally Posted by Ogilthorpe

Wow, great thread, thanks for documenting the installation! This is really gonna help me when I do mine. I made my girlfriend read it... then I asked when she was free to help - she laughed... with an evil stare

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Just remember the laugh and the stare .... when you hear her next Honey do this & Honey can you do that List.

Just joking about the girl friend .... I'm glad the post is going to be a help for you down the road and thanks for your kind words.

esll.

[Ogilthorpe]

Originally Posted by EAST SIDE LOW LIFE

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Just remember the laugh and the stare .... when you hear her next Honey do this & Honey can you do that List.

Just joking about the girl friend .... I'm glad the post is going to be a help for you down the road and thanks for your kind words.

esll.

OK, this is by far the best post ever... I actually got the girlfriend to turn some wrenches with me yesterday! She got a kick out of this post and decided to OFFER help!!! THANK YOU ESLL!!!

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

Originally Posted by Ogilthorpe

OK, this is by far the best post ever... I actually got the girlfriend to turn some wrenches with me yesterday! She got a kick out of this post and decided to OFFER help!!! THANK YOU ESLL!!!

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It's what it is all about. You get to spend time with the little lady (that's the girlfreind I'm talking about now) and she gets to meet the mistress that she used to hate. She just found out a big part of what makes you tick. By the way she deserves a big hug as she did what a lot of gals would refuse to do. She could be a keeper.

[dan42]

esll, that looks really nice, I have to redo mine so I definitely will reference your thread. Thanks!

[lpaine]

Hey Esll, I don't belong to the Ocean Idlers, actually I beleive the Kinsmen have taken over running and organizing that particular show, it just got too big for the Idlers to manage as I understand. Anyway I took my Sister and Bro in-law to that show, they really enjoyed it.They were out from Alberta. My sister owns a '65 Mustang, so she really enjoyed seeing the Mustangs that were there. Sorry, no pics, but there were a couple of nice 67-72s at the show. Maybe I'll see you there next year.Later, Lew

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

Well where we at .... linda informs me last night that she is not happy with one of the boards (found a dry spot) that she wanted it out of the truck to redo. So out it comes so she can clear it again. Light scuff to prep it with 4x0 bull wool and she says you know that dry spot is gone why don't we scuff off all the boards.Takes off the little sheen that there is as the stain and clear are both satin. It does look good that way but for the amount of time involved ..... well lets face it she's in charge of the boards and she's say's she wants it perfect. What can I say except let get those boards out (for the 3rd time) honey.

esll.

PS: Just kidding about the honey thing .... My wife wants this to be her best as this is her part of doing our truck. It's nice to know that she cares that much. She made a comment .... I want it to be good for the boy's on the board.

Update: Turns out that she has a couple boards to do and she has changed her mind about scuffing and leaving them as she say's and I agree it makes them too dull as they are satin already so it looks like she's going to clear them one more time. So she's on her way to pick up supplies and start these boards. We both agreed that we will be bolting everything down after this.

[EAST SIDE LOW LIFE]

Heat shields, should one use them or not. My 70' is the first bed wood floor that I've used them on. I moved my mufflers forward towards the cab to relax the bend in the pipe over rear axle but as you can see the bend is still high and close to the wood. So I decided to install a set of heat shields.

The shields that I'm installing are made by Mar-K and as always fit and quality are #1. If they are not s/s Mar-K suggests that the heat shields should be painted before installation. I used a high heat black paint for this. To install they just screw to the underside of the bed wood using wood scews.

esll.