"Midnight Rider" 1970 C10 SWB Fleetside

[omodified]

Hinging on the Balance

Next were the hinges. 3 bolts per hinge and they were off.






The hinges are in good shape. Keep pile!




Even though they seemed tight, the drivers back corner of the hood would never align correctly. So, I will send these off to be repaired and refinished at a later date.

[omodified]

I Made My Bed, Now I Have to Lie in It

I noticed that removing the bed was not on the list. No better time than now to start removing it. First up is the rear bumper. This thing is a driver at best. A couple of dents and faded chrome means it going to the scrap pile.




I replaced the bumper bolts years ago, so they came apart easily. Four bolts, disconnect the license plate light and bumper off...




Rear side marker are lights out next. I will keep these since I bought them as NOS and they barely have any miles on them.




Next up are the tail and reverse lenses and taillight trim. The lenses are in okay shape, but I can do better - sell pile. The taillight trim is garbage.




Tailgate removed will make the bed lighter to lift off...




It took four people, but we got the bed off with no issues. Removed the bumper brackets first. Then, four bed mounting bolts and disconnected the taillight harness. Two mounting bolts were missing so it's no wonder that it was rattling for years. Overall, the frame and the underside of the bed is in really nice shape. Just a little dirty.

[omodified]

I already knew going into this build that the bed would need some attention. Ideally, I am doing as little metal work as possible. The bed has rust through spots where the panels come together. The rear wheel covers have metal missing around the mounting surfaces that was painted over. The floor has quite a few dings and the front panel has a little warp.












The underside of the bed is actually very clean.





For the most part the nuts and bolts came right apart. There were only a few that I had to persuade. The ones I had trouble with came right off with a sharp chisel bit on the air hammer. There were a few that were hard to access. I used the dremel on those.




Bedside bolts came out easily too.




The passenger bedside is actually very nice. No rust through that I see anywhere. Just a small crease where the back bumper got it at some point. Keep pile!






The driver bedside wasn't so nice. I found a fairly large rust hole behind where the wheel cover mounts to it. Junk pile.

The wheel covers are rusty and dented. Junk pile.

The bed floor is repairable. Pretty nice actually. Sell pile.

The front panel is warped and rusted through where it mounts to the floor. Junk pile.

Bedside trim is straight. Great for a driver. Sell pile.

Taillight harness. Junk pile.

Tail and reverse light housings. Sell Pile.

.

[omodified]

Wood You Keep this Bed?

After blowing everything apart, this only helped to solidify the decision that I was struggling to make. Switch to a wood bed? Now that I have decided not to keep this floor, I think the answer is a YES! Here is what I have in mind. I am leaning more toward the last picture. Need to research staining colors and techniques.

[omodified]

Over the last few years, I have been collecting supplies that I would need eventually to finish my bed wood. I honestly have been dreading this because I have no idea what I'm doing and I only get one shot at it. This week, I have been going through several techniques, trying to find the look I want. So far, I can't get my scrap oak wood to accept enough stain to be considered black or even grey. The best luck I've had was painting. Next, I have to figure out the best way to final coat it. I have some 2 part blushing epoxy coming next week. I think this will be the best way to get a good even coat of clear across the board. Since it is self leveling, it should fill in the grain really well. If this works, then I can use automotive clear for UV protection on top of the epoxy. Here is what I have come up with so far with just spray can satin black and spray can clear. I think I'm really liking the silver grain accents.