1967 Custom Sport Shop Truck

[GR8-68]

Shot you a pic via text of the bed pieces you are needing

[MMcMasters]

Great job on the bed shortening. I have though about attempting this myself on mine but I'm only lacking in one area and thats talent...Great job!

[GR8-68]

Originally Posted by MMcMasters

Great job on the bed shortening. I have though about attempting this myself on mine but I'm only lacking in one area and thats talent...Great job!

I am not buying that one I have not seen any lack of talent on your build

[67ChevyRedneck]

Originally Posted by GR8-68

Shot you a pic via text of the bed pieces you are needing

I appreciate it!

Originally Posted by MMcMasters

Great job on the bed shortening. I have though about attempting this myself on mine but I'm only lacking in one area and thats talent...Great job!

Thank you! But in all honestly, I've learned from my mistakes, and there's been a lot.

The black bedside below my blue bed in my pics had some rust, mostly in the wheel arches. I got the wheel arch in OK, but ruined the back half of the bed by warping the snot out of the marker light patch. Didn't really know what I was doing, was using shielded wire... ugh... They're actually good bedsides. Haven't screwed up the PS... yet... so I plan on saving them someday. They'll go in the shed along with the green floor I'm using for mock up as I'm going to use the beautiful blue floor for my truck (I don't have any room in the garage right now, so it will get done last).

I've learned a straight edge is your absolute best friend when doing sheet metal. If a panel is a little sucked in, overpull on the clamp slightly and tack it. Panel popped out a bit? Push it in flat the with straight edge and the heat from the weld will usually pull it back in flat. I mean, the bedside came out really well, but I still cut and redid spots welds in some areas a few times. I even had to cut the back part back off because the bodyline got all out of sort

Taking your time is the hardest part, especially for me, because I want it done, like now.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I didn't get as far as I wanted to this weekend. I had some side projects that got in the way. I ran out of gas so I had to swap bottles. The current layout of my cart was unsafe. I had to use a woodblock to keep the tank off the welder and the tank could move around a lot with just the chains (the bottom chain really does nothing). So I made some supports out of the left over metal from the inner door patch. I boxed the sides for strength, painted them, and sliced some vacuum tubing to keep from rubbing the tank. The bottom chain is still useless, but even with just the top chain you can shake the crap out of it and nothing happens. My welder also slides all the way back now and doesn't touch the tank.

[67ChevyRedneck]

The other project was the 10 year old excide battery in my mustang was toast. I was having to push it out of the garage and charge it just to get it back in. On Friday it decided it wasn't going to start even with a charge, so I bought a new battery, but since it's out, why not install the smaller 67+ style tray so that's all done and out of the way for when I install the big 1969 radiator next month? Simple, right? Well, like everything else, even a simple aftermarket battery tray doesn't fit. I had to take it apart, reweld it, etc. Argh. Simple couple hour project that took hours. I couldn't stop once I started.

The new tray will save over 2". The current radiator is +/-19" wide, the new one is 25". Going to be a tight fit, but people swear this tray works with the 69 radiator... we shall see...

[67ChevyRedneck]

So, that cut deep into my truck time, that and the fact that I can't leave well enough alone.

I cut the back section of the DS bed off the truck two more times. I just couldn't leave it alone. When I compared it to my original shortbed I was coming up 1/8" short at the top, which is also what my tape lines were showing. Somehow trying to make the bottom bodyline match up the top got pinched in.

I just couldn't leave it at that. I finally got it right, but at a price, the bottom is going to be a complete ***** to reweld. The good news is that it's a tight, strong curve, so that will help, but its still going to suck. At least it's "right" now.

[67ChevyRedneck]

The PS was marked up for surgery. Since the front of the bed is pretty much straight, why not cut out trim holes and dents? Someone must have gotten mad at the trim, that's an impressive dent for a trim hole.

[67ChevyRedneck]

All the years I've owned & looked at these trucks, I never noticed the inside of the bed tapers at the top, I always thought it went straight up. Still always learning stuff...

[67ChevyRedneck]

Stupid clean front panel, cleaned, and painted to last even longer (was wet in pic still, I hosed all the AZ dust out).

[67ChevyRedneck]

Getting the PS lined up. I have a plan of action this time, so it went a lot quicker. Always get the outside and top lined up first, but it's also important to have the rest of the panel pinched down at the right angles/distances. Ones you get the top rail nailed down, you can move down from there.

The front couple inches of the bed "dip in", so the gap at the front you're seeing is normal. Even having done the other bedside, I still cut and redid this step 4 or 5 times. If you don't get this part right, nothing else will be right.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Then, on the front (with the outside clipped up with the gap set) I've found it's best to do the inside next. What happens is the front piece you cut is strong and doesn't bend, but the longer middle section is a lot more floppy, so, you have to basically lift it off the bed floor (I used a wood block) and pinch the bottom flange so it "pulls" the bedside down. You can then use clips to pinch it, and I weld from the top to bottom, ALWAYS checking with a straight edge on both the INSIDE and OUTSIDE as I go.

I also create reference marks/lines before I cut. In this case, after the cut, the line I made was 8" from the inside flange on the bed.

Also, since I matched the DS bedside up to a factory bedside the best I could, I'm not also referencing the PS to the DS. I must have done something right because the stake pockets distances were dead on with the match lines I put on the PS.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I also leave this bottom flange loose. What it will allow you to do is a final adjustment to get the inner bedside straight, and to use a straight edge on the outside of the bed to make sure it's straight. Once I do that check, I bolt the front and back piece down to the floor tightly.

[67ChevyRedneck]

...and this is how far I got. I only got the top spots done... Nothing on the back, not even marked up for cutting. I think I'm caught up at work this week (I worked late almost every night last week) so I can hopefully hit it for a few hours after work a bit this week.

I'm also SO GLAD I fixed the PS damage already. It would have been a nightmare trying to get everything to line back up straight with that mess.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I only have two more weekends before our Cali trip and I'm losing next Saturday to a mountain cruise with the truck club (looking forward to it, its a blast).

I really want the bedsides done this weekend so I can get the green floor cleaned up a bit, get some primer on the welds, and get it and the bedsides I'm not going to use into my shed for storage for a future project. I then want to get the blue floor into the garage and shortened. I keep it in the driveway during the week, but when I kick the mustang outside I have to flip it into the grass, and grass don't like huge shady coverings right on top of them...

I want to shorten the floor to the sides. The front should match up nice, but the back is finicky with the sides fitting into the cross sill. I can literally match it all up then spot weld the floor so it matches the sides perfectly. Then bolt everything down TIGHT, get it square, then check to make sure the outer bedside weld areas are still straight, then do the final welding. that was the only bad thing about using the "wrong" floor.

[67ChevyRedneck]

So, I had an awful week. I started to weld the front panel on Sunday evening and it just didn't go well. Usually I can snip a couple spot welds, push/pull and it's back in shape.

Nope, not on this side. I think when I cut the panel I release some of the "tension" that was created in repairing the dent damage. I tried to weld it up Sunday night, Tuesday night, and Wednesday night and damn near gave up. It's been completely cut back off at least 4 times. What was happening was I would get the top and bottom good and the center would all of a sudden have a 1/2" suck in, or a pop out area. If I tried to go from the middle out, it would be ok, but then it would still do it.

I even cut it back off completely twice today. Not sure really how I finally got it, it was a combination of push/pull, getting it close, cutting some spots that started to suck in, redo those, then repeat until I got it as absolutely close as I'm going to get it.

This was the first time I legitimately just wanted to quit

So you're going to see a bunch of stupid ruler pics because I have like 25+ hours into this stupid section and the DS only took like 5.

[67ChevyRedneck]

So glad this front section is done.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I also tried to use my A/C last weekend and no dice. The compressor was running but it was only cool.

A/C and exhaust are the only things it's ever been in a shop for, and it's just for service, I installed the Vintage Air kit 11 years ago. It looked like one of the O-rings had started leaking and I was right. They discharged it, changed the O-ring, replaced the Schrader valves, and recharged it. It must have been leaking a bit last year too because it's super cold again.

[67ChevyRedneck]

I don't know if I'm going to get the back finished or not this weekend. Our truck club is doing a mountain cruise tomorrow that will take most of the day. I'll definitely get it cut off, not sure if I'll have time to get it welded back on.

I did receive the parts Larry cut off for me, thanks man!

I didn't know you had a blaster, I would have had you sandblast for more $!

Anyway, 1st pic is what GM did to 1968-1972 Longbed trucks. They put this stupid curve at the front of the bed. 1967 Longbeds did not have this, nor does any 67-72 shortbed, suburban, or 69-72 blazer. Odd. So if you ever see a shortbed with a curve at the front fender, dead giveaway it's a cut down bed... and if you see a middle stake pocket.

Stupid looking fender curve:

[67ChevyRedneck]

Awesome looking straight "curve":

[GR8-68]

Hey those look familiar

[67ChevyRedneck]

and thank you for them!

Didn't get much done... the truck club mountain cruise was on Saturday (took most of the day) and today was Easter.

As I've said before, I enjoy photography (and photoshop) on the side, so here's some shots of our cruise (and wow... the forum sizing really kills the clarity )

[67ChevyRedneck]

Last few..

(Ugh, these look like crap on the forum )

[GR8-68]

Nice, looks like a good time What kind of camera do you use ?

[67ChevyRedneck]

Canon Rebel EOS.

I think it was $800 in 2010 when new and I've bought a couple lenses for it. Most of my photos come out the best using AV mode on the camera and a quick photoshop touch up.

This is one of my favorite unedited pics I've ever taken, last year in huntinton beach, CA.

2nd pic is what happens when your lens breaks. I had to pay highway robbery at a best buy in San Francisco for a new lens (ended up buying a telephoto lens too) when the same lenses on ebay are 1/3 of the price > What could I do? We were halfway through one of the best vacations I've ever been on.

Last is a telephoto shot of Alcatraz... this was a couple miles away...