Technical 1940 Ford Pickup - Bed Assembly

Like you did with the steel and vice grips, I braced the bed sides to hold them in place while I welded up the seams. I did this step on the truck in case there was any deviation to my frame or the wood timbers, that would put the bed in a bind when bolting it down.

That gap a the running board is completely normal and like I said earlier, the reason the running boards rotted there as dirt and debris would get in there and retain moisture. I had to remind myself many times that these were not p***enger vehicles, these are work trucks, farm trucks, commercial vehicles. Not the "bro trucks" of today. I spent hours in the door jambs cleaning them up and rewelding them to make them look nicer, even to the extent of making SS door jamb sill plates which they didn't have either.

You are doing a great job. Keep it up.

 

The bed floor looks nice without the bolt heads showing. It looks like there are no pre-drilled holes for the fenders. Maybe it's just the picture. You're making good progress.

 

I think you're absolutely right about locking down everything with the bed on the truck. It would be easy to get things misaligned otherwise.

My bed sides don't have holes drilled for the fender bolts, or square cutouts for the stake pockets.
I don't think I will do the stake pocket cutouts. and I am leaning towards not putting the bolts through the bed wood.

Kirk

 

I nearly welded up the stake pockets, don't need them. If you have a plasma torch (or a buddy with one) they make easy work out of cutting the square holes for the flatheaded, carriage bolts that secure the fenders. Just need a piece of steel with a square cut out of it or a steel template (available online cheap).

 

The front of the fender bolts to the running board so you have a starting point and I think you can move the fender up or down to center the rear wheel in the opening. I can see welding pieces over the stake pocket holes; they just collect water and dirt anyway.