I have been thinking about converting a 54 chevy p/u bed from wood to metal. Has anybody ever did this before??? If so, what kind of sheetmetal/ guage did you use? How about diamond plate? Post up some pics If you have tried to tackle something like this. I don't know why but I just don't dig the wood bed floors. I don't plan on making my truck a daily work truck but would like to beable to use the bed if desired. The wood is just too pretty for me.
I've been thinking along the same lines for me '60 F250. It has a metal floor now but I was thinking of making some kind of liner for it not sure yet. I want to use it as a pickup truck but I also want it to look nice when I'm not.
my buddy at the body shop saves the late model pickup beds from the insurance jobs.. usually a long/ wide bed has enough good floor left to fit an early short/stepside style..slice and dice...good to go! dave
Yeah, I was kind of wondering about using the flooring from a later model truck. I figured that I could use some sort of sheetmetal or even diamond plate to get the job done also. I see tons of guy's converting from metal to wood but not the other. I just want to turn this project into a "functional" little hotrod. Like I said earlier...I do not plan on hauling rock with the truck or anything but i would like to beable to use the bed from time to time if needed. I would hate to put anything in the bed with some nicely finished wood flooring. It would kill me to see it ll trashed out.
But if you use a late model bed and its painted what then? Thats the part that I'm hung up on. Wood and you can't touch it but metal and paint you can't either.
Rino line it if your worried about scratching it up There isn't much you can do to not scratch it up other than to not use for what its made for unless you use Rino liner or Line X.
Yeah, that is exactly what I planned on doing. I want to Line X all the interior/top lip of the bed panels, inside/top lip of the tailgate, and the running boards....as well as the bed floor.
Does anyone sell a thick plastic bed liner that would fit? I know they are available for most newer trucks
Something I would consider would be the aluminum flooring out of a semi reefer truck. They are solid as hell, lightweight, and can be had for from between $2-5 a square foot. If you're looking for a more shiny look, you can have the alum polished and it should look good. I've seen this flooring added to flatbed car trailers and it looks different as hell, but holds up to whatever abuse you can throw at it.
Paint it and throw in one of those rubber bed mats. You can haul in it some and it wont scratch it up. Walmart sells them for about $30-$40
look into this place i deal with them all the time for my company truck repairs and parts. they ship all over the place and sell at a great place. http://www.truckline-sale.com/ let them know dave from transport alliance sent you
If you use a hard Maple or White Oak, they will take a lot more abuse than the other cruddy Red Oak wood.
I am using a wood bed in my daily pickup, and have one of those rubber mats just sitting on the bed floor. The mat is from a newer fullsize 8 ft bed, and when you fold down the tailgate you just flip the excess rubber mat over onto it and it's all protected. Then if you are going to a show or something take the rubber mat out. I think when I repaint the truck I will have a piece of mirrored stainless cut and adhere it to the front inside of the bed to protect it and it will look nice when the mat is out. If the stainless gets too beat up I will just replace it.
I am building a frame under mine with 1"square tube, then attaching the bedfloor from a 95 Chevy swb to it. If you can find the sportside stepside model the floor is almost drop in size when you cut it out. I got mine from a body shop for free ,the sides were trashed , I just cut the sides straight with a plasma .I am Rhino lining mine keeps things from sliding around and no scratches. I have seen the aluminum diamond plate and it looks good , I guess you could just build a frame under it also. They make a thick rubber black mat that goes in the bottom of horse trailers that would work great in these beds, they are a solid sheet , more ridgid than the rubber bed mats. Tractor Supply here carries them and most of the utilty trailer parts suppliers handle them also. Hope this helps.
Yes ,that definately helps! It sounds like you are actually creating what I have had in mind. If you would'nt mind....post up some pics of your frame in with the square tubing. Now were getting somewhere!
Hard-Maple...is some pretty damn hard wood. Cut one today for a guy to make benches out of two slabs of. Not exactly sure who/what will be sitting on those.
Check out this article about a bolt in solution. http://www.customcl***ictrucks.com/howto/cl***ic_truck_bed_restoration/index.html
The wood does a damn fine job, if the wood being there is what is keeping you from using the truck, don't worry about it. Just use the damn thing. It'll take the abuse and it's traditional...
Diamond plate will work but that stuff's heavy. It's also called "skid plate" but stuff slides on it too easily
I converted a wood be to metal on a 51 Ford some time ago. Went to a local lumber yard and go a 4x8 sheet of what they call 3/4 board, it actually measures to 3/4". slid that under the angle strips on the bed to replace the missing boards and strips. then covered the wood and angles with diamond plate. Heavy as all hell, kept the bed at the right height on the frame mounts and could take all the abuse I could give it. Plan on doing the same thing to my 54 Chevy, but I have not been able to locate a 54 bed, Good luck with you project. Dennis UPS
I don't have any pics right now. It is just a basic frame out of 3/4" square tubing using the original cross braces .[I said 1"previously, sorry!] I welded this frame to the new bedfloor then slid in to bed where old wood and strips were and under side strips. I had taken the bed apart so the sides at the rear were not attached while doing all of this. I just made mounts to attach floor the bed crossmembers.
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