*Tech* Rebuilding a truck bed with help from Baileigh

When i won the sheetmetal brake from Baileigh last month Shane asked if i had a project to show what could be done with the brake.I am going to do a quick tech on how i shortened the bed and made a new front and tailgate for my wifes 38 chevy.
The first pics are the brake and some of the damage and traditional repairs made to the bed over time.

 

The front panel was first,it is pretty simple with 3 90 degree bends and the top is rolled about 1 1/4 diameter. Baileigh has a good video on there site showing how the rolling is done.

 

I've been eyeballing this brake for awhile and suggested to Shane that it should be the main prize on the last tech week. So congrats you lucky dog, cause it seems like a sweet piece of equipment and seeing your tech post I'm sure it will see a lot of use at your place. A couple of questions.

What gauge are you using for this bed side?
Does the folds stay straight down the bend with no curve?
Seeing how low the arms are to bend the part does it require a ton of force to bend a long stretch? (most brakes are countered balanced to help)
Is the machine heavy enough to stay put when bending?

Want to know as I am about to slap down the money and like to hear real-time use from a fellow HAMBer

 

Nice bed side by the way

 

I'm just making the ends but they are 18 gauge ,It bends pretty easy and straight.
It's rated 16 gauge and i think it would do it ok.
If anyone is in the area and interested you can try mine out.

 

Now comes the fun part the wife wants "Chevrolet" embossed in her tailgate to match her hubcaps.I'm going to make a simple die to press it using a 20 ton shop press.To start i took a picture of the hubcap and blew it up on the computer screen.The wife came up with a great idea to trace it off the screen using a pencil and tissue paper,then i transfer it to some 16 gauge sheet to make the die. When i traced the tissue paper with a sharpie it bleeds through and leaves a ghost pattern on the steel.trace the ghost pattern again and cut it out with a plasma cutter or other tool you have in the shop.



To make the die take your outside piece you cut and file /grind it smooth then place it on another plain sheet and put a screw at each end to align the parts later.
Next grind and file the inside parts you cut out so they are slightly smaller than the outer.you need a gap all around at least the thickness of the sheet you are embossing.When you have an even gap drill holes in your inside part so you can plug weld it to the same sheet the first part is screwed to.get the gap even all around and weld it.Take the outer part off and grind your welds ,you now have a male and female die.

 

Uh... I think you're to far ahead of yourself, as in this could have been another winning effort.

GREAT JOB! very nice of you to go into detail on the little details.

 

^^^^ Agreed!!!

This'll be good!!!

 

Now take your old tailgate and decide where you want you letters and take measurements.Cut a piece of sheet metal to make the tailgate and make marks to line up the dies.lay the female part of the die on top.line it up with your marks and drill through the new sheet where your first screw holes are.lay these 2 parts on top of the male die and put the screws back in to hold it all together. Take it to the press.Lay a heavy plate on bottom then the dies and new sheet. Place a plate on top and start pressing at one end ,release the pressure then move down 3 inches press again.Repeat till you reach the end ,you will be able to see the results and repress anywhere needed.On this die i did not have a simple way of making the center of the "o" so before i took it apart i took a socket and hammer and hit it in the center to make a depression. Now take it apart and smile.

 

wow - just wow... nice work, keep posting!

 

That is bad ass!

 

Just trying to return the favor and help Shane and Baileigh sell tools since they support the tech week on the HAMB. I won once now its somebody else's turn next.

 

Now to finish the tailgate .I layed out all the bends and rolls, i made a 1 1/4" roll at the bottom and a 1 1/8" roll at the top and 4 90 degree bends.When it was all bent i welded it at the top, fixed the screw holes and added hinge bushings in the bottom tube.Last step was to rivet the latch brackets on.

 

Almost finished.The bed was a long wheelbase bed so I cut the bed sides down to short wheelbase length to get rid of some bad repairs at the rear.I chiseled the spot welds loose from the stake pockets .I straitened the pockets and drilled them for plug welds and welded it back together.Weld the fender holes up reassemble the bed.

 

that is some mighty nice work! Shouldn't the front panel have beads for strength?

 

You could add some beads to it.The original didn't have any and still looked good just rusted out at the bottom.

 

Great tech and killer work with that embossed Chevrolet tailgate!
Congrats on your win!

 

That is some great work and ideas for embossing, just outstanding!

 

Right on man

 

Great work on that. I've got to ask, are you going to start selling flat panels for tail gates with the logo embossed in them? 48 Chev size?

I've got to find that video on rolling the ends too.

 

I'm afraid General Motors might get upset with me if i sold them without giving them a cut of the money.The dies are easy to make just time consuming, but when your done you can make as many parts as you want.Took about 3 hours to make the die and 15 minutes to press a part.

 

Awesome work! Can you fab up a piece of sheetmetal with "Chevord", or "Fordolet" pressed into it for my Chevy-powered Ford truck?

 

wow beautiful work on the pick up bed , really cool how you made the chevrolet script in the tail gate ,

 

Absolutely phenomenal. Congrats on your win. You are a great fabricator.

 

Nice work!

 

Very cool!

 

Damn that is some fancy metal move in around.

 

that press trick kicks butt. I'm just starting to fiddle in earnest with my bead roller and now you show me this.....

 

Great Tech-You make it look easy!

 

Very Very Cool!....Nice work!