JBNeal

HOLLYWOOD random TV show screen capture

VINTAGEPIC: USPS mail truck spotted on the FB

SURVIVOR: B-4 spotted at that Big Spring Auction, it was another fixer upper with a custom bumper

if that's a tapered shank, then tighten by hand til it starts to spin...no cheater bars

that bowing very much looks like the effect of spot welding too fast sequentially. I dealt with this once on a job, and remedied the bowing by spot welding the center then working outwards, skipping every other spot weld, then going back to the center and spot welding the remainder. One of the tricks I picked up years ago was that sheet metal can be bowed by putting a weld bead on the opposite side of the bow desired. When done, the bead can be carefully ground off. In this case, ya might be able to put slightly taller blocking under the center of the panel with blocking under either end with some weights on the ends to flex the panel enough for that angle install.

This may sound like a cop out, but considering the quality control back when these trucks were being cranked out, I reckon they accepted some variation on the bed dimensions. I noticed on several truck beds by the house that they are not perfectly straight at the top of the bed sides, especially the 9 footer that has a bow in it that ya cannot see unless ya look right up the bead. My opinion is that as long as the slicked up bed is squared up with all the boards in place, and the tailgate opens and closes without binding, then you've got yourself a winner ?

I think those beveled donuts work if there is a beveled seat for them to mate to...the guy who did my exhaust put some sort of slight expansion on the downpipes for a floating flange so that the gasket contacted the flanges and tip of downpipe, pipe extension went slightly into the exhaust manifold. The flanges could line up and seal with the gasket, and the floating flange wedged the downpipe into place, sealing it off. This is similar to how the downpipe is attached on the QuadCab, works well and is self-aligning with bolt torque.

additional information - Pilot-House Hemi Swap