512 cid C series on Dakota chassis- build thread

[Radarsonwheels]

My cousin is a trim guy he likes to say “can’t see it from my house”

[ggdad1951]

I'm just trying to figure why you have taper in the bed, you shouldn't....

[Young Ed]

37 minutes ago, ggdad1951 said:

I'm just trying to figure why you have taper in the bed, you shouldn't....

Probably from a few decades of it being used like a truck! Dads 40 ply when he got it back the tailgate wouldn't close-just hit empty air. We had to remove one side of the box and taper the bed floor by about 1/2" to get it to work. 

[Plymouthy Adams]

12 hours ago, Radarsonwheels said:

My cousin is a trim guy he likes to say “can’t see it from my house”

 

Cut and Cover Carpentry

 

cut to fit

caulk to fill

paint to hide

 

just like body work on cars...if everyone was an expert, bondo companies would go bankrupt 

 

[RNR1957NYer]

12 hours ago, Radarsonwheels said:

My cousin is a trim guy he likes to say “can’t see it from my house”

Except it this case, you can!  

 

"We're not building a church" works!  

 

And when I see people dimensioning building plans to 1/128th of an inch because that's what the cad program can, do it's  "This ain't the Space Shuttle!!!"

[Radarsonwheels]

Gotta head out to work then band rehursal till 1:00 tonight. Fridays always kick my butt. I still got out in the driveway and got cracking for a couple hours this AM.

 

I got the side pieces angled 5/16”, verified that the center gap is now even, and ripped 5/8” off the second and fourth boards. Now I have the 1/4” I need for my bolts to drop through plus a margin for expansion. The gaps are even and square.

 

Now I gotta get the strips and the boards will get a few more trips through the tablesaw, a bunch of sanding, and some oil. The leftover from ripping off 5/8” is looking like possibly a nice cap for the front corner of the wood. Still planning on a metal cap in the back. 

[Los_Control]

That really looks nice, You get a atta boy from me 

 

[Merle Coggins]

21 hours ago, Radarsonwheels said:

My cousin is a trim guy he likes to say “can’t see it from my house”

 

9 hours ago, RNR1957NYer said:

"We're not building a church" works!  

 

And when I see people dimensioning building plans to 1/128th of an inch because that's what the cad program can, do it's  "This ain't the Space Shuttle!!!"

 

This reminds me of my Dad’s saying... “It aint going to the fair”...

 

 

9 hours ago, Young Ed said:

Probably from a few decades of it being used like a truck! Dads 40 ply when he got it back the tailgate wouldn't close-just hit empty air. We had to remove one side of the box and taper the bed floor by about 1/2" to get it to work. 

 

Ed brings up a good point. How does your tail gate fit with that 5/8” taper? Which end is wider?

[Radarsonwheels]

Hi Merle!

 

My bed has definitely hauled some stuff in its day! The tailgate and front wall are both bowed. Before I mounted the bed I spent about a half hour beating the front with a hand sledge like it owed me money which you would think should have left fist sized dents but I actually took a good inch of belly out of it.

 

My tailgate doesn’t really have side to side play- the terrible looking hinges still work great- but the top right corner was starting to rot out and a couple years ago I noticed that any time I hung the gate and stood on it the gap would change so I cut out the rust and welded in a heavy plate reinforcement. 

 

Ever since then it grabs the bed sides the same every time- the little top tabs have a slight angle to them so it gets tighter as you push it in. When the chain holes are lined up the gate is snug enough that you have to give it a little nudge on both sides from the inside to pop it loose or else if you pull one side free the other one sticks a little. I set that how I wanted it by bending the tabs a little. 

 

The bed is square corner to corner but the sides especially the rt rear flat behind the tub has a little belly in it. Also remember I took 12” of length out of the front of my bed and my running boards too- exactly the same amount on each side.

 

The rear of my bed at some point someone added a heavy angle iron across the bottom under the hinge which stretched out a good 10” or so on each side then angled up to reinforce the stake pockets. After I welded in my new bed floor frame I figured I could cut off those triangles and I was right it didn’t spring out after I chopped them off. 

 

So all the above is kind of a chronicle of abuse and evidence of a very hard previous life- which adds value to me!

 

To add my personal take on the taper- I think it comes down to the bow in the front of the bed sucking the sides in, even after my vicious beating got it somewhat straighter. Before I added the frame as you know the only thing keeping the bed square or true is the floor- actually on a stock bed all the metal hangs off the wood and the channel crossmembers bolt to the frame right? I don’t even remember what held the bed on for the last ten years or so while different styles of 1/2assed platforms held up motorcycles couches drywall bass guitar cabinets and amplifiers and my kid’s tricycle! Maybe a couple or few added on crossmembers...

[Radarsonwheels]

Oh and I think the taper is pretty even. When I measured it this morning with two pieces of wood on each side measuring exactly 22” the stamping in the center was about 3/16” off which I decided was fine

[Radarsonwheels]

When I got the truck the bed floor was two sheets of 3/4” plywood. When that rotted I put in pressure treated 2 bys and a ton of bolts and washers. That took about three years to buckle and start spitting bolts while my buddy had the truck again (traded it for a hardtail ‘77 triumph 750). He put in the 100 year old pine boards in the pic with my bass gear from last year when I was still running the 54 frame and driveline.

[Radarsonwheels]

Just for fun- here’s the triumph. It got more than one ride in the old C-series. I rebuilt the motor and modified a 90’s sportbike front end to fit on there. As you can see I can’t leave anything alone haha

[Radarsonwheels]

I’m messing around something different to trim out the front edge with wood and starting to mock up bolt quantity and location too. 

 

I’m going to thin out the front trim cap a little and hit the edge with a round over bit on the router. I’m thinking I can run the stainless strips right under the trim and then it can drain through the stainless channels and not hold water. Nothing worse than an unintended redneck swimming pool in your truck although it is fun to hit the gas and dump it out when that happens!

[Los_Control]

Question, are you still planning to lift the bed floor out as one piece for future maintenance?

 

If so, I would be tempted to use some screws from under the floor boards, up into the trim. The heads would be hidden, 3 screws in each board would keep the floor from racking at a diagonal when lifting it up?

 

Then you would butt your shovel strips to the trim, maybe add a drainage hole somewhere?

[Radarsonwheels]

I’m still on the fence about having the bed as a removable slab like a barn door.

 

I’m thinking that it would be less work to just cut the bottom off the battery box and make brackets for that or figure out how to make the battery drop out from the bottom despite currently being a toploader with a 45° angle iron and tension bolt hold down.

 

Poor planning on that one- when I installed the battery box I was still planning on the spun tank above the bed floor. Getting the big hidden tank was a big upgrade for not too much backtracking.

 

I started cleaning up and the brown truck came- the strips are dropshipped from mar-k which is where I suspected they would be from. I’m gaga over how good they look just set on there. 

 

 

[Los_Control]

another idea, you could cut a 1/4" notch in the sides of the shovel strips, you still butt into it on top, but small drain holes on the sides for water.

 

I just think when you tighten the bolts down the trim will bend and distort the pretty shovel strips.

I also think showing less fasteners is cleaner, but is a personal choice.

[Radarsonwheels]

Los- thats funny though I was also trying to figure out how I could get a triangle in there to keep it from parallelogramming if it got lifted up.

 

I would be nervous about screws in the hardwood near the end grain. I know I’d have to drill pilot holes but still I don’t have the experience to do that right. Now two holes per board for through bolts on the back reinforcement- that I can do. 

 

I still haven’t decided about hold downs or U brackets. I want a couple in the front maybe but I don’t want rattling or stuff sticking up. 

[Los_Control]

Damn that is pure porn, really like how it is coming out 

[Radarsonwheels]

4 minutes ago, Los_Control said:

another idea, you could cut a 1/4" notch in the sides of the shovel strips, you still butt into it on top, but small drain holes on the sides for water.

 

I just think when you tighten the bolts down the trim will bend and distort the pretty shovel strips.

I also think showing less fasteners is cleaner, but is a personal choice.

The stainless strips will have recesses milled in to the board edges so that they sit level with the top of the wood. Stock the bubbles are slightly proud I think.

Edited December 17, 2018 by Radarsonwheels

[Los_Control]

1 minute ago, Radarsonwheels said:

I would be nervous about screws in the hardwood near the end grain. I know I’d have to drill pilot holes but still I don’t have the experience to do that right. Now two holes per board for through bolts on the back reinforcement- that I can do. 

No doubt you need to pre drill, because of the hardness of the wood, you are going to need some strong screws.

I know they make some really strong ss screws, I have never found any.

Just something else to chew on.

[ggdad1951]

15 minutes ago, Radarsonwheels said:

The stainless strips will have recesses milled in to the board edges so that they sit level with the top of the wood. Stock the bubbles are slightly proud I think.

 

yep slightly proud on the humps.

 

to pilot hole for the screws measure the "shank" of the screw and go ever so slightly under that and drill to 90% of the depth...piece of tape on the bit works fine.   I had to pilot hole 3500 holes for that deck...

 

Use a stainless screw and you'll be likely slightly stronger than a normal screw.

[Radarsonwheels]

I went a few thou proud of dead even with the humps. Plus add on a small margin of unromoved material to account for amateur tablesaw work. It came out pretty clean. I added a hair more bolt clearance and ended up taking a little more width off the middle board to get all the gaps perfect. Sneaking up on this stage worked pretty well- didn’t have to pony up $100 for a ruined board yet!

 

The front trim piece I want to rip down much thinner like fat 1/4 round and it will sit right over and can bolt right to tapped holes in the front bed frame crossmember. The rear of the bed I had the crossmember sitting 1/8” lower off level than the other three xmembers, making enough room to slip an angle iron underneath. I cut a 1” wide slice of the ipe to trim out that tall lip and match the front treatment. Edit *and keep junk from rolling off the edge*

 

Just gotta go get my router and make these trim pieces flow a little and look nice to touch. And figure out if I’m doing hidden screws or proud screws that match the strip hold downs. 

Edited December 17, 2018 by Radarsonwheels

[RNR1957NYer]

And figure out if I’m doing hidden screws or proud screws that match the strip hold downs. 

 

C'mon - go for it!  You know you don't want to see fasteners in your nice, shiny bed strips - tack SS studs on the back of the strips!

 

Look great!

[Radarsonwheels]

Thanks RN haha I’m not a tig welder and I’m not re-polishing rainbows out of stainless. If I wanted hidden fasteners I’d have bought the strips with the channel in the bottom for sliding studs. I actually like all those bolts it looks businesslike or army/navy equipment like a tank or an old airplane. I’m cheating with the fancy wide flathead stainless 1/4-20 screws I bought so I don’t have to chisel square holes- we’ll see if I line up all the slots like pebble beach cars ? 

[RNR1957NYer]

we’ll see if I line up all the slots like pebble beach cars......

 

Careful picking a direction for the slots - you don't want to call attention to that 5/8 inch bed taper!?