Author Topic: 83' SWB Wooden Bed Refurb  (Read 4025 times)

Offline juggernaut6625

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83' SWB Wooden Bed Refurb
« on: October 11, 2017, 06:05:07 PM »
Has anyone rebuilt there wooden bed with homemade boards? I see the boards for sale but the cheapskate in me wont let me spend 240 bucks on 30 dollars in pine. Does anyone the cut and routing dimensions for the boards. I can do it by trail and error but I'm hoping to borrow someones wisdom. Just a guess but all beds should have the same routing setups.
 

Offline VileZambonie

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Re: 83' SWB Wooden Bed Refurb
« Reply #1 on: October 12, 2017, 05:18:33 PM »
Is it a stepside or fleetside? What year? You can definitely make them but i would not use pine.
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Offline AZ4X4SQBDY

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Re: 83' SWB Wooden Bed Refurb
« Reply #2 on: October 12, 2017, 10:13:35 PM »
We made our own, we used 1'x1'x8' pine purchased from a local lumber yard and if I remember right, it was close to $80. Fortunately we already owned a table saw and router table, had to purchase a forestner bit set and then a day of screwing around.

Hind site being 20/20, should have just bought them. The shipping was the deal breaker. GM used hard yellow pine from the factory for a number of years.

http://www.mar-k.com/_assets/images/instructions/bed_wood_dimensions.pdf

« Last Edit: October 12, 2017, 10:19:52 PM by AZ4X4SQBDY »
1987 GMC Sierra Classic 4x4 short, fleet, 1985 Chevrolet Silverado 4x4 short, step side, '87 Chevy Silverado short fleet, '91 Dodge Ramcharger LE 4x4,
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Offline juggernaut6625

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Re: 83' SWB Wooden Bed Refurb
« Reply #3 on: October 13, 2017, 04:18:04 PM »
Is it a stepside or fleetside? What year? You can definitely make them but i would not use pine.
'83 Stepside. I only said pine because that was what i have seen. I know   is oak but its also closer to 400. I personally want to use cypress considering I'm in Louisiana and all. My thought is possibly alternate blue and pecky boards.

We made our own, we used 1'x1'x8' pine purchased from a local lumber yard and if I remember right, it was close to $80. Fortunately we already owned a table saw and router table, had to purchase a forestner bit set and then a day of screwing around.

Hind site being 20/20, should have just bought them. The shipping was the deal breaker. GM used hard yellow pine from the factory for a number of years.

http://www.mar-k.com/_assets/images/instructions/bed_wood_dimensions.pdf



Thanks AZ, Ill hopefully put that PDF to good use. My brother has a shop so I should be able to get it done. I hopefully will remember to post pictures of the before and after.

Offline ChevTru

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Re: 83' SWB Wooden Bed Refurb
« Reply #4 on: January 02, 2018, 10:33:39 PM »
seems like its in a great progress. any new updates on this?

Offline juggernaut6625

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Re: 83' SWB Wooden Bed Refurb
« Reply #5 on: January 03, 2018, 03:12:57 AM »
slow rolling because of a bunch of life type stuff going on. I ripped most of the wood out and have bought wood to cut and install. Hopefully ill get this done in the next couple weeks.

Offline roundhouse

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Re: 83' SWB Wooden Bed Refurb
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2018, 10:17:33 PM »
We used cedar
Ran it thru a table saw to notch the edges
Didn’t put any clear coat on them because that always peels off and looks terrible

We put the large mounting bolts under the wood and tack welded them to the support so they wouldn’t show

It’s a lot of work to remove all the old rusty bolts
And the bed sides actually sits on top of the wood


Offline roundhouse

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Re: 83' SWB Wooden Bed Refurb
« Reply #7 on: January 06, 2018, 10:18:54 PM »

Offline VileZambonie

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Re: 83' SWB Wooden Bed Refurb
« Reply #8 on: January 07, 2018, 07:41:54 AM »
Didn’t put any clear coat on them because that always peels off and looks terrible

Some people scorch the wood for color and then apply an oil finish which can be reapplied and won't peel.
,                           ___ 
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              ⌠¯¯¯¯¯'   [☼===☼]
              `()_);-;()_)--o--)_)

74 GMC, 75 K5, 84 GMC, 85 K20, 86 k20, 79 K10

Offline juggernaut6625

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Re: 83' SWB Wooden Bed Refurb
« Reply #9 on: January 08, 2018, 05:23:52 AM »
scorching the wood is my plan. I want to add pics of progress but it keeps saying my photos are too large.

Offline VileZambonie

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Re: 83' SWB Wooden Bed Refurb
« Reply #10 on: January 08, 2018, 06:07:14 PM »
resize them or host them on another server and link the photos.

You can easily resize them with a program like this one that is free.

http://www.irfanview.com/main_download_engl.htm

I use tucows link
,                           ___ 
                         /  _ _ _\_
              ⌠¯¯¯¯¯'   [☼===☼]
              `()_);-;()_)--o--)_)

74 GMC, 75 K5, 84 GMC, 85 K20, 86 k20, 79 K10