RPO E81 Fleetside Wood Floor

[ray_mcavoy]

Hi folks,

Just curious to see if anyone else here has a fleetside with the optional E81 wood floor.

I've heard that they were fairly rare and the only one I've ever seen is the one in Dad's 77 GMC. Grampa bought the truck new and ordered it with the wood floor. Here's an old pic of what was left of the original floor before we started the restoration:


Restoring this proved to be a bit of a challenge. Most of the special steel "flange" pieces that join the wood to the bedsides & wheel tubs were pretty rusty. So was the rear cross sill that (unlike the steel floor one) has a notch to hold the ends of the boards. After lots of searching, we found a sheetmetal fab shop that was able to make some really nice replacement pieces using the old rusty ones as templates. We bought the pine board kit, bed strips, etc. from MAR-K Classic Truck Parts.


Another pic of the restored bed:


And one of the truck:


Anyone else have a 73-up fleetside with a wood floor? Please post some pics.

Ray

[Ceeten]

Never saw a fleetside with a wood floor. That looks really nice!

[Anadrol]

Looks incredible.
Makes me really wish I could have that.

[bigblock73]

My old 75 fleetside had a wood floor...emphasis on HAD...LoL

[Jonboy]

I don't have a wood bed floor, but that is a beautiful truck, Ray.

[JohnC]

I've heard of the wood floors in the early square bodies, but I have never seen one. That looks awesome. You guys did a great job on it!

[nekkidhillbilly]

there was a dually crew on cl with a wood floor

[dan76]

Nice bed restoration

[BIGMAC68]

It is my understanding that the wood floor option lasted until 1980 and was for long bed fleets only. VERY NICELY DONE!!!!!

[JohnC]

Thanks for the info James. I wonder how many were actually produced?

[ray_mcavoy]

Thanks for the compliments everyone!!

Originally Posted by BIGMAC68

It is my understanding that the wood floor option lasted until 1980 and was for long bed fleets only. VERY NICELY DONE!!!!!

I remember reading that somewhere too. Evidently there wasn't enough demand for them so GM decided to discontinue the option after 80.

Originally Posted by f.monroe

On another note , the bed would have been completely painted from the factory , boards and all , but that is WAY nicer . That bed is beautiful !
Frank

We actually thought about painting the boards to duplicate the factory original look. But the new boards were just too nice looking to cover up the natural woodgrain with paint so we decided to finish them with some urethane spar varnish instead. I'm glad we did ... I think it looks a lot nicer than painted boards too.

Ray

[f.monroe]

Originally Posted by ray_mcavoy

Thanks for the compliments everyone!!



I remember reading that somewhere too. Evidently there wasn't enough demand for them so GM decided to discontinue the option after 80.



We actually thought about painting the boards to duplicate the factory original look. But the new boards were just too nice looking to cover up the natural woodgrain with paint so we decided to finish them with some urethane spar varnish instead. I'm glad we did ... I think it looks a lot nicer than painted boards too.

Ray

I think you made the right choice Ray . It definitely looks better the way that you restored it than the factory ever did . I would love to find a factory wood bed for my 77 long bed . It adds so much class to the trucks .
Frank
Frank

[Tex_50613]

Originally Posted by BIGMAC68

It is my understanding that the wood floor option lasted until 1980 and was for long bed fleets only. VERY NICELY DONE!!!!!

78 lb stepsides and 76 sb stepsides you could also get it, I had one of each with original wood floors in them in the last 10 years know I have the lb fleetside off a 75 still as I already stated and just was talking with my brother and he says that I still have the sb stepside with a wood floor out back of my father's place

[JohnC]

Originally Posted by Tex_50613

78 lb stepsides and 76 sb stepsides you could also get it, I had one of each with original wood floors in them in the last 10 years know I have the lb fleetside off a 75 still as I already stated and just was talking with my brother and he says that I still have the sb stepside with a wood floor out back of my father's place

The stepsides kept the wood floor up to 87. It's the fleetsides that were rare.

I agree you made the right decision Ray. It looks sweet with the urethaned wood, and not painted.

[ray_mcavoy]

Originally Posted by crossy's son

nothing beats that 'look' for the 'show' part of the truck, especially in a fleetside of all things. great job.

Originally Posted by JohnC

I agree you made the right decision Ray. It looks sweet with the urethaned wood, and not painted.

Thanks guys!!

Originally Posted by Fat Hoe

can the metal floor be unbolted from the bedsides and front panel by itself without taking the bed off the truck

No, I don't think it'd be very easy to take out the metal floor & leave the bedsides/front in place. Especially since the bed floor is what bolts to the frame and holds the bedsides/front.

Originally Posted by Fat Hoe

also, does the wood get installed from the bottom side...if not, what moves out of the way so the wood can be installed from the top?

It can be installed either way. I believe GM likely bolted the wood boards down to the cross sills and then bolted on the perimeter flange pieces to form a floor assembly. Then they probably bolted the wheel tubs, front panel, and bedsides onto that floor assembly just like with a steel floor. Finally, they painted the whole works.

In order to keep paint off the boards (and avoid lots of extra masking), we used a slightly different assembly procedure. We bolted the bedsides, front panel, and rear cross sill all together to form a "floor-less" bed. Then we bolted in the perimeter flange pieces and ran a bead of seam sealer (like factory) along where they join up to the bedsides/wheel tubs/etc. Next, I painted the inside of the bed while standing in the open area where the floor would eventually go.


We put the outside edge boards up in from the bottom, followed by the cross sills.


The remaining center boards went in from the top since only the front edge of those gets sandwiched under the flange along the bottom of the front bed panel. The rear edge of the boards simply lays into the notch in the rear cross sill. And those middle boards are held down by the steel strips/bolts that go between them.

Ray

[esbstuff]

Originally Posted by JohnC

The stepsides kept the wood floor up to 87. It's the fleetsides that were rare.

I agree you made the right decision Ray. It looks sweet with the urethaned wood, and not painted.

Are you sure they quit the wood floor 8' fleetsides in 80? I was sure I ran across an injected 87 that was a wood floor truck... If the scrapers haven't got to it, the truck was wrecked (hard) and was sitting in a field a few years ago. I might have to go and take a peek to see if it is still there. But no promises as it was extremely rusty the last time I saw it...

[nekkidhillbilly]

they look cool but i wonder y lb fleets got them since there the most worked trucks

[f.monroe]

Originally Posted by nekkidhillbilly

they look cool but i wonder y lb fleets got them since there the most worked trucks

Because you could ad tall side rails and haul livestock . The animals wouldnt slip as bad on the wooden floor as they would have on steel . Remember that back in the day , not every rancher had a trailer and the 8 foot truck bed had to do .

On another note , the bed would have been completely painted from the factory , boards and all , but that is WAY nicer . That bed is beautiful !
Frank

[Damien]

That looks really nice. My mom had a '76 K20 with the wood floor. Its beed about 15 years since she got rid of the truck. I saw a '78 with a wood bed in a salvage yard about a month ago.

[N2TRUX]

I have heard of them, but that's the nicest one I have every seen.

[Stitch]

could you retro fit a steel floor with this by taking the steel floor out and installing the wood floor somehow...I'm sure the bedsides, front wall and wheel wells are the same...just wondering...would love to have this in my truck...

[Tex_50613]

I have one off a 75 chevy that's hanging out, all original, the wood is still in good shape but the sheetmetal is going to pot, I was running it on my 79 after ditching the flatbed that was on the truck, mine was origanally under a topper and the guy had oiled it yearly from what he told me, it got oiled after it came tinto my posisition too, but old motor oil stained it fairly bad, good job and it looks awesome

[Stitch]

Tex, is there anyway that you can take some pics of the sides, front, and back from underneath the bed, also around the wheel wells, so I can see exactly how everything is mounted up...thanks

Chuck.

[Tex_50613]

Originally Posted by Fat Hoe

Tex, is there anyway that you can take some pics of the sides, front, and back from underneath the bed, also around the wheel wells, so I can see exactly how everything is mounted up...thanks

Chuck.

as soon as I can I will, it's under a 6' deep snowdrift rite now and if it wasn't for the antinna on my rollbar that is setting in it I would have smoked it and my spair longbox fraim with the tractor moving snow (the bed is setting on the fraim and the rollbar is setting sideways in the bed) and to let ya know the main diffrence you will find is a flange around the wheelwells

[Stitch]

Originally Posted by Tex_50613

as soon as I can I will, it's under a 6' deep snowdrift rite now and if it wasn't for the antinna on my rollbar that is setting in it I would have smoked it and my spair longbox fraim with the tractor moving snow (the bed is setting on the fraim and the rollbar is setting sideways in the bed) and to let ya know the main diffrence you will find is a flange around the wheelwells

So what your saying is that it's a good possibility that the wheel wells and all the sides are the same? The brackets are just mounted to the sides where the metal floor would mount and the wheel wells have a flange around them?