Bed wood

[yoshi]

As I only had 7 bed strips I decided to fit 8 boards instead of 9, I bought the wood as per http://www.classicheartbeat.com/bed_wood.htm but when I fitted them after varnishing them I ended up with a 1 3/4" gap. I replaced one of the side planks with a 6" wide piece instead. Adding up the widths of 9 boards = 46 7/8", 8 boards = 47 1/2" & mine = 49 1/4"

[joedoh]

well aside from the extra 1/2" between boards missing from the strip you didnt have, I am stymied. but why wouldnt you fit them up before varnishing?

I just made my own bed floor in my 65, it has a raised floor an widened tubs so a standard short fleet kid wouldnt have fit. I started in the middle and worked my way out, making boards as I went, and ended up with 4" boards on the outside.

[yoshi]

Ah nobody mentioned the 1/2" gap between em!

[oldman3]

yoshi, Will try and give you some more info about the bed wood. Hope this helps.
Your eight boards should be 47-1/2" as shown on attachment you showed above. With room for 1/4" carriage bolts thru the strips, with approx 5/16" between the boards, this will give you 50", which is the bed width.

The first pic shows my bed (not a good pic) starting from the left side with 4-1/4" board under the angle against the bed, then a 7-1/4" board, then 5" board, then 7-1/4" board and another 7-1/4" board, the 5"board, the 7-1/4" board and last 4-1/4" board under the angle against the bed.

The second pic is of another truck, but here you can see the grooves in the wood boards where the strips should lay. This helps to keep the boards in line for spacing.

I also posted on another thread about how to bolt the bed to frame. How the bolts go thru wood, cross sills, blocks and frame. You can also read that which may help. Here's the link http://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/s...d.php?t=667704. Hope this helps..Jim

[joedoh]

here is the mar k tip sheet I used

http://www.mar-k.com/catalog/pdf/ins...ood_boards.pdf

[pvienneau]

+1 MarK is the bomb