Question about wood bed stain and sealer for my 1987

[57NAPCO]

Finishing up with the restoration on my 1987 shortbed Stepside 4X4. I’ve ordered the new bed wood in pine and was wondering what color stain (if any) and what kind of UV resistant sealer to use? Trying to keep it original as possible without painting it black.

[57NAPCO]

[kipps]

Beautiful truck!

Just curious -- were these wood floors originally painted black? What species of wood was used from the factory?

I've seen a few wood-beds around, including a couple in a local salvage yard, but haven't known much about them. I'm surprised they made it the whole way to 1987, but I guess someone must have wanted them.

Does your SPID sticker acknowledge the wood bed in any way?

[old Rusty C10]

i used marine grade polyurethane on my bed

[Ziegelsteinfaust]

I have a step side too, and from my little knowledge of wood species. My conclusion it is some type of pine. As the few pieces I got from my factory bed floor appear to be that.

On my truck which needs a bed wood like fat kids love cake. I am looking at 2 major options. First one being Trex decking or similar as a install, and forget option. The second is to use appaton or similar wood which I pretty damn HD when it comes to stuff, but would still need periodic attention.

My plan is to weld the bed togather so it is removable like new trucks with 4 bolts from underneath, and adding more center support for heavier items. So when finished the top is just smooth wood.

My personal guess would be any stain in the color you want is going to be fine. After that you will need to roll or spray on UV rated polyurathane sealer. Sanding inperfecrions between coats, and building up a thick coating.

How thick I don't know as I am not into finished wood items as a hobby. Though I probably would go to a premium paint store where real finish carpenters go, and not be afraid to drop some cash.

[69Tom]

I cannot personally attest to this product. But, I do know they have done serious extensive testing on various stains, etc on the wood they sell. Results are also on their webste.

https://www.mar-k.com/webPage.aspx?ID=14

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by kipps

Beautiful truck!

Just curious -- were these wood floors originally painted black? What species of wood was used from the factory?

I've seen a few wood-beds around, including a couple in a local salvage yard, but haven't known much about them. I'm surprised they made it the whole way to 1987, but I guess someone must have wanted them.

Does your SPID sticker acknowledge the wood bed in any way?

Wood floors were painted body color.

Wood species was pine.

The SPID does not acknowledge the wood floor in any way because all of the stepside beds had wood floors.

K

[57NAPCO]

Thank you Keith, that was my thoughts on the bed info. I went to great lengths (having the original 114,000 mile engine rebuilt) to keep the truck as close to 100% original as I could ….except I’m not gonna paint the bed wood

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

Wood floors were painted body color.

Wood species was pine.

The SPID does not acknowledge the wood floor in any way because all of the stepside beds had wood floors.

K

[57NAPCO]

Also, thank you everyone else for the info!

[kipps]

Originally Posted by Keith Seymore

The SPID does not acknowledge the wood floor in any way because all of the stepside beds had wood floors.

What about the wood floor fleetsides? Were those denoted any differently? The one I saw in a salvage yard was a fleetside with a wood floor.

[mongocanfly]

Truck looks great..!

[dagnabbitt]

Wow, what a gorgeous restoration.

I have never seen an original factory black stepside in person, Wonder if the "body color" rule applied to them or if black was the exception.

[sick472]

The Mar-K tests reports are a GREAT read. I ended up using the POR-15 on the underside and just used an oil-based stain (penofin brand) on the upper side (my 72 C10). I did not what the clear coat as it tends to yellow and or chip and peal after time. My truck gets a few thousand miles a year and sits in some weather while I'm at work which would encourage a clear coat to break down. With that said, you can't beat a well done clear coated show truck bed. The oil stain option that I went with will require a yearly (or every two years depending) wipe down with some oil to keep it fresh looking, but that is only an hour or two job.

Here's a thread from the 67-72 forum that discusses bed oil treatments that you might find interesting...

https://67-72chevytrucks.com/vboard/...d.php?t=712931

[pound41]

Any Stain alone will not last long as they are meant to have a poly protection. The more pigment in the stain the greater the UV protection. Marine Spar is the best, but there is no clear oil. Linseed has a yellow tint and will darken. You can factor in the yellow with your stain choice(going Lighter) and get what you want. The acrylics are quickly catching up to the oils so there are some decent ones. This is my experience from having refinished a few hundred Front doors in my career

[57NAPCO]

Thanks, truck was zero rust, all original body panels. We used a polyurethane single stage paint, very similar to Imron.

Prior to resto….

Originally Posted by dagnabbitt

Wow, what a gorgeous restoration.

I have never seen an original factory black stepside in person, Wonder if the "body color" rule applied to them or if black was the exception.

[Keith Seymore]

Originally Posted by kipps

What about the wood floor fleetsides? Were those denoted any differently? The one I saw in a salvage yard was a fleetside with a wood floor.

Yes - since the fleetside could come with either a steel floor or a wood floor the wood had it's own RPO: E81.

We haven't talked much about how the RPOs work, but they stack to create shorthand "sentences" that describe the particular truck.

So - NAPCO's would be:

K10703
& E62.

Which, in English, would be a 4WD 10 series short wheel base pickup with a stepside box (no mention of wood floor, because they are all wood floor).

If it was a long wheel base it would be captured in the model type, ie:

K10903
& E62.

If his truck was a fleetside, it would be:

K10703
& E63.

for a metal floor.

Wood floor would be:

K10703
& E63 & E81.

Stacking the RPOs like this helps you get very quickly to the specific part needed, especially with things with a lot of proliferation like radios, axles, radiators, engines, etc. A separate part number is pulled and new part created to cover each available permutation.

K

[57NAPCO]

Excellent Keith

[84 400]

I also need to redo the wood in my 77. Its so bad the front of the bed dropped down and makes it look like my truck has a bad frame. I was looking at pine but would rather have oakor something tough: i only want to do this once. My truck is outside with big weather swings.

Whose wood kit did you end up going with?

When i used to build wooden skiffs the best spar varnish finishes got sanded between coats and multiple coats.. i am talking over 10…….

[farmall]

If its not a show truck you can get used hydraulic oil for free at your local AG or construction equipment repair facility.
It is 10wt oil and comes out as clean as it went in.
Make a trough out of large pvc pipe or something and soak the planks.
Here in the High Desert it will attract dust and be nasty for a while. Then its fine.
I noticed how on the flat bed trailers the oil soaked areas looked 1 or 2 years old while the rest of the wood was dry, flaky, and splitting.

[57NAPCO]

Bed Wood and Parts, LLC
8345 Madisonville Rd
Hopkinsville, KY 42240
Phone: 270.424.3000

Originally Posted by 84 400

I also need to redo the wood in my 77. Its so bad the front of the bed dropped down and makes it look like my truck has a bad frame. I was looking at pine but would rather have oakor something tough: i only want to do this once. My truck is outside with big weather swings.

Whose wood kit did you end up going with?

When i used to build wooden skiffs the best spar varnish finishes got sanded between coats and multiple coats.. i am talking over 10…….

[sick472]

Originally Posted by 84 400

...I was looking at pine but would rather have oakor something tough: i only want to do this once. ...

From my research, the best wood to go with is white oak as far as commonly found lumber in the US. I ended up going with red oak for the added color, but the white oak will withstand rot just a bit better.