Another wood project for the truck is a wood floor for the bed. I want to have straps and planks much like the bed floors of older trucks, but with a few changes. I have to do some planning to make everything fit. After recording some measurements, the first step is to map out the existing elements under the eventual floor.
All of these elements are part of the conversion kit. The top of the image is toward the front of the car/truck. All these elements are made up of 0.125 inch thick aluminum.
1. The front panel is a formed structural piece. The large hole is for access to the fuel pump. The 7 smaller holes are ones I will have to add. There would be an 8th one but it lines up with the big hole.
2. One each side are another set of structural channels.
3. At the back is another wide channel. Again, the 4 holes are ones that I need to add.
4. There are 2 cross beams. The front one is permanently mounted while the back one is held in place with bolts and wing nuts.
This structure system supports two aluminum floor panels 0.125 inches thick.
The back cross member is bolted in to allow access to the spare tire. The location of the well for the spare tire is shown next. This all lies a few inches below the bed structure.
With the cross member removed I can then lift out the spare. These details allow me to create a layout for the straps, the bolts, and wood panels. I ordered straps without holes so I can place the holes where I want. However, I need to cut square holes for 1/4” carriage bolts in steel straps. That’s a solvable problem.
I am going to cut the kit’s floor panels into 3 pieces each.
The narrow panels will be riveted to the structure pieces (the smaller holes are for the rivets. All the panels get holes that line up with the strap bolts. There are also openings for 4 latches. The 2 center panels will be bolted to the straps and wood planks and create a single removable panel. The latches hold this panel in place. Once removed, the spare tire can come out.
The wood planks are sized to fit with the straps. The layout consists of 3 wide planks and narrower ones in between.
The two wide planks on each side are split to cover the gap in the floor panels. They will be cut from a single wide board for grain continuity. The view below shows how the gap in the aluminum panels is offset from the gap in the wood.
Here are all the elements shown together.
The red holes are the ones I have to add.
With a final plan I can start making parts.
I’ve numbered the 9 planks to keep them in order. This is only critical to preserve the grain pattern boards 2&3 and 7&8 together.
The wood planks have pockets in them to house the latches.
I cut the pockets with the CNC.
I’m sealing everything in epoxy. Eventually they will have a final coat automotive clear.
There are countersinks in the back side or the outer planks. These are clearance pockets for the rivet heads.
You can see the detail for locating and supporting the bed straps.
I set up a drilling jig for the extra holes in the straps. The groove in the plywood holds the strap tightly and the bolt is used to locate the next hole.
I end up drilling 4 extra holes in 6 straps. After filing each corner square, I have filed 96 corners.
I now have 2 coats of epoxy on all faces of the boards and am in the middle of sanding them smooth.
The next steps are:
· Sand the epoxy smooth and prep for clear coat
· Cut all details into the aluminum bed floor panels. They are at a laser cutting shop. I’ll have them back in a few weeks
Meanwhile I am putting the final details on the wood panels.
