Old Chevy Pickup Restored With Wooden Bed Sides

Old Chevy Pickup Restored With Wooden Bed Sides PICKUPS Miscellaneous Brian Wolters wanted to replace the side body panels on the 8-ft bed of his 1978 Chevrolet 3/4-ton pickup but he couldn t find any panels that weren t already rusted out So the Kettering Ohio man built his own wooden sides using pressure treated 2 by 6 pine boards
    The pickup still has its original wheel wells and bed floor and the front part of the bed It also has the original corner posts that support the tail lights as well as the tailgate
    The wooden bed sides are coated with Wolters own mix of linseed oil and wood stain They re secured by stainless steel screws and galvanized lag bolts The rest of the pickup is painted Rust-oleum hunter green
     It turned a rusted-out truck into a nice practical truck that looks a lot better than I thought it would says Wolters The sides have the greenish sheen of decking wood but I coated them with linseed oil which gives the boards a warm golden feel I lag bolted the boards to the front and back of the bed The weight of the boards is about the same as the bed s original steel sides so I don t notice much difference in the way it rides
     Whenever I take it to a gas station or Home Depot people start walking around looking at it One guy told me it should be in a museum     
     I came up with the idea because I wanted a better looking pickup without spending a lot of money I live in town and am remodeling my house so I use the pickup every day to do chores I added new doors and fenders as well as a new hood all of which I bought used Then I painted the cab and chassis with Rust-oleum which I thinned down with acetone in order to reduce the drying time I used a high pressure low volume spray gun to apply it It worked great I also painted the wheel rims white
    According to Wolters old Chevy pickups tend to rust out right above the wheel wells Many of them are falling victim to the shredders at scrap yards which I think is a shame These pickups have a lot of room around the engine which makes them simple to work on I think what I did is a good way keep an old rusted pickup on the road
    He bought the pickup last fall with about 103 000 miles on it It had sat in a barn for several years When I drove the pickup last winter road salt caused it to start rusting out pretty quickly says Wolters So I went to the internet and found a guy on Craigs List www craigslist com with an old Chevy truck who was selling it for parts I bought his doors fenders hood bumper and bed I painted the pickup s frame once I had everything off it It s fairly rust-free now My total cost was only about $550
    Contact: FARM SHOW Followup Brian G Wolters 2824 Royalton Ave Kettering Ohio 45419 ph 419 852-0617; willy1386 @yahoo com

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