ourcing the components to assemble a pickup bed using new parts has never been easier. Whether swapping out from a long wheelbase chassis to a short or Fleetside for Flare, all the sheetmetal and related components are available to get that old pickup in shipshape thanks to LMC Truck.

In fact, the plans for our ‘71 Ford F-250 project included both of those changes, with the shortbed conversion already handled courtesy of a Shortbed Conversion Kit from Classic Performance Products (CPP; PN 6772LBFSK).

With the foundation laid, we contacted LMC Truck with a laundry list of items necessary to build up a new Flareside box. Assembling the components is fairly straightforward but there are a few things that help keep things “aligned.” Many of the components rely on one another in order to attain a square assembly. Cross sills straddle the framerails and provide support for the entire affair. The fenders bolt to the bedsides, which then rests on two perimeter bed wood planks. The front bed panel attaches to the two bedsides and rests on the front cross sill. Out back, the tailgate is flanked by a pair of hinges. If any of the panels are out of square, misaligned, or racked, fitment of the rest of the components suffers.

ome engines just have coolness in their DNA. Take, for example, the famous four-valve, dual-overhead cam LT5 that went into the Corvette ZR-1. Or even the Chevrolet 409 W engine, which did have a lineage that came from trucks as the 348. The list goes on.

One that doesn’t exactly scream coolness is Chevrolet’s long-running straight-six. Nope. It was designed for economy. It made just enough torque to haul a load in the back of a pickup and just enough horsepower to get a fullsize car up to speed on the highway. Otherwise, the major benchmarks for the design were cost of production and reliability.

Still, Chevrolet’s straight-six was produced for decades in multiple variations and appeared in many thousands of cars and trucks. A lot of people learned how to drive in an old farm truck with a Chevy straight-six providing the motivation.

inal-primed and guidecoated, do these doors look pretty “straight”? As shapely as their designers intended for them to be, there ought to be a better word to describe them. Thinking back, we may’ve touched on that subject once before, but I don’t recall any mention of working with Charles and Dave.

Back in the boat shop, my friend Charles preferred the word “fair.” Back in the body shop, my friend Dave would say “uniform.” Now as it sort of seems to me, either of those words fit better than “straight,” so I’ve adopted those two bits of my coworkers/friends’ terminology.

In an earlier tech story we covered initial steps for achieving uniform fairness in the bodywork process. For our ’55 Chevy second-series build we’re using one original door and one reproduction from Brothers Trucks. Both doors had their own unique issues, but due to rust, dents, and extra holes, the original required a good deal more bodywork.

ack on Project #backpay! This ’66 Chevy C10 truck has been under major reconstruction. If you have been following along, you already know that with a step-by-step approach, you can do these same repairs at home. Last time you saw #backpay we featured the power steering and column conversion.

This time we will go in-depth on installing a new big back window conversion. We headed to Howe’s It Doin’ Garage in Dallas, Georgia, with Mike Howe performing the installation. Some of what you will see here covers the roofskin installation. Although the roofskin on this truck is in great shape, the removal is necessary to get to the factory spot welds on the original inner back window panel. Auto Metal Direct (AMD) has all the parts you need to swap out your small back window panel with all-new fresh restoration parts for the conversion.

The big back window trucks have always fetched a premium … all starting back in 1955 when GM first offered a variation of back window sizing in their trucks. Since then, guys have been swapping their trucks for the larger glass with all kinds of different methods to make it happen. AMD has gone the distance to make sure that your conversion is as easy as can be. They have developed all-new tooling to bring to you a full factory-style replacement panel. The full removal and installation are straight forward and can be done in a weekend.