Pickups by definition have a box or bed attached to the frame behind the cab. Pickups are small trucks built with heavy frames and stout boxes meant to carry things. The box can get pretty ugly after a very short time. After 50 years, well, they are simply beyond repair.

The box on our Dodge was all there but still a mass of scars, cuts, deep scratches, dents, with ample evidence of extensive repairs including riveting, welding and re-welding. We suspect that one reason this truck survived at all was that it remained valuable to someone for work until not long ago.

The search for a new bed resulted in locating this fine looking reproduction. The problem was that the builder was asking over three grand and shipping was another $500. A close examination revealed some finish details that seemed, well, unfinished.

We kept looking for something closer to home.

 

One of the great aspects of old car restoration and hot rodding is that the aftermarket suppliers have discovered that there is money to be made in producing old parts. Some are made as exact reproductions like the bed on the right. This was from another manufacturer. We were tempted but didn’t bite. Others take some liberty in reinterpreting old metal. But the volume is low and the price is high.

We kept the search alive. Maybe a general metal fabricator could reproduce the box using our old one as a model? We began to look around. One shop in Orem was already well known to us and we were pleased with the quality. But the prices were so high that we didn’t bother. But we found exactly the right shop in southern Utah–Premier Metal Crafters in LaVerkin. Never heard of LaVerkin? Neither had I but I was very impressed when Ralph and I paid them a visit. LaVerkin City lies on the north banks of the Virgin River opposite Hurricane City to the South, and Toquerville to the North. LaVerkin is centrally located in the heart of what is known as the Grand Circle, which includes Zion National Park (20 miles) Bryce Canyon National Park (106 miles) and Grand Canyon National Park (125 Miles). Okay, just say it is close to St. George and you aren’t far off.

We dropped off the old bed with Steve at Premier Metal Crafters. Steve measured, measured again, and when he was sure he had it right, started to bend and shape new, heavy gauge sheet metal to match the original. He did so perfectly. We heard no complaints or second guessing. Just honest, straight talk and work to match.

You might say that this looks easy compared to the compound curves in, say, the front fenders. And that would be correct. But the metal is twice as thick, the lines or folds must be arrow straight, and in the end, it has to be perfectly square and dimensional equal to the old rusted bed that it will replace. In truth, a lot of very heavy equipment is required to do this work.

Here we see the new bed taking form. Steve even managed to produce parts that cover the unsightly fasteners that connect pieces.

From this end, we don’t see the tailgate attached.  It is off to the side. But that is jumping way ahead of what was a more difficult problem than anticipated. The tailgate on a pickup is a thing of beauty. It is often seen and is typically used to advertise the brand—Dodge or Ford or Chevrolet or whatever.

The tailgate is a critical piece of this build and it had to be just perfect. But, as they say, “perfection takes a little longer.” In fact, it required a great deal more work than originally anticipated.

First the sketch. Must look about like this:

The plan called for the tailgate to look like a Dodge embossed tailgate but be the same size as the tailgate on my 35 that was not so embossed. This would require cutting out the metal parts in relief and grafting the old metal into a new tailgate that was the correct size and shape for my 35 pickup.

But where would we get a piece that matched a Dodge tailgate stamping exactly? The answer was to cut one out of a Dodge tailgate.

I wanted the Dodge look and even the Dodge letters if possible. In the end, I couldn’t get the letters but I came close. First, an authentic Dodge tailgate in reasonable shape had to be located. I found one on eBay. Everything (almost) is for sale on eBay.

Making a tailgate like this is possible but falls into the category of “don’t try this at home.” This kind of work is what earns you the title “premier metal fabricator.

Believe me, the new tailgate is a piece of metal craftsmanship. It will be much admired by people who know. Others, well, they won’t know and that, too, is okay.

In the end, we have a new, old appearing box for the hot rod pickup.

Steve is a metal fabricator. He isn’t the only person going by that professional identification to work on the Dodge. But we’ll come to that later when other bits are featured. Steve is shown here admiring his work. We think “Premier Metal Crafters” in LaVerkin, Utah is a great place and we would certainly go back to Steve again.

 

 

 

 

 

It would be May of 2018 before the bed pieces would be bolted together again and hoisted onto the frame. It is rare that anyone in the hot rod industry has the opportunity of putting a brand new bed on a truck manufactured in 1935. Of course, this one isn’t identical to the factory item and anyone in the restoration side of the old car or truck industry would quickly call foul. In fact, this bed is better. The steel is thicker, it is made from an anti-corrosive alloy, and it is perfectly straight. Far superior. But would it fit?

Well, yes and no. Truthfully, the first fitting was disappointing. Although painful, the gaps and misalignment are obvious. But this was just the first of many disassemblies and reassemblies and hoisting the whole heavy steel assembly back on the frame.

 

The second fitting of the new bed parts took place after the rear fenders had enjoyed their brief moment on center stage. Holes were drilled, parts that fit fine before are after painting and sanding never quite right in the next round. Knowing this ahead of time helps prevent making irreversible fastening efforts such as welding. Note this difference in the colors between these two photos–so much depends on what kind of light is available.

The tailgate as seen here on the left has been primed and sanded several times and will soon be painted and sent off to the pinstriping crowd that gets together early summer in Manti, Utah. I am going to let them have a go at painting a “Dodge Brothers” emblem from the early days on the tailgate. Meantime Ralph is assembling all the necessary hardware to mount the tailgate permanent to the bed. 

I throw this image in the mix because without the floor in, many of the suspension parts are still visible. You can see the top of the parallel four-bar suspension. This is, to my knowledge, never done in factory stock automobiles. It is too expensive and too fiddly. The four bars located the rear axle in relation to the bed but they themselves have no other suspension function. That will require a set of coil overs or coil springs with a shock absorber inside. We will wait until the last minute with all the weight on the back that will probably ever go there before determining how much shock and how much spring function is ideal. Most pickups still have leaf springs or “buggy” springs because the weight on the back can be highly variable and leaf springs are good at handling different weights, but never really give a truly smooth ride.

 

 

After more than a year of patient waiting for its turn in the spotlight, the tailgate has received its final coat of grey with a couple of topcoats of clear gloss. I’ve wrestled with what type of “DODGE” lettering, if any, I wanted to put in the center section. The decision as of June 1, 2018, is to let the pinstriping boys in Manti paint one of the gorgeous Dodge Brothers emblems in that section. Before too long I should be able to update with some additional detail.

 

 

And here it is with an early Dodge Brothers insignia so carefully painted on the tailgate that is could almost appear to be a decal but it isn’t. These guys are terrific and I will tell you a bit more about them later.

 

 

And finally as installed at the back of the bed. No one will believe the number of steps and the overall effort by so many just to produce the tailgate. By any measure, really quite extraordinary.