I finally got tired of looking at my rusty ass truck bed and fenders and washed out 17 year old paint. So I decided my truck would get new front fenders, a new flat bed and fresh paint. This post will follow my progress with the project. It will be picture intensive so warning to dialup users.

First here is a shot of the truck so you can see what East Coast rust looks like. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />



Here you can see the replacement tailgate in white. The original tailgate rusted away and was replaced years ago. You can also see the cutout lower rear bed section which also got rid of lots of rust and let the bumper to tuck up and tie into the frame.



When getting rid of the bed a sawzall makes quick work of it.


Here are some pics of the www.certifit.com made in taiwan fenders I used to replace my rusted ones. They fit pretty good but were obviously not of the same gauge or quality as the OEM Toyota. I could not beat the $35.75 price anywhere though.


To get the truck ready for paint took lots of prep work. First I had to remove the undercoat from the back of the cab. Oh joy.

Then came the sanding and tapeing.

Then it really helps to have a friend who is a professional paint and body tech who can shoot the truck for you. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> Thanks Ryan! The color is a 70s Toyota Land Cruiser color called Rustic Green.

And the final result is.
[img]http://users.starpower.net/johnsmith/pfb9.jpg[/img]

Here are the start of the flatbed pics which brings the project up to where it is currently, I need to mount the new bed to the truck then fab up my bling led lights. The bed is 5'x4' made from 1.5 and 1.0 square 1/8" tube and 1/8" aluminum treadplate.

[img]http://users.starpower.net/johnsmith/pfb100.jpg[/img] [img]http://users.starpower.net/johnsmith/pfb101.jpg[/img] [img]http://users.starpower.net/johnsmith/pfb102.jpg[/img] [img]http://users.starpower.net/johnsmith/pfb104.jpg[/img]

More to come soon...

Sweet! I like the color, can't wait to see the flatbed.

Is that paint acrylic enamel or basecoat/clearcoat?

Don't forget to do the frame! I see a little cancer creeping around. Nice green.

It is single stage / acrylic enamel. And I am going to work on the frame also. Luckily it is holding up well.

Here are some shots of the bling trucklite LEDs and my trying to figure out where I want to mount them.

how much did those led's set you back ? bout $60 each??

I like the beer in the last photo. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Looks like La Pabst Blue Ribbon <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/barf.gif" alt="" />



I really like the flatebed, clean and simple. Looks good! <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/coolg.gif" alt="" /> Truck looks completely different <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />

Wow, pretty nice job; any WAG on how much the fabbed bed will weigh compared to stock? Just curious. <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/kewl.gif" alt="" />

The lights were $35 per pair. Got them on ebay from a guy with obviously silly cheap prices. I am not sure how he sells them so cheap.

The beer is regular pabst blue ribbon <img src="/forums/images/graemlins/cheers.gif" alt="" />, F Heinekin!

Not sure how much the flat bed weighs. I am going to put it on a scale when I am finished. I am pretty sure it will be much less than the stock bed.