When I picked up the truck, the bed was in decent shape and relatively complete given its age.  All the original wood was there, but covered by some rotting ply.  It was missing the tailgate and hinge, but overall the metal was in great shape.

The VERY first thing I did the week I took possession of the truck was to start work on the bed.  Ironically – it’ll likely be the last thing to be completed!  The first thing to do was to pull the ply, and all the original boards and rails.  They were in pretty rough shape.  I kept two of the boards as reference, and all the rails – just in case.  The bolts surprisingly came out pretty easy.   The stringers under all the wood were in excellent condition – likely preserved by the two layers of wood!

The PO had built a toolbox and attached it to the front drivers side of the bed.  This isn’t going to stay.  The spare tire carrier on the passenger side was nothing more than a long bolt through the bed, this isn’t staying either.

Next the box was dismantled itself.  Again, only 2 bolts needed to be cut off, not at all!