Quote:
Originally Posted by nelsb01
I purchased a 1936 pickup bed from Mack Hils and yes it needed work. My bodyman and I made corrections, and since we didnt have metal working tools, we made it work. Since I had an original bed in which the bodyman looked at and made an estimate for labor involved to make it resemble what it should be--- I saved about $3000 by purchasing a reproduction bed and relocating the 2nd and 3rd body mounts and cutting the carriage bolts holes.
Money well saved and I and the bodyman are quite happy with the results.
If you can do the repair -- go for it. If you want it done quicker, purchase reproduction and make the necessary repairs. Please note: I did send documented pictures and measurements to Mack Hils and they have made changes in their production.
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There are also those guys that insist on original steel. I think most prefer this, but new can be a good route and look just as good if the pieces are correct. When did you submit the correct dimensions to Mack Hils?
While we are on the subject… I also purchased new stake pockets from Mack Hils and they too needed quite a bit of work to fit the original bedsides including extending some areas that were too short. I also machined tooling to stamp in the raised mounting section for the tailgate latch brackets on the rear stake pockets since these were absent on Macks.