to the guys with sheeted beds

Edited: 11/12/2005 7:41:18 AM by tacodragnazz

what do you use to seal up thesheets after you have welded them together to make them smooth and ready for body work? like were the floor would meet the side panels? also do you weld it solid all the way around or just tacks every inch or so?

one mine check my profile. I kept my stock floor just raised it and sheeted the front wall the skin and the tubs and the sides.on the rear wall We bumped out an inch and 90'ed to the floor on the tubs just foot rolled the tubs and then cut the sides to match reinforce with angle iron and some flat stock and we tacked and then stitched welded it all the way check out my profile for the pics we're not done woth the rear side pieces due to my friends wedding today and him now having two jobs but its ok It looks sick any way :rais: Check him out also his screen name is bodydropts10on20s he knows his shit!

only stitch weld every 6 in or so, and go to your local autobody supply and get some seam sealer to smooth it off.

i used everglass filler worked out great, got pix on my page no problem with sanding or cracking

if you use the seam sealer can you bondo over it to make everything smootha nd look like one piece?

first off if you plan on usin a texture bed liner you can get away with more than if you were to paint the bed shiny like the out side of the truck.if you just want to rhino line it after your done then you could get away with just weldin it every half inch or so then seam seal it and shoot your bed coating over it.but if you paint it you will need it to be solid welded.this will take more time and patience.and dont abuse the body filler it is just a light fill not a 5 gallon one.(more money more problems. more mud more problems)what ever you decide to do there are your two ways of goin about it.hope this will help.and dont put body filler over seam sealer.

Originally posted by plane jane



first off if you plan on usin a texture bed liner you can get away with more than if you were to paint the bed shiny like the out side of the truck.if you just want to rhino line it after your done then you could get away with just weldin it every half inch or so then seam seal it and shoot your bed coating over it.but if you paint it you will need it to be solid welded.this will take more time and patience.and dont abuse the body filler it is just a light fill not a 5 gallon one.(more money more problems. more mud more problems)what ever you decide to do there are your two ways of goin about it.hope this will help.and dont put body filler over seam sealer.

Agreed NEVER put body filler over seam sealer. There is also no real good reason why you should'nt fill ALL the tack welds. I would never leave gaps when welding sheet together (even if you seal it from the backside). Sheetmetal should always be sealed up all the way. If it's not done the job is not done. Make sure when you weld it up to give the workpiece time to cool between tacks. Also, when grinding sheetmetal it can get too hot also. Make sure to be careful how you hold the grinder on the surface. ALWAYS use the flat part of the flapdisk holding the grinder as flat as you can with the workpiece (this will make the welds grind down more evenly). Also, when you grind for too long in one area the metal will become too hot and can warp. After grinding for too long or from pressing too hard, the metal will turn a dis-colored blue and become more brittle. At this point you should pull off the grinder, and grind on a different area.

I welded my bed solid.
As for smoothing out the seems, you can use seam sealer but like the others said do not do body work over the seam sealer. I used Everglass to fill the seams and make a nice radius, then a coat of light-wieght filler.

you can use some 3m 8115 too its a glue and you can sand it down smoth and use some glazing over it aswell plus it will hold better where you didnt weld on only downside its 30 bucks a tube and you might need 2 forsure maybe more

Shit, you shouldnt use bondo over seam sealer?? what is the out come?? I used it over seam sealer, so far so good, and i plan on line-x'ing it, whats the down falls here?? thanks