Editors Note: Scott Baker, owner of Baker Restoration, has built a wide variety of vehicles but is most known for his over-the-top Porsches and pickups. Most recently, he built Chers 1956 Ford truck.
The bed can make restoring a classic pickup truck pretty unappetizing to just about any enthusiast. Picture all that rotten wood, rusted nuts and bolts, not to mention 40 years of waves and dents. Arghhhhh!
Fear not, there is an easy way thats very cost-, time-, and frustration-effective. I offer the following recipe for your bed entrée: Start with a large sifter full of Mar-K high-quality repro bed parts, add seven planks of Steve Phipps Fabrication steel bed flooring, and success is a mixing bowl away.
When I decided to go with an all-steel bed repro, I had some initial reservations, but now that Ive worked with the product, Im convinced. Mar-Ks quality is solid, and the company cares about what its doing. The same can be said for Steve Phipps and his floors. If you also opt to go all-steel, make sure you inform Mar-K so it wont attach the side cover strip thats needed for wood beds. When I find companies that do exactly what they say, it makes my job easier, so I want everyone to know about them. Its definitely worth calling to get the complete list of products offered by these companies.