Getting ready to bob my 82 shortbed

[awhotrods]

I decided to bob the bed on my 82 4WD shortbed, anyone got any special tips or tricks?  Its got the thinner walls in it, so I'm guessing a sawzall with some fine tooth  blades should do the trick.  I live near sacramento, does anyone want to help for a 12 pack?  Thanks for any info or help.   

[KYOTA]

I'd opt for a 4 or 4 1/2" grinder with a cutt-off wheel rather than a sawzall (worked great on mine), but you will need the sawzall to finish off the corners where the wheel cant get into.

[BLACKDOG]

when you wanting to do it?? I might be willing to help if it is next weekend

[MidgetMike]

use an angle grinder with a 4 1/2" cutting blade, and weld the hole thing with little 1/4" tack welds. Do 1 every 6 inches around and around until it's done. This will keep the sheet metal from warping and keep you from blowing holes in it.

[awhotrods]

when you wanting to do it?? I might be willing to help if it is next weekend

Yeah, I was planning on doing it next weekend. 

[BLACKDOG]

the 22ndish??

[Jared]

the 22nd sounds good... a jig saw would work pretty damn good as well.i used a grinder with a grinding wheel... that was nasty... use a cutting wheel

[Hyena]

I used a sawzall on mine.  It worked ok, but it didn't like up the greatest.  My friend used a 4 1/2 inch grinder with a cut off wheel.  I worked pretty good.

[KYOTA]

 Has anyone tried sheers for the bob job? I still say grinder w/ cutoff wheel

[MidgetMike]

I tried shears they are to hard to  keep straight like a sawzall, gotta go with the grinder and a cut off wheel it will naturaly want to cut straight

[awhotrods]

the 22ndish??

Yeah the 22nd would be perfect!!  I have a 4.5" grinder, with plenty of cutting wheels, a sawzall, and plenty of 

[BLACKDOG]

Dont say that, you'll get everyone in th SAcramento aqrea standing on your doorstep, offering to help you drink your beer.          

[awhotrods]

Dont say that, you'll get everyone in th SAcramento aqrea standing on your doorstep, offering to help you drink your beer.

Have you done one before?

[BLACKDOG]

a bed bob, no I havent. I would be offering my services in terms of free labor, and personal experience for myself.  From the sound of it, Peckerwoodjared might be interested in showing as well, and he has done one.  Ruger will also be in the vicinity, I dont know if he has done one or not, but i wouldnt be surprised if he has.  If you'd rather have someone with some previous bed bobbing experience, thats cool.  I'm just offerin whatever help I can give

[awhotrods]

Thanks blackdog, I would really like someone who has done one before to help me out.  It would make me feel a little better about hacking up my bed. 

[BLACKDOG]

As far as I know, Jared is your man then.  He is the one that I know of for sure that has done it and is close.  THere may be other people, but i dunno who    Also check out Kyotas buildup under the buildup section, he did a good job explaining the process

[Jared]

is this a longbed or shortbed? how many inches do you want to bob it?  do you have a mig welder or are you gonna use something else?   do you have a couple of grinders?  polisher wheels, grinding wheels, and cutting wheels will be needed....  Im down to help... gas money and maybe some pizza.... My girlfriends dad was killed due to a drunk driver... i gave up drinking.... Im down to help just let me know when i can i gotta work my schedule out....

[freds40]

Couple of things that worked well for me when puttig it back together, use .023 wire in the mig, allows cooler temps so not to warp but penetrates without burning through. Also, the chunk I cut out, I reused on the inside of the bed walls as backing/additional support. The backing also keeps burnthrough to a minimum but you also gain a ton of strength as your butt weld has now been overlapped so the strength is over a larger area rather than just @ the butt weld. Don't know if that made sense or not. 

[awhotrods]

is this a longbed or shortbed? how many inches do you want to bob it? do you have a mig welder or are you gonna use something else? do you have a couple of grinders? polisher wheels, grinding wheels, and cutting wheels will be needed.... Im down to help... gas money and maybe some pizza.... My girlfriends dad was killed due to a drunk driver... i gave up drinking.... Im down to help just let me know when i can i gotta work my schedule out....

Its a shortbed, I want to bob it about 5-9 inches, I have a mig welder with flux core in it, have grinders, polisher wheels, etc.  Where do you live?  Pizza and gas money sound great!  I was thinking about doing it this sat or sunday.  Thanks for your help Jared

[Jared]

saturday sounds good...  ill ask my friends to see if they want to help out... 5-9 inches sounds good... we just gotta take time cause welding thin metal with flux sucks ass but it will work.... im not the best with bondo but i can do it..... my number is 916-681-8606....

[Jase]

I used a jig saw and a sawsall for those hard to reach areas.  .023 wire is great and if possible reverse the polarity on your welder (for thin stuff).  The snap on man told me about the polarity trick and it worked great.  Cutting is the easy part, just take your time on the welding.  I also reccomend using a glass filler for finish work it wont pop off in big chunks if its hit in that area, then use bondo for the small finish work.      

[mplatzer]

HEY DUMB ASS AWHOTRODS, YOU NEVER OFFER ME BEER AND PIZZA WHEN I HELP YOU ON YOUR DUMB ASS 82 WHAT THE HELL..    

[awhotrods]

HEY DUMB ASS AWHOTRODS, YOU NEVER OFFER ME BEER AND PIZZA WHEN I HELP YOU ON YOUR DUMB ASS 82 WHAT THE HELL..

LOL 

[mplatzer]

screw you       i hope you burn holes in your bed lol

[awhotrods]

LOL   

[MidgetMike]

use an angle grinder with a 4 1/2" cutting blade, and weld the hole thing with little 1/4" tack welds. Do 1 every 6 inches around and around until it's done. This will keep the sheet metal from warping and keep you from blowing holes in it.

If you do it like this you won't need bondo it will take awhole but it's worth it.