Swappin' Sheetmetal

When Shaughn Reid dressed up his '67 Chevy Fleetside like a NASCAR race truck, he didn't expect to go slamming into a guardrail like a rookie at Bristol Motor Speedway. But that's exactly what happened one winter morning when he romped on the throttle and hit a damp patch of freeway. Like a lucky NASCAR pilot, Shaughn walked away from the accident. His pickup, on the other hand, wasn't so fortunate.

The Chevy was still driveable, but it was battered on both ends. Thanks to a race-style 180 degree spin, Shaughn had managed to crunch the right front corner and left rear side of the truck. The worst hit areas were the right front fender and the left bedside, with both bumpers also suffering substantial damage. To compound problems, Shaughn knew that the front panel of the bed had a pretty serious case of rust. In short, this Chevy needed a healthy dose of sheetmetal surgery--fast!

Fortunately, reproduction body parts are plentiful for '67-72 Chevys. In fact, all Shaughn had to do was open up a Goodmark catalog to find all the replacement parts he needed. Goodmark even had new bumpers available. While he was ordering parts, Shaughn figured it wouldn't hurt to spring for some upgrades too, so he had Goodmark send a steel cowl-induction hood along with all of the replacement sheetmetal.

While you might think that repairs of this nature are something that only a professional bodyman can handle, the fact is that every single part needing replacement was a bolt-on item. Even the bed panels on '67-72 Chevys bolt together, meaning that novice enthusiasts can usually tackle the task of removal-and-replacement. That's what Shaughn elected to do, along with the help from the employees at his shop, Streetshock. Additional assistance came from Foreign Auto Body (Gardena, California), where the inside and underside of the various panels were painted so they wouldn't have to be removed before painting the truck. Once the new body panels were bolted in place, the truck was ready for a trip to the body shop for final fit, prep work, and a paint job. But those are stories for another time and place. For now let's look at what it takes to replace the damaged parts. As you'll see in the photos and captions, it's really a pretty straightforward affair.

Ouch! The body on this '67 Chevy was definitely worse for wear after owner Shaughn Reid decided to play NASCAR racer on the freeway. The accident pretty much trashed the left bedside and right front fender, as well as both bumpers.	In addition to the wrinkled body parts, the ol' tin worm had eaten through a fair amount of metal on the front panel of the bed. It would have to be replaced, too.	Likewise, the Goodmark front bed panel and front fender are exact duplicates of the original pieces.
It's usually a lot easier to bolt on these new parts than it would be to repair rust or damage on the originals.	Fortunately, reproduction sheetmetal for '67-72 Chevy pickups is readily available from companies like Goodmark Industries.	The first item ordered from Goodmark was a left bedside. The bedside is registered as an official GM Restoration Part and is the spittin' image of an original unit. It's a complete assembly consisting of an outer skin welded to the appropriate inner support structure, and comes coated in electro-static black primer.
All bedsides come with an opening for the side-marker light, which will have to be filled to be "correct" on this '67 pickup.	While he was replacing parts, Shaughn figured he might as well upgrade the hood to a cowl-induction version. This is another relatively simple bolt-on piece, and also came from Goodmark.	The cool thing about '67-72 Chevy Fleetside beds is that all the panels simply bolt together.
	You'll find a row of carriage bolts along the side and front of the bed floor, five bolts holding each bedside to the front panel, and another row of bolts along a lip inside the wheel well.	With all of the hardware removed, the bedside could be lifted off the bed. To make things easier, all work was done with the bed off the truck.
Here's an inside look at the damaged bedside. The rear section was so mangled that it had to be cut away before the bedside would come off.	The worst damage to the bed floor was in the left rear corner.	With some help from the guys at Foreign Auto Body (Gardena, California), this section was massaged back into shape without too much trouble.
Here's another look at the rusty front bed panel. As you can see, not all California trucks are completely rust-free.	When all the bolts were finally out, the fender was simply lifted off.	With the left bedside already off, it only took the removal of about a dozen more bolts (along the bottom and the side) to take off the bed's front panel.
Since a full paint job wasn't in the cards yet, Shaughn only worried about having the back sides of the panels prepped and painted. This will make things easier when the truck is finally ready for paint, because the body parts won't necessarily have to come apart again. Since the parts were already coated with a durable primer, they were merely sanded with a scuff pad to prep them for paint.	Unbolting the front fender was pretty straightforward, but it seemed like each time we thought we had removed all the bolts we would find a half-dozen more to take out. At this point the hood had already been removed, too.	Then they were sprayed with the color of choice, a late-model bronze/copper hue used on Jeep and Chrysler vehicles.
When the parts came out of the paint booth, it was time for re-assembly back at Shaughn's shop. The front bed panel was the first part to be bolted back in place.	Next came the new bedside, which slid into place without a hitch. As you can see, we found that a couple of 4x4 tires provided an adequate work surface for the bed.	The original carriage bolts were re-used along the front edge of the bed floor, while the original hex bolts were employed along the right vertical edge.
	Once again, bolting the new bedside in place was pretty straightforward--five bolts at the front of the panel, and a row of carriage bolts along the edge of the bed floor.	Moving around front, the new fender found its place on the truck. Bolting it on was another simple task.
	It was finally time to bolt on the new cowl-induction hood. This is easier with two people, especially when you consider that it usually takes several adjustments to get the alignment just right.	To finish things off, Shaughn felt a healthy burnout was in order to celebrate his truck's new lease on life. Hey, when you're happy, why not let the whole neighborhood know by giving them a big whiff of tire smoke!
With the tailgate and taillight back in place on the bed (and the bed back on the truck), the Chevy is almost back to its original state. All that's missing is the rear bumper, which didn't arrive in time to make our photo shoot. The opening for the side marker light will be filled at a later date when the pickup goes in for paint.	We've had bad experiences in the past with aftermarket bumpers, but this one from Goodmark was top quality and had very nice chrome, to boot.	The front end sure looked a lot better once everything was bolted back together. A body shop will eventually have to fine-tune the alignment of all the panels, but even here it looks pretty darn good. The cowl-induction style hood is a welcome addition to the design of the '67-72 Chevy/GMC body. We can't wait to see the truck painted.