I have a Jan 1970 C10 400 with the original pine wood bed. Recently I lent it out for a movie shoot and it came back with a hole in one of the planks. They said they would pay to fix it, but now I am not sure who to go to. Some people say a body shop, others are saying a carpenter, the problem is I am three hours from the nearest big town, is there a restoration kit I can buy, or some website that ships that I can buy the planks from? Should it be pine, or some other harder wood? Does anyone have an estimate of how much this is going to cost?
Thanks
Saarin

Check with the Filling Station in Lebanon, Oregon. Go here: http://www.fillingstation.com/

I think that is where I found this chat area, but I got confused about where to go. What is what I need called? Think of me as as someone who adores her truck so much that she barely drives it around, but had to ask if it was called a c10 or a s10.

get a 70 c-10 bed wood kit. be sure and tell the FS its a stepside or a fleetside as the widths of the two differ. mike

Hey Mike,

I don't mean to sound like I'm arguing; but as I read her first post doesn't she need just one piece replaced?? Not an entire kit?? Or maybe a "kit" can be just one piece.

Anyway, I'd presume The Filling Station would talk her through it and get her just what she needed.

Bill.

Hey 42bill! Sarrin said above: ".......is there a restoration kit I can buy, or some website that ships that I can buy the planks from?"

The way that I read the posting it sounds like sarrin is looking for a complete bed kit and not just one plank.

Even though you might replace one board, likely the board would not be an exact match with the remaining wood pieces. That is unless you found and original board that was in comperable condition. So the best fix would be to replace the entire bed wood. That is unless you wanted to maintain the original look. Then going to the effort to find an original might be worthwhile.

How big is the hole? If it is fairly small (like a half dollar size) and only in 1 board a good finish carpenter or cabinet maker can fix it with a "Dutchman".

you guys certainly are knowledgeable about this. I think since the rest of the truck (fleetside) has no rust, dings or major dents, and the mileage is under 97,000. It makes sense, for me, to replace the whole bed, since I don't think I can find a single board that will match the other ones. The hole is about the size of my hand. From what I have been researching, if I try to replace just the single board, when I pull up that board, I may run into old nuts and bolts that will break and then I will have to replace them and so on. I will call the filling station and see what they suggest. Thanks for all the help-this is a fun web site. FYI I also ordered some book about Chevy trucks from Amazon to help me make restoration decisions, I figure now that I have been sort of forced to start, I might as well really fix up my Truck and learn some stuff. One last question, How many hours, ballpark, would it take to pull up the entire bed and then replace it so I can figure out a hourly rate.
Thanks

Trying to estimate the time on your project is kinda harry. Don't know the skills of the workers, nor how many of the bolts and nuts will be rusted and require specific tactics.

You might consider sitting a suitcase or other item over the hole and go cruising.

I suppose if the "movie company" is paying for it, it would be best to replace all the wood. That would likely look better and "guarantee" all boards matched.

Bill.