Bed build cont,
Pic 1, There is a lot going on in this pic. The nice clean curved cut out above the tire was the cut I made for tire clearance. In the 1st mock up, the bedside part that was cut off rested against the inside sidewall of the tire. I don't know that the truck will ever see a big heavy load, but I didn't want to take a chance, so I cut out enough of the bed side so I didn't ever have to be concerned about the tire sidewall rubbing against the bed side. Notice that there is a discoloration on both sides of the bed, about even with the top of the tire, That discoloration makes a straight line, from the front of the bed to the rear of the bed. That discoloration was caused by me cutting the original welds that held the angle that held the side onto the original 49 bed floor. The original wood bed floor sat under that line. Also notice there is a line of burn spots (most easily seen on the left side of the pic just below the bed body line) that also forms a straight line from the front to the back of the bed side, those spots are caused from welding the "new" angle iron pieces to the bed side that rest on top of the steel Dakota bed floor. The holes that form the 1/2 circle around the tire on the bed side are where the rear fenders bolt to the bed side.
Pic 2, This is the building of the box around the battery. This box was screwed to the front of the bed, the bed floor, and to a bracket welded to the inside of the bed side, so it could be completely removable. There was a lid made that sits on top of that box at a slight angle for water to run off. The water runs off towards the center of the bed, and slightly towards the rear of the bed. The water then can exit out of the bed under the edge of the bed front panel. You can also see the fuel fill tube coming up from under the bed floor. The plastic piece on top of the fill tube is what holds the tube to the gas door, which is laying open on the floor, just forward of the 4x4 laying on the bed at the bottom of the pic. In its current state, that plastic piece is turned 90 degrees with the high side towards the bed side and the gas door is on top of it at the angle matching the plastic. The gas door opens with the door against the battery box. There is a separate box built around the fill tube that is also removable, it is screwed to the bed on the rear side and the center side, and is screwed to brackets attached to the back side of the battery box and the inside of the bed side. There is a metal piece that fits between the plastic piece and the flange on the fill tube, that flange is screwed to the sides of the battery box and the back wall of the fill tube wall, and is screwed to the the flange on the fill tube. The gas door piece is screwed to the bed side at the top, the plastic piece in the center, and the fill tube box on the side facing the bed center.
Pic 3, You have seen this pic before. What I want to point out here is the difference between the rear edge of the bed side and the rear edge of the bed floor. This difference was caused by the bed sides being moved forward to close up the gap between the front of the bed and the rear of the cab. That ribbed bed floor is spot welded to a 5" square sheet metal box that forms the rear box crossmember. That crossmember is bolted to the frame. I ended up cutting the ribbed floor away from the crossmember box so I could cut the box and reform it so the rear surface was even with the rear edge of the bed sides. Once the box ox was shortened and the bolt mounting surface reattached, the box was welded back together, the of the bed floor was trimmed to length, and the ribbed floor was rewelded to the crossmember box. Now I could bolt the tailgate to the crossmember box and have it flush with the bed sides.
Pic 4, The $75 tailgate, slightly modified. The bent and bowed bottom round tube was cut off and replaced with a new 1.5" square tube. That square tube it welded to the tailgate skin, and 3 large hinges are welded to that tube and are bolted to the rear crossmember. Both sides have been cut off and new edge pieces were added to both sides. Notice the top tube is clamped to the tail gate, in its finished position, the top of it will be even with the top of the bed side rails. The gate is clamped closed as I prepare to adjust the height of that top tube. You can see pretty clearly the angled top of the bed rails I spoke of earlier in this picture, that gap between the tailgate and the bed side rails will be addressed in a future update.