The
restoration of the M-715 bed for Max (my 79 J-10) has begun. I considered
just putting the bed on the J-10 as-is and working on it on the truck,
but I decided that it would be easier to do all the restoration work while
the bed was off the truck. This is going to be quite an extensive project,
the bed was in pretty good condition considering that it is over 30 years
old, but it does have some issues that need to be addressed. There are
a number of original welds that have stress cracks in them which I will
be re-welding, there are quite a few "extra" holes (particularly in the
top of the bed sides) that need to be welded up, and there are several
extra brackets and patches which need to be removed and the original sheet
metal repaired. I will try to document each step of the process, but I
cannot guarantee that I will actually keep accurate records as I will
be working on this project as time permits. My goal is to have the bed
done and on the J-10 by August of this year.
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