my 98 stepside project

[98nightmare]

T...u...r....d.... Obviously isn't allowed

 

[lester622]

Thanks Sewlow!!
And Lester622, I found some 63s on eBay from Canada! Original lights, but in pristine condition.. guy had purchased them over a decade ago and just had them sitting in storage
Also have a pretty big end sheet of 1/8" aluminum we had purchased originally to fix my father in laws bed cover, that ended up going a different route.. so I'll probably section out the tailgate and bend the aluminum to the contour of the taillight housing and have it go between the lights. Ima try to find matching reverse lights, or probably recess the Envoy ones I already have. Hopefully I'll have the bed together enough soon and find out what kind of placement would suit better.. fingers crossed

Cool, post some pictures as you go i'm interested to see how it turns out.

For the bed cracking issue if you do all the body work prime it and put the bed on the truck an ride around for about a month or 2 and let everything flex, shrink, and settle. Fix whatever cracks if any and paint it, it should be good to go after that.

Also when fiber glassing anything its better if you fiberglass both sides it makes it stronger. Most of the cracked roll pans you see are from people only fiber glassing the front side.

 

[98nightmare]

Yeah, I've noticed that.. fiberglass don't like to stick to our stepside beds because GM used a special release agent for mass production. That's what gives it that weird grayish tint. Fiberglass resin flakes off pretty quickly from it. I had to redo some stuff before because of it, even tried using SMC bonding adhesive, and SMC resin itself. Some held, I'm guessing I didn't layer it enough. And after about four years of looking into different methods I've seen that epoxy resin usually will hold up, if done right. In place of resin the epoxy is used with matt.. and Ive seen a lot of fiberglass forums will use a metal mesh for a more rigid application. Ima try mixing both methods and a ton of praying.. Lmmfao! If this ever sees paint, ima probably burn it to the ground if something cracks afterwards..lol

I've seen people glass over rope/cord to make a brace, that's what's got me considering a metal skeleton.
Idunno why, but the very end of my bed rails look like they curve upwards.. the small section above the taillights. I want to weld in a sliver of a filler panel to create the bottom of the body line where it's notched for the lights. Sooo, kinda wondering if I stripped down that area to bare metal, tacked a piece of square tube to the top and used it as leverage to bend the corners back down.. would that work?
I'm really hoping it's an optical illusion, I have the cheap $20 EBay euro lights on it. I know the fitment is junk.. and the factory lights didn't have this angled gap. But I'm wondering if welding up the rail seam/joints might of possibly warped the ends up? ...........it's a never ending battle with this dang truck.

 

[98nightmare]

Holy crap I ramble on....Lmmfao!

I feel sorry for anyone who reads through this entire thread... Dang truck has veered off in sooo many different directions over the years.


Probably why my shed is full of the most random *** parts..Lmmfao!!

 

[98nightmare]

Following this thread is like wondering through a maze..
...........and I don't even know where it ends......lol

 

[lester622]

Yeah, I've noticed that.. fiberglass don't like to stick to our stepside beds because GM used a special release agent for mass production. That's what gives it that weird grayish tint. Fiberglass resin flakes off pretty quickly from it. I had to redo some stuff before because of it, even tried using SMC bonding adhesive, and SMC resin itself. Some held, I'm guessing I didn't layer it enough. And after about four years of looking into different methods I've seen that epoxy resin usually will hold up, if done right. In place of resin the epoxy is used with matt.. and Ive seen a lot of fiberglass forums will use a metal mesh for a more rigid application. Ima try mixing both methods and a ton of praying.. Lmmfao! If this ever sees paint, ima probably burn it to the ground if something cracks afterwards..lol

I've seen people glass over rope/cord to make a brace, that's what's got me considering a metal skeleton.
Idunno why, but the very end of my bed rails look like they curve upwards.. the small section above the taillights. I want to weld in a sliver of a filler panel to create the bottom of the body line where it's notched for the lights. Sooo, kinda wondering if I stripped down that area to bare metal, tacked a piece of square tube to the top and used it as leverage to bend the corners back down.. would that work?
I'm really hoping it's an optical illusion, I have the cheap $20 EBay euro lights on it. I know the fitment is junk.. and the factory lights didn't have this angled gap. But I'm wondering if welding up the rail seam/joints might of possibly warped the ends up? ...........it's a never ending battle with this dang truck.

Put the factory tail lights back in and see if the ends still angle up. Its pretty hard to warp that whole area as its very rigid and not flimsy sheet metal. If it is bent lay a piece of 2x4 on top the rail and hit it with a hammer it should knock it down.

A lot of people use different methods for fiber glassing. On things that fiberglass wont really stick to I drill some holes all over what i'm trying to fiberglass and I put fiber glass mat on the back and front and make sure I get a lot of resin in the holes. It makes like a plastic rivet and it smashes the part that the fiberglass doesn't really stick to between the two pieces of mat.

 

[98nightmare]

I'll definitely try using a 2x4 first!
And drilling holes sounds like a great idea, any and everything to prevent long term effects. I'm really hoping these taillights can work out. Sucks, where I'd like them to be would probably interfere with the gate latch mechanism. So probably going to have to be near the center of the rear. (Across).. might be odd

 

[98nightmare]

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[98nightmare]

Finally got the upper bag mounts on

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[DRAGGIN95]

Looking good, I sure like the 12 inches of rear lift I get and I am sure you will too.