1971 Chevy Pickup - Project Get Shorty

We simply oblonged the mounting holes on the rear crossbrace and split the difference to match the front distance at the bed panel.

With the distances set, the next step was to square up the bed side to the rear crossbrace. By placing this 90-degree T on the brace, we positioned the bed side and tightened down the mounting bolts.

Just to make sure everything was still where we wanted it, we went back and remeasured everything. We also used a level to double-check that the bed sides were at the desired 90-degree angle.

We also test-fitted the tailgate.

As it turned out, things were right on the money with what is more or less a quarter-inch gap on each side of the tailgate.

Now that everything was squared up, we installed the rest of the bolts on the front panel.

The next step was to bolt the wheel housings onto the bed sides.

Although we didn't have the bed wood to install in the bed, we wanted to finish installing the bed just to make sure everything is kosher when the time comes to slide in the wood. We found these 3/4-inch strips of wood (the bed wood in these beds is 3/4-inch thick) to fill the void for now.

The bed, bed wood, and crossbraces mount up by placing the bed wood on top of the brace and under a metal lip on the inside bed panel, and then bolting all three of them together with a carriage bolt that drops in from the top. In order to mount things up, I drilled a hole in the wood accordingly.

Next, we installed each of the braces in their positions by dropping the carriage bolts down the specified location on the bed side lip, and then bolting the wood and brace to the lip.

And there you have it, a brand-new LMC Truck bolt-together bed.