July 2nd, 2009

It occurs to me that maybe not everyone is so concerned with the minute details of this project. To you, I say "sorry." Today I removed the drivers side step from the bed. Now THAT was fun- lying underneath the truck with an angle grinder going after what at one time had been 7/16" nuts, shooting sparks into my face and slowly roasting next to the worklight. I can only take comfort in knowing that the more body panels I remove, the less material will be overhead to rain rust particles on me every time I crawl underneath.

The following information regarding attachment hardware is mainly for my own information, so I can reassemble it sometime in the future properly. The top flange is bolted to a matching flange on the bottom side of the bedside panel with 7/16" nuts and bolts. Two of these were the ones that had to be ground off. The front of the flat step surface was attached by carriage bolts. One was missing. These go down through a metal support that appears to mount up under the bed to one of the bed cross frame pieces. The four remaining holes were 1/2" nuts and bolts attached to the fender removed earlier this week. Once I got the step on the bench, it was easier to remove the two that remained- one by grinding and one by drilling.

Once the piece was removed, the rusted hardware taken off and the Bondo removed, the step itself actually appeared to be in decent shape. There should be minimal work to refurbish this piece to be able to re-use it.