WarSurfer

It’s not much of a cost savings when you count the 3-4hrs of your labor. All boils down to how involved you want to get.

Lucky Mac

OP states he has more time than money. He'll probably spend 4-8 hours repairing that panel. Not practical if he charges himself professional rates.

OP should take the bed side to an auto body shop for an estimate and to determine if the panel is actually fiberglass or SMC (Sheet Molded Compound).
In all probability, the panel is SMC.
The materials to repair conventional old style fiberglass (up to 1972 Corvette) won't adhere to SMC for any practical length of time. The materials to repair SMC will adhere to old style fiberglass, so I strongly recommend that if OP intends to repair his existing panel, that he Google "SMC repair" and become familiar with the materials and techniques.

For me, if I could get a bedside for under $300.00 that's what I'd do. I have lots of projects and my time might be more valuable to me than the OPs time is to him.

Conventional polyester filler will probably stick just fine to either old style fiberglass or to SMC. Be sure to read the instructions on the can just in case it isn't compatible.

Good Luck, L.M.

dge1993

Thanks everyone for the input. After mulling it over, I decided to just bite the bullet and order the new side. I figure in the long run it will be better, and the fear of the repair failing on me one day won't cross my mind.

Cheers!

HubFord

I had no idea they were $233 shipped! Would have guessed $500+

BTW, see how it says -2009?! Once I saw a 2009 stepside, never knew they existed.

It depends on his opportunity cost and how much he enjoys the work.

To me, garage/project time is fun. Instead of watching TV, I work on a project. Most evenings are spent in my garage.

dge1993

Well like mentioned earlier I ended up going with a new bed side. I ended up finding some more damage on the old one and decided it wasn't worth the risk of a repair failing after I finished painting it.

With that said I now have the issue of filling the fender flare holes. How would you guys go about doing it. Any good write ups/videos online?

Also, would any flareside owner be willing to go out and measure the gap between the tailgate and bed side? As of right now, I have a 1/8" gap on the drivers side and 3/8" on the passenger with the tailgate up. I would like to know what it should be from the factory, in case the tailgate has slid over or something along those lines.

Thanks again for everyone's input!

tareed94

What does the other flareside have? Does it have holes already? If so, then I'd drill the front fenders and add some OEM flares.

dge1993

It doesn't have any holes. So I would have to drill three fender lips. Not sure if I like the flares enough to do that.

tareed94

Ah, yeah I wouldn't then... I wasn't aware any of the flaresides didn't have flares... Was it not possible to find a new bedside without the holes?

dge1993

Not at the price I got this one. The next cheapest without was closer to $500. I guess those holes are worth $250 in material?

tareed94

That's odd. Lol. If it's fiberglass (I believe it is) then the procedures posted will work. Otherwise, you're looking at patching some other material. I'd ask a shop how much they'd charge to fill them, and see what they say. You could ask at that time "What would roughly be the process to fill these?" in order to be an informed customer, say you need to think about it, and then perform your own fill. They probably won't be too happy that you didn't come back, but it's the breaks of the game.