And on top of that damage toward the front, the rear of this same panel (near the reflector) was super thin and had a lot of rust through. 
So after the initial
, I started thinking of the best path forward. I decided to replace the lower bedside with a better one, separating it at the seam, and replacing the lower section only. This method would also allow me to clean the rust from, and properly seal the seam as it goes back together. I had a donor in mind, so I grabbed the plasma and headed back out to my parents farm and my collection of parts trucks. The green truck is a '69 that I bought on auction a couple years ago for $100. Yep, whole truck, $100. Now, I absolutely hated the idea of cutting up a bump, as I have a soft spot for these trucks as we all do. But, I just kept telling myself it was donating parts to a better cause, and with the passenger side of the green bed in bad shape anyway, it's really the only section of the bed that was usable for a "nice" truck. But still, it was hard to do.I torched off the bed bolts from underneath and my Dad helped me shift the bed back for better access. Then the plasma cutter went to work.
