Making A Bed Mat

[Tom Geiger]

I am building a pair of Jeepsters. One will be the pickup version. The floor is flat in the kit, but in 1:1 photos I found on the Internet, there is ribbing in the bed. Since this is the focal point of a pickup I couldn’t let it go. My first attempt in the above photo was to measure and glue in some very thin Evergreen strips. I was happy.

Using this old partial built up of a later Jeep Comando version, and mocking it up with the body and roof... horrors! See the front of the bed down at interior level? Not right and it looks unfinished. So I decided I needed to create a bed floor.
 

I had done this with my Trabiant van and Dodge Caravan CV van, using Evergreen ribbed sheet. I had people asking how I did it, getting it even on both sides, so here is the process. Nothing high tech..

Step One - Never waste costly material like Evergreen sheets!  I always make templates first from card stock, this time old business cards. 

First I measure off one side. I use a pencil and straight edge to get everything true. Then I cut it out. If I get it wrong, I whittle into the cardboard with a small scissor. If I mess it up, it costs nothing to start over. I’ve achieved my goal in the above photo.

Step Two - Flip over the finished right side card and trace it onto another business card. 

Step Three - Cut it out and trim to fit. I actually did this side twice because I found an error in this old kit.. the left wheel well was a scale inch more narrow than the right side! (no I’m not cutting it all up to fix it)

If you noticed that the left side card template is too wide...

Step Four - The two sides overlap on purpose. You cannot, or shouldn’t try to cut it as one piece, not only worrying about the edge fit, but the side to side overall fit. 

Place both templates so they fit the edges and simply tape the overlap in the middle!  Now you have a template!

Step Five - Here’s the template on the back side of our ribbed Evergreen sheet. Trace it with a pencil.  I’m still very careful and go over it with a straight edge, making sure it’s all true.

Now remove the paper template and cut your Evergreen sheet with exacto blade and straight edge. 
 

Step Six - Once cut, try it in your bed. You may have to do some trimming and definitely will need to sand edges.

I have successfully filled in the void and made the bed pleasing to the eye. I’m happy with the results, and maybe a half hour of work. Do not throw out the template! You may want to do another someday, or something else close where you can use it as a starting point. I have a folder with all kinds of templates in it.

I hope this helps someone!

 

Edited May 16, 2020 by Tom Geiger

[Deuces ll]

Very cool idea! Thanks.... ??

[slusher]

Neat idea Tom!

[Chariots of Fire]

Good tutorial!  Many thanks!

[Nazz]

Great idea Tom, Thank you for his post. This technique will definitely come in handy!