[Bob Carriere]

Hi David

I asked my fabricator if he could do a one inch fold over like yours for the tail gate of my 2B1 box...... he can do a "folder over" of 3/4 in. and a second fold over of 3/4 which he can do but can not fold over the last 3/4 in. fold flat which I can do by hand........ I am also considering using a 3/4 in angle iron as the edge reinforcement for the tail gate.....just different ways to get to Rome.

As for the strap I will drill and rivet as I have the die for that size.

Do you know if the bigger holes were punched or drilled....? I may have to adjust the hole size to match his tooling....would hate to have to drill each hole individually although drilling is less likely to stretch and curve the flat stock.

I think I have enough info to do the channel BUT must finish the rebuild of the 2B1 box which is under way ........ the box is currently mounted on a rear section of frame then welded to a rotisserie......had to rebuild all four corner sides........... now coating everything in in POR 15, then Tie coat primer then 2 coats of OD green......both the tail gate and front board have to be done at a fabricator in 14 gauge which is beyond what I can handle in length and gauge.

rotisserie is dream when it comes to flipping the box over for welding and painting.

Found an 8 foot pan box brake for $4500 but can't afford the steel for the box and the brake so doing it the hard way one small section at a time. The POR and OD paint blew $500 very quickly ......

I estimate that rebuilding a 2B1 box from scratch ( I am repairing an old rusted box saving all the underpinning) would easily exceed $2500 to $3000 not including my labor. Steel is now so expensive.

Thanks again for the inspiration.

Bob C.