This lower bed assembly is a critical structural piece. It supports the bedsides, locates the bed, and ties into the frame, so if the bolt pattern is off, the whole fit-up goes sideways fast. The problem wasn’t the entire assembly—it was the reference point. The existing holes in the chassis were recreated incorrectly during layout, so the first test fit used the wrong frame holes and made it look like the parts were wrong. Once the correct hole location was identified, the rear hole could still be used and only the front needed to be redrilled. From there, the structure could be squared, locked down, and used as the foundation for the rest of the bed work. That’s how these builds go: one small measurement error can snowball, and the fix is to verify the reference, correct the hard points, and keep the structure true before moving on.
The engine bay fabrication was essentially finished, and the team was pleased with the result. A major part of that work involved bead-forming details, which were difficult and time-consuming but ultimately gave the panels a finished look. With the engine bay now assembled, the dual 5-inch intake tubes were installed, making the scale of the induction system much more apparent. Their size reinforced how aggressive the overall package is intended to be.
The next fabrication step was the hood latch system. The hood area had already been prepped, and the plan was to reinstall the hood, finalize latch placement, and work out the pull-cable routing. Holes had been added in the flanges specifically so the hood latch cables could be hidden inside the vehicle rather than exposed in the engine bay. That routing choice was intended to keep the installation cleaner and less visually cluttered.
At KibbeTech, Ryan walked through the machining of the intake manifold, which is a two-piece design. The upper section is the top plate of the intake, and the supercharger mounts directly to it. The part includes multiple 1/8-inch pipe port fittings, a -6 ORB fitting, and several detailed machined features. Height-gauge indicators were used during machining to verify that the pipe-fitting threads were cut to the correct depth for proper fitment, all to SAE specification.
The upper manifold required extensive surfacing and multiple simultaneous machining motions to achieve the final geometry. It also incorporated cosmetic and functional details such as a Banks logo, an O-ring groove, and a smooth transition into the blower opening. This upper half mates to the lower half of the intake, which was being machined at the same time.
Because several of the port fittings and machined angles are not oriented straight up and down, the part was produced on a five-axis machine. On a three-axis machine, the same work would have required additional fixtures to hold the part at compound angles. The five-axis setup simplified the process and was especially valuable for the lower manifold section, which was described as the most intricate of the intake components even though much of it will be hidden beneath the blower and upper assembly once installed.
The hood had already been cut for clearance, but the cut was not yet final. The plan was to wait until the engine and induction package were in their final positions before hemming the hood edges and committing to the finished opening. That caution was necessary because there had already been a discrepancy between the CAD model and the physical part. One feature present on the real assembly had not been represented in the supplied CAD data, so the fabricator chose to delay final hood finishing until the actual installed geometry could be confirmed. The goal was to avoid locking in a trim line too early and then having to rework the hood later.
Attention then shifted to the lower bed structure. Much of the lower assembly was already fabricated and ready to bolt onto the chassis. The front lower sections were designed to align with existing structure on each side, mirrored left to right. A center panel was also prepared to serve as a driveshaft cover, with cutouts that would allow visibility into the assembly. Some mounting plates still needed to be welded on, but those were intentionally left until the frame was available so the final placement could be confirmed directly on the vehicle.
At the rear, the arrangement was similar, although there were no convenient existing bolt holes in the exact locations needed. There were slots in the frame believed to have been used for the stock bed or fuel tank, but the new assembly required its own bolt pattern to be drilled. The center rear section would also function as a combined fuel-tank mount and skid structure, with dedicated straps to secure the tank. Before drilling, the team needed to locate the assembly carefully on the frame so the bed and fenders would remain square with the rest of the body.
Bolts were brought in with the hope that the existing frame cutouts would allow the new bolt pattern to pass through only the top wall of the tubing, with nuts installed on the backside. Longer bolts were also available in case the fasteners had to pass completely through the frame. There was also discussion about where the hinges might mount. The preferred solution was to tie them into the frame because it offered a stiffer mounting point, although that detail had not yet been finalized.
The upper bed framework had been designed but not yet cut. That piece would be made from a large 6-foot by 9-foot aluminum panel with ribbed backing for stiffness. With SEMA only 24 days away, that unfinished upper structure had become a schedule-critical item because it was needed before the top tubs could be fabricated.
During initial fit-up, the team expected roughly a 1/8-inch gap in a particular area, but the parts did not align as planned. That immediately raised concern that either the frame dimensions or the fabricated components might be off. Rather than assume the parts were wrong, they continued by installing the rear sections and hanging a bedside so they could evaluate the overall geometry before making major changes.
Once the bedsides were clamped in place, the assembly appeared square enough to proceed. The decision was made to remove the bedsides again, square the lower structure carefully, lock down everything that could be fixed with the parts on hand, and then drill the required mounting holes. The goal was to get the lower structure fully bolted and structurally solid before moving on. After that, the rear header could be tacked on, the bedsides could be brought back as a single assembly, and the rear could be finalized with the bedsides installed on the truck. That sequence would then allow the inner assemblies and wing plates to be tacked in their correct positions and later bolted in place.
To continue assembly, the mounting surfaces were cleaned to remove residual oil so small mounting plates could be tacked on and the center structure could be bolted down. During this stage, the source of the earlier fitment scare became clear. The issue was not that the fabricated parts were fundamentally wrong, but that the recreated chassis reference had missed the correct existing bolt-hole locations on the frame.
During the first fit-up, the team had referenced the wrong holes. Once they realized they should have been indexing from the third hole location instead, the geometry made sense again. They were able to reuse the rear hole and simply redrill the front holes. With that correction, the assembly fit properly and the project could move forward without remaking major components.
The remaining work highlighted the reality of custom fabrication: nearly every small task introduced a new issue that required an improvised solution. The team emphasized that progress depended on drawing from prior experience and adapting quickly as each problem appeared. That problem-solving process was as important as the parts themselves.
One example shown during the work was the use of an older spot welder to quickly join sheetmetal pieces. Rather than relying exclusively on slower hand welding for every attachment point, the spot welder allowed them to move rapidly through repeated joints by clamping, energizing, and fusing the metal in place. The sequence also showed the contrast between old, rusted edges and newly fabricated clean metal, underscoring how much of the build involved blending fresh fabrication into an existing structure while maintaining alignment and finish quality.