Repairs begin! Left bedside.

Heres what I started with. You can see the custom tailgate with flared top, and the place where the tailgate hinges used to mount. I will be smoothing all that out, as well as the seam between the tail lamp panel and rear of the bedside panel.The large patch at the front was nicely done.

Here are some close-ups showing the front stake pocket area and the tail lamp panel seam:

I spent at least a day hammering and grinding, because the inside of this panel will be as visible as the outside. Making both sides look straight at the same time is a challenge when the panel is this rough and long. These show the epoxy primer I applied once I had the metal like I wanted.

These pictures show the cap I made for the old tailgate hinge area:

Next came the mud work. These show the initial application of bodyfiller over sanded black epoxy primer.

Then I applied polyester primer and blocked that out.

Then I went to work on the inside:

Back to the outside. For pure speed, I had shaped the outside of the panel using dual action sanders only, no block. So now comes the glaze putty and lots more block sanding to make it right. Yes, that is a piece of lumber that you see sitting on top of the bed. Thats my long sanding block! Some spots have been spot-primed again at this point, and the whole thing will get polyester primer once more at least.

Here it is in the second overall application of polyester primer. I will probably turn it over to the paint shop like this. They will block it out again and fuss over anything that needs it, then prime and block it all once again using urethane primer-surfacer to prepare it for sealer and paint.