Craftec Cover Installation
This is one of those fantastic values that I regret not doing years ago. The cover adds protection to the bed and cosmetics. It also makes for a great support if you use a car cover, which I do during the winter months.
I tend to modify everything I buy and this is no exception, but I do want to say that the quality of this product is amazing! Everything fit perfectly. The vinyl cover stretches over the rails and tucks into the groove as it should. The stitching, seams, seals, instructions and parts are all perfect. The hinge rail that mounts to the front of the bed fits the existing trim support holes without drilling new ones. Even the cover itself fit inside the bed trim and over the tailgate perfectly. It was not too long or too short or kicked to one side. It was perfect. I worried about drilling into the bed, but the locations for the supports were perfectly described in the instructions and the measurements provided for where to locate them were again, perfect. I would highly recommend this cover to anyone. It comes at about 1/3 of the price of a fiberglass cover and was in stock and arrived within a week of ordering. I highly value fit and finish. This cover does not disappoint. A true 5 star product!
The major modification I made was that I wanted a flat cover, no arched bows. I probably would have lived with the standard arched bows, but I would have been unhappy with the look. If you look at the photos on the Craftec site, the covers look flat and that is what I was expecting, but they likely are not flat. My cover sits perfectly flat now and looks fantastic. I live in snow country, and I am confident that my cover will easily hold 4” of snow fall without causing the cover to sag. I don’t plan to test this out, but it may happen in the next couple years and if so I will report back on how it held up.
I blame Old Bear for the extra cost and time (2 leisure days while watching and cheering the Olympics) that this mod cost me, but I also thank him for bragging about his flat bar upgrade, which sparked me to go down a path I was not thinking about when I made the purchase. The arched bows are intended to push the vinyl up a little bit (3/4” at the highest point) to prevent sag in case it rains and over time when the vinyl stretches. However, I did not like the look of this so I called Beth at Craftec and she had advised me that they sell flat bars and some customers had success with adding a metal sheet to provide additional support. So, this is the route I decided to go. The cover uses three bows and they are all slightly different lengths. The flat bars are made from the same aluminum square tube stock as the arched bars. So, I decided to try and straighten my bars instead of ordering new ones. If I failed then I would call Beth back. I am happy to report that I was able to bend the bars back to their flat state, but they are not perfect. If I were to do it again or advise anyone that wanted to add the metal support sheets, I would suggest ordering the flat bar option, which is not available online. You need to call in that special request order.
The minor mod I made to this project was painting the cab hinge rail (11) and the hardware that is inside the bed. This includes the shock mounts, latch mounts and all the screws. In hind sight, I did not paint the Cover hinge rail (1), but I should have. There is only a small piece of this showing, but I know it is there. Someday I will go back and paint this black. So, if you are doing this mod and want to paint the parts that will be seen to match the interior color of your bed then these are the parts to paint. Most people have chrome trim so the factory aluminum pieces will be fine for most people, but all my trim is black, so I blackened these pieces.
Okay, on with the photo tutorial and more details about the modz and this install.
Craftec Cover Install-1 I bent the arched bars straight. I tried using a heat gun to soften the metal but this did not seem to help. I just used careful brute force to bend them. Each bar had a small dimple, but the end result is that the bars have about 1/8” of lift instead of the original ¾” at the center.
Craftec Cover Install-3 The instructions are very good, but wordy. I had to read each several times to be sure I understood the details. There is also a very good video instruction, but this video is for a typical truck bed and not the 68-72 El Camino which has several unique parts and steps. In this photo you will see that I chose to assemble the frame in the living room which watching the Olympics. Most of the assembly is done with the frame upside down. Once all the parts were assembled I turned the frame right side up so I could install the metal sheets.
Craftec Cover Install-4 I found 36” x 36” aluminum sheets at the Home Depot for $22 each. I bought two sheets and used a jig saw to cut two of the four sheets down to size. My dimensions for the whole sheet is 72” x 57” This size worked great for me as it allowed for the sheet to overlap the side rails. I also had to move the center bow bar towards the rear about 3/8” from the original marks so that the top sheets and bottom sheets had a place to rest. Once I got the sheets in place and made adjustments to the center bar, I marked these sheets for future reference.
Craftec Cover Install-7 I cut each of the 4 corners. I started with the jig saw, but this was difficult since the area to be cut was so far on the edge that the whole sheet would bounce and vibrate. I ended up using metal shears and this was fast and straight. Perfect for the small corners, but the jigsaw is still best for the large cuts. I was planning on using rivets, to secure the sheets to the frame, but this would have taken a lot of time and may have caused a little raised section where these are located. So, I decided to use aluminum flashing tape. This was an excellent choice, fast and inexpensive. It is also super thin so it does not take up any valuable space. Once I was happy with the fit, I used a file and steel wool to clean up all the edges. Then I placed the sheets back into position. These sheets will be taped, so the edges do not need to be perfectly straight. I had gaps of about 1/8” at the biggest point. Not bad.
Craftec Cover Install-8 Here are the finished top sheets in place.
I actually taped the top left and right pieces together on both sides. Then I taped the bottom two sheets together, both sides. Then I laid the top section on and taped it to the frame. I only used two small tape pieces attaching to the middle bow. In hind sight it would have been fine to tape the whole length. I then taped the bottom section into place and taped the edges. The last step was to tape the middle section which binds the upper to the lower sheets. The only piece not taped was the top piece which rests against the cover hinge rail. I did not want too much bulk in this area since the vinyl cover will pinch it into place. In hindsight, tape here would have been fine. The tape is super thin and barely noticeable at all.
Craftec Cover Install-9 Now it is time to install the vinyl cover. It was pretty straight forward, but as you can see in the photo, I marked the location for the latch handles but I forgot to install them. So, I had to untuck the cover and pull the tail gate rail off to slide in the handles. Later, when I reread those wordy instructions they did provide a tip for adding handles later on where you can do it without removing the tailgate rail. Doh, another wasted half hour. You can also see the underside of the bed cover with the metal sheets in place. This is solid and when I pick up the cover it is not too heavy at all. I was able to install this by myself. It was super solid feeling too.
Craftec Cover Install-15 Once the cover is done, now it was time to fasten the cover hinge rail to the bed of the el Camino. Inside the car, there are two nuts that hold the bed rail trim in place. Remove these to remove the trim piece. I had to drill out the holes to 5/16” as recommended. Then I installed the hinge rail cover into these factory holes and everything looks seamless.
Craftec Cover Install-18 Here is a look at the cover hinge rail in place. The hardware provided was a perfect match. I am glad that I blackened this rail to match the rest of the bed trim. If your trim is chrome then the alum finish will look nice.
Craftec Cover Install-20 I marked the location of the shock mounts exactly as instructed and this turned out great. The flat edge of the mount will sit against the rail trim and this meets the 1” parameter as instructed. So, that was easy to install. I was dreading drilling my bed, but with the painted mount, this looks great. I would recommend that you paint your mounts and the screws the same color as your bed color. Mine was obviously black so a no brainer here.
Craftec Cover Install-33 The last step in this install was to mount the latch brackets. I painted these black too. You need the cover installed and in the down position to do this. The brackets sit perfectly against the side rail trim and this was another perfect fit from Craftec that did not require any adjustments on my part. As you can see in the photo, I just lined up the bracket and closed the latch. This pinched the bracket into the correct position. I marked the holes, drilled and placed the hardware. When I tested it, perfect! I have to push the cover down slightly to engage the handle and this keeps a nice tight fit without any bounce or rattle.