Ranchero bed hinge

Suggestions and comments are desperately wanted. Please e-mail me.
Thanks. Chris Watson

	This shows the bed plate hinge doing its job. Notice the white epoxy bed liner material I have applied to surfaces. I used “Gator Guard II” made by a company in Canada. It comes in two cans. You mix together equal parts as needed and brush or spray it on (I used brushes).
This shows the underside of the lip to which the hinge is attached. “Up” is top-left; “down” is bottom-right in this picture. There is a wedge of PC-7 epoxy covering the chopped-off ends of the bed hinge screws. I smoothed it out and covered it with the white bed liner. Notice the rectangular hole at the back of the picture. There's one on each side. Eventually I will rivet sheet metal over them, possibly with an indented pocket to hold small stuff.
	Here's how I hold it open! I'd sure like to install shocks or struts of some kind, maybe from a hatchback. I know that in order to do this, I'll have to remove some of the bed liner, install the hardware, and touch up the bed liner again.
A latch or latches of some kind would be nice to stop these “dog-ears.”

Bed Plate Hinge Installation