The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Rear Cab Panel Replacement - Advance Design

The rear panel of my five window cab was beyond saving and I was left with the option of either getting a another new cab or replacing the rear panel from under the belt line to the bottom and from door jam to door jam. To me this was a very daunting challenge.

I read everything I could to find someone who had performed this surgery but came up empty. So it has turned out to be another of those trail blazing events in the resurrection of this 54 half ton.

I had the old original three window cab that was too far gone to save and removed the rear panel from it by drilling out all the spot welds and then using a cut off wheel on my grinder, slicing the lower belt line seam from ear to ear.
The panel then came off rather easily and went into safe storage while I took the next step which was removing the old panel from the five window.

Basically it was the same procedure but instead of cutting right at the belt line I cut about a half inch south of it. I then bought some 1/2 x 1/8 strip metal at Home Depot and welded this on the underside of the remaining belt line lip to serve as a backing strip.

I then laid the new rear panel in place and marked the top edge to match up with the backing plate strip. Once I had trimmed everything to fit as well as I could I then tacked the new panel in place starting from the middle of the top seam and then the bottom.

It appears that everything is in the right place and I will be welding it out once I get a new bottle of shielding gas for the MIG.

For me this marks a major progress point in the body work but I still have the outer cab corners to install.

I hope to get Joker or another bolter to post a couple of my pics of this process in this thread so others can see how this was done. It will be next week before I can finish out the welding and grinding but I am now another step closer to the road with "Patches".

[img]http://redryder52.home.att.net/houston/small_Rear_Flr4.jpg[/img]
Rear_Flr4.jpg --click to see full size pic


[img]http://redryder52.home.att.net/houston/small_Rear_Pnl_Weld_Strip1.jpg[/img]
Rear_Pnl_Weld_Strip1.jpg --click to see full size pic

Here are Houston54's pics

Thanks for the pictures, keep us updated on how it turns out.

Man, I wish my cab had been that good. You are lucky...the beltline itself is in decent shape. Mine wasn't and I had to rebuild the entire beltline portion. It was tricky because of the compound curves. The inner panel needed work too and I had to take that out, rebuild it, and then re-install it. The rear beltline seems to be a real rust spot on the AD's.

You do understand that that is part that is not supposed to come off?
You are a brave, brave man.

I2D: You know what suprizes me is someplace in that picture there isn't a sign saying. GO Astros!

How come when he called me yesterday he was laughing, I take this body work very serious, and wish I could do work like that. Ben

popcorn The Truth is Out There (Mr. Houston your welder is calling you)

That panel is not supposed to come off?!?!?

What I did not mention was the back half of the cab floor was also replaced with one from the cab I got the donor rear panel from. It was a challenge also but I used some 1 x 1/8 strip on the bottom of the cab to add support to the seam.

Lets see, so far the following panels have been repaired/replaced on this cab;

inner left and right cowl/kick panels,
inner-to-outer left and right cowl panels,
Outer left and right cowl panels - lower portion,
inner cab corners left and right,
cab floor - rear half,
cab floor - front half numerous splice panels,
lower front left hinge pillar - panel purchased from metalman,
Upper cowl area behind pop-up vent repaired,
Left side rocker panel - front 1/3 spliced in,
Handmade transmission tunnel cover,
Numerous holes in toe board & firewall filled.

Still to finish:
Rear cab panel - as shown,
out cab corners - left and right,
Right rocker panel - minor fix,
Lower inside surface - both doors,
Replace weather stripping where removed for inner cowl panel replacement,
Adjust door hinges.

That is why its name is "patches".

After this I get to spread the filler and start the sanding, priming and blocking.

At least this project keeps me from getting lazy and wearing out the couch cushions.

The hard part is getting my son to do the grinding part. That is his contribution at this stage. Later he gets to learn how to spray primer and block, spray primer and block and then he promised to wet sand the color.

Someday this will all end and I can look back and say "lets start on the 59 now"!

Thanks for the comments guys.

Oh I forgot - GO ASTROS!

I can't be too hard on ol popcorn. His blood pressure is high enough already

Ben - I mailed the camaro tank to you on Friday. Check your email.

Finally it is done. The replacement of the rear panel was not something I will go out of my way to do again but it was necessary here. With the completion of this panel I am now officially out of the patch panel program on the 54. The attached pics (hosted courtesy of Norselander)so the finished result of the rear panel. The seam sealer is in place and it is ready for its final bath in epoxy primer. Now it is on to body filler, sanding, priming, more sanding...does this fun ever have to come to an end?!??

http://www.norcalspeedshop.com/_offsite_i mages/houston54/back1.jpg

http://www.norcalspeedshop.com/_offsite_images/houston54/back2.jpg

Houston54,
this has to be one of the most educational posts yet! It just shows that with a strong will, anything can be done! Thanks for the great post.