The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Rating patch panels-reader input

I read the metal mans request for where can he find the best cab corners for his AD. I searched the archives for similar requests and did not find any difinitve answers. I just purchased some floor boards and inner cowl pieces and I have mixed reviews on these and other pieces. I am a novice to this type of repair and I do not want to throw away my money on poor fitting panels. There are many "seasoned gearheads" out there that have gone through this before. Maybe we can "review the patch panels similar to "the consumers report" and be of assistance to others. I realize that we may differ on what is the "best" and what is the "worst" but I am sure that a moderator can help us achieve that. Any ideas? I will post my reviews if there is any interest out there. ......g

THANKS METALMAN, NOW IF I CAN GET OTHERS TO GIVE SOME INPUT. ..........G

GM - I have to admit that I have not used any patch pieces, but metal man knows his stuff. He is the resident expert on sheet metal. One more thing to add to both posts, Jeff at Bowtie bought a near perfect truck with a 3 window cab that had 25K miles and was always parked in a shed. 3/4 ton with a dump bed. He sent the cab to Taiwan to have patch pieces made that fit, using the cab as patterns. I haven't talked to Jeff lately, he moved to the other side of town. But I know that if you call and talk to him he will tell you how good or bad the parts are. When I saw the rear fenders he was selling I was amazed at how good they looked.

Metalman I noticed that I was not getting any reponses I am glad you filled me in about the dog farting, that makes sense now! I bought some parts from Chevys of the Forties and was not impressed with the inner cowl panels. Poor fit, and they are not exact replacements. In fact I am not happy with them at all. The floor pieces were ok and the floor braces (I listen to you Metalman and got them too) they were excellent. The toeboard is cut at the corner making it useless unless you weld on a piece so that you don't have an opening. I just purchased some other parts from Chevy Duty and will review them later. I like your idea of the rating system and after I look at the panels this weekend I will rate them accordingly. Should I take pictures? I have two suburbans and a canopy express. I am still waiting for you to make the rear corners that Ken sent you! ........g

If you want the opinions of a rank amateur who just installed about every cab panel available for an AD, read on. Most of mine were so well rotted that I had no genuine articles to compare to. All from ChevyDuty, purchased over the past year:

Full outer cowl panel = 1 It was great, I couldn't believe how nice it looked and how well it fit. Good black primer. I wish they were all this good.

Inner to outer cowl = 4 If I had anything left of the old ones, I probably would have been better off making my own. Wrong curvature, too wide, and too narrow. Cheap, flake type primer

Inner cowl = 3 Wasn't bent properly to match the floor, but had just enough material to rework it. The passenger side would have better if it was tall enough to form the entire fresh air opening. Cheap primer.

Toe board = 2 The only improvements I would like to see are adding the rolled lip to the column opening, adding the pedal seal retaining tin and the accelerator pivot, all welded to the original. Or at least if they were available separately. Cheap primer.

Floors = 2 I think they were fine, but I located them too far forward, pinching the trans opening due to the angle of the rockers. Cheap primer.

Front floor support = 3 It was workable, but I had to do some cutting and bending of flanges to get the length right. May have been missing some detail - fuzzy memory. Decent gray primer.

Rockers = 3 Only approximated the contour, missing angle bend near front, but workable. Oiled.

Outer cab corners = 4 I don't think they were as bad as Stan calls them, but I'm no expert. About an inch or so short in each direction - stopped a 1/2" from the door opening instead of wrapping around, and came just shy of where the back of the cab rusted from the tank support. I made them work. Oiled.

Stake pocket = 2 Just a little tweaking needed, contour off a tad, irrelevant to me, but on a concours? Oiled

Tailgate = 1 Not a patch panel per se, but no complaints, just needed a little deburring. Some kind of clear coating?

Front bed panel(American Classic) = 1 Ditto above, no problem. Decent gray primer.

Inner cab corners, firewall corners, door hinge post, front fender patches (inner and outer), rear fender patches, grille patch, tank support, bedside patch, frame patch I all made myself. Show quality? Heck no, but good enough for a driver.

That new LMC catalog shows many new and improved patch panels - OE style rockers, rear cab support, improved inner cowl, etc. I'd really like to see photos or get first hand feedback on those. Thinking ahead to the next one.


You can see most of them (I'm not religious about photos) at www.homestead.com/chuckthetruck/page1.html

Next!

[ 11-14-2001: Message edited by: chuckthetruck ]

I tried a new grill nose piece for a 54 from 3 different vendors. Even though they came with different finishes, they obviously all came from the same BAD mold. It isn't my perception, I have three originals also. Also, not patch panels, but I purchased replacement door latches for the same truck. The latches look and work really nice, but don't fit correctly in the door. With all the investment these guys put into the parts, I don't see why they can't get it right.

Chuck,
I put an outer cowl panel from Chevy Duty on my truck and would rate it a 2. It did turn out very though. I really need some good cab corners. Hope some one can steer us i the right direction. By the way, great website. I liked the NRA link.

OK Here Goes.....
I bought an drivers side outter door skin and a lower door bottom for my '60 gmc, what I got was a correct outter door skin and a inner door bottom for a 64-66 gmc/chevy. As you may know the design difference is the lines on the bottom of the door, (GMC has raised ribs 60-63 and Chevy has a retangular channels 64-66). Although the part fits correctly it incorrect. and It MADE IN TIAWAN

I took my time and called American Classic Trucks (ACT) to explain the difference, I explained they show the correct part in the catalog. After about 20 munites on the phone, they said thay did not have the parts and gave me a RMA number to send them back. I included several picture of my door bottom to help them see what I was talking about.

After about a week they sent back my photos stating they did not sell the correct part. What I'm up set over is that they credite my 32.00 dollars for the parts but did not give me a credit on shipping, either WAY I had to pay twice comming and going for they mistake, only $11.00 but it my money!

I spoke to the body man who is teaching me how to fix my truck, he looked at the 64-66 door bottom and said he could use it, becasue we just needed the lower two inches. I would have liked to replace the full section, but what the hay.

NO problem RIGHT, I order another set for the passenger door, and darn if they did not send the correct inner door bottom. This time the part was made in AMERICA from SCHOTT MTAL PARTS in Akron, Ohio
(330) 773-7873. I already ordered a catalog
This above episode set me back 3 weeks I will not order any metal parts from ACT again, small stuff should be OK. I guess I can rate them a 3 out of ten.

Really not mad just confused! :confused:

I've used Tabco in the past, when I first dealt with them the parts were great, but the quality fell off after a while. I was annoyed with one part - a floorboard - that the shipping people sent out that was obviously cut down with a nibbler to get it to fit in the box. Called customer service, got an extremely defensive person on the other end - she said the the shipping department wasn't allowed to cut anything down, therefore it hadn't happened. I procedded to tell her that it was very obvious they had, because a nibbler leave a distinct mark. She wouldn't listen. It wouldn't have been so bad, but it was in a very critcal area. It caused me to have to do extra welds and patches. Anyway, I don't buy parts from them anymore.

Hey, I was just getting ready to order some patch panels for my '65. In fact, I was going to start this same topic a little while ago, but I was too busy talking about my farting dog in the lounge... I've been looking at Brother's Trucks-- anybody tried any of these?? I see JCWhitney sells a few patch panels for my truck, wonder what they're like :confused: ? I guess they're cheap enough to try once... I'll let you guys know if I do. Thanks for an informative topic! Scott

No one here has really recommended using anyone..just a list of companies not to use....lets get some more positive stuff in this thread, some good recommendations. Maybe one part you got from company x was garbage but another was great....anything like that...maybe that way we can compile a list of what items to get from what vendors.