The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Cab Colors and a creased cowl 1947 AD 3800

Good morning Bolters,

My 1947 AD 3800 cab is at the welders having a new floor panel installed. In anticipation of return I am looking into colors. I would like to bring the cab back to somewhat original. I believe Denny and others came to the determination that PPG 27467 Graphite Brown Metallic is a good match. My question is: Were the floors black, or also painted with the brown metallic as well? I believe my seat frame was once the metallic color.

Also: my drivers side cowl has the traditional farmers door hyper extension. Any suggestions on repair? I was thinking to pull out the inner panel and whacking it from the inside?

Best, Joe

That's the offset color that PPG came up with for the interiors
Joe. About as close as you will get to the original before it was faded away by time.
The whole inside of the cab was painted with that color, cept for
the mast jacket, steering wheel and 3-speed shifter. The 4-speed
shift lever was black as were the brake, parking brake and clutch
parts. There were some off shade accents on the dash stripping
also.

Oh yeah, I've got the same problem with my driver side cowl, have no solution....yet.
http://www.pbase.com/dennygraham/image/129182914

dg

Thanks Denny, for some reason I thought the floor may have been black. Makes things a whole lot easier I guess. In my case, the steering mast will be the same color as the cab. Perish the thought.......to the purists. As for the cowl crease, mine looks about like yours however its a 47 cab with the vent. Just adds more fun to the fix. I swear I read somewhere in these threads about someone with a suggested fix method. My cab is pretty solid absent the floor panels so I really need to think this through. Joe

I have that same crease on my 47. Not so bad just missed the side cowl vent. I used a stud gun (from harbor freight) and pulled out the crease little by little, now it's ready for some filler. Don't know if it's the best way but it works.

I had the same problem. I have to replace the interior kick panel in addition to the creased outer cowl. I just drilled through the spot welds and removed the entire piece. Hope I didn't screw it up too much. Replacing it is my next step.

That is caused by the springs in the top door hinges being either broken or very weak. That crease is a badge of honor on AD trucks. LOTS of them have it. The wind catches the door and the fat lady starts a singin!

Deve, you are correct. I found my drivers side upper door hinge spring was broken when I took off my doors. I do not know if the spring was the cause or the effect.....

PS: She's a Kansas truck out of Chase KS

Aggie Jon - I've seen some of your work and followed your blog. You should have no problems with your cowl.....Joe

Here's the deal on the creased outer cowl from the door.
The metal is significantly stretched from the door impact.
You will have a tough time pulling the dent out.
I recommend using a cut-off blade in an angle grinder to cut the cowl right through the crease line. This will accomplish 2 things:
1) It will remove most of the excess stretched metal.
2) It will give you access to pull the cowl back into shape through the slice along the crease.
Carl

Sounds reasonable Carl. I want to get a new hinge for the top so I can get the door back on. From there I think I could get everything straight and "square". Kind of tough on a round edged truck !!

They make rebuild kits for the hinges if you want to go that route.

Look into something called a "pick tool" to help raise that dent. It's a round pry bar with a little bit of a curve at the end that is inserted through holes in the body work (or drilled holes in blind areas) that is used to push the dent out a little at a time from the back side. You'll need to do a little shrinking as the shape approaches the original contour to take the stretch out. A lot of the "paintless dent removal" guys rely on pick tools to raise hail dents, etc.

http://www.tptools.com/Martin-Auto-Body-Picks,1825.html

Jerry

I have a buddy who has all those paintless dent tools. He had himself qualified on the whole system. Thats a good idea - I have to look him up. He is also a painter. Award winning paintjobs on Chevelles and Camaros. I can't afford to have him point a gun at my truck, but maybe his dent tools.

In that particular area, you can pound it out, pull it out, whatever works for you. But the shrinking is the problem. The actual door jamb was pulled forward at the time of the crease damage, so now you have to pull it back into place to get the panel right and to reduce the amount of shrinking required. That is pretty hard to do in that area without following Carl's method. Not a good way to get a dolly in behind so you can shrink it.

It's like Carl said, a Makita with a thin grinding wheel, cut the crease and weld it shut again will resolve the problem. Once it's opened, pulling the door jamb back is easy.

I use a stud gun for this and once it's pulled close, studs with a slide hammer on the door jamb relieves the pressure. In any case, it ruins the paint job.

Joe,

I've got the same dent talked about here. When you tackle it, message me what method you chose and how it faired. My current task is to get a rolling chassis complete this year with ford 9" in the rear and mustang ii ifs in the front, money permitting. Anything I can do for free in the meantime is an added bonus!
Good luck

When I ran a body shop I would have fired any employee who used the cut/weld process on a dent like that. it's totally unnecessary, and is a sure sign of an amateur.
Jerry

Oh Boy Jerry. Now there is a difference of opinion.........Let me focus on my floors and work towards the crease.

So where is the other half of your response to this blind dent repair? Did your two index fingers cramp up on you?
Carl