The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop dent in front of drivers door

My second 54 has a long dent in front of the drivers door, just like my first 54 did. Caused from the door being opened to far at some point. This seems to be a common problem. Any advice on the best solution for this? replace the panel? slide hammer and bondo?

You can try to pull it out and smooth it out with filler or replace the panel. If the damage does not go into the door opening then you might be able to cut the damaged area out and either straighten it or replace that area with new metal. Careful when you weld in the new metal that you do not warp it with too much heat.

Bobby W,
I just bought a new "rust free" cab for my 55/1st 4400 truck. It had the same dent you describe, although I didn't realize it came from a over extended door. My friend who has a bodyshop used a stud welder to pull it out. My concern was a distored doorjamb, so I made a
pulling jig that attached to the both hinge pockets for the "big pull".

I measured both door openings on the old cab and compared them with the new cab..I concluded that to do it correctly, you need to hang the doors and then pull the jambs if needed. I haven't done this yet!

Stuart.

Yes, as the metal caved inward the door jamb followed and is now sitting at a slight angle to the door. A pulling device and stud gun would be the way to go. Can you give a quick description of the pulling jig.

Bobby W,
The pulling jig I made was for the jamb itself, not the dent. I used a piece of 3 X 3 X 3/16" angle iron that was in my junk bin. I drilled holes in it that fit the bolt pattern of both the upper and lower hinges. The idea was to bolt the angle iron on, attach a comealong(?) or
something to it, and pull like hell. After putting lots of studs on the dent and pulling it out, the jamb seemed to straighten up, so the funky jig idea was put on hold.

Because these old truck were sort of "handmade" on the assembly line, I didn't think I could just compare mine to another and say "it's perfect". The true test would be to install the door you intend to use and check it with that.

If I have to actually use "the jig", I will have to think about what to use as an anchor for the pull...maybe I'll buy a $50.000 frame machine for my $ 50.00 Bolt! I hope this gave you a few answers or ideas.

Stuart.

This is a common problem on these trucks. I uncovered a bad slide hammer and bondo repair on mine and decided to replace the panel with the full patch. It was a little harder on my '50 as I had to cut and weld in the driver's cowl vent opening and frame. In hind sight, I probably would have tried harder to fix what I had, or at least only cut out the worst damage. It is a [censored] to cut out this entire panal (eg where it is lapped and spot welded in hood hinge area.) And off course it is a [censored] to get it all aligned back up. However the up side to cutting it out is being able to clean and coat inside of panels and makes straightening the door jamb easy. I also found the inner kick panel was slightly rippled from the damage as well and was easier to repair by removing the panel. It is also true what they say about the fit and finish of these trucks. I am by no stretch of the imagination an expert body guy or welder and my work looks better than most all of the factory work. Believe me that is a sad fact.
Steve O