The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Replace Cowl Kick Panels

I'm not a body/fender guy nor do I weld....I just love the classics. My 51 Chevy 1/2ton has rust holes thru both cowl kick panels. I'm considering doing the "repair" by one of the following methods. 1)buy metal panels through one of the catalogs and attach them with screws right over existing metal, or 2) by the cardboard panels and just glue them on (alot less work but do they really look OK? I'm not looking for show quality, just neat and clean)

I realize the right way would be to cut out the old ones, get rid of as much rust as possible, and weld in new ones, but I'm a guy of limited means and I love doing as much as I can on my own. The truck is not show quality but it's paid for and I love it. Anyway, I would be interested in your comments.

One question about the replacement metal panels. If anyone has ever done this job, do you have to shape the panels at the bottom where they meet the floor panels? The pictures of them in the catalogs make them appear pretty straight

I would appreciate any suggestions/help/advice you might have. Thanks.

KenZ

if it's just a favorite ol driver and you don't care about the owner who comes after you [we all gotta go sometime ], then any way that suits you will do - the main thing is that you clean up the damage well and treat it so the corrosion doesn't continue underneath you patch - rust converter and/or good rustproof primer, especially in any joints and as much as you can get in behind

Bill

KENZ,

What a treat, somebody wanting advice...BS is my speciality. I was going to have to do the very task you mention in your post. After dissecting the fender/kick panel area, I purchased a different cab. If I had my choice of sliding down a 50 ft razor blade into a pool of iodine, or replacing kick panels, I would choose the razorblade.

That area of the truck is VERY busy with spot welds, braces, and usually rot/rust.

If I were going to take your repair approach, I would try to remove/neutralize as much rust as possible. I think I would somehow clean the panel enough to cover all the gaping holes with fiberglass cloth/resin...just to keep the breeze out. Paint everything with some type of POR, or other rust inhibitor and cover with the cardboard panels, or spray/roll with bed liner and paint with a color that matches the interior.

It took many years for the area to rust through..a temporary fix will add a bunch more years to it's life.


Stuart

Amen!! You guys are the best. Thanks for the words of advice and encouragement. Spare me the blade and show me the bucket of glue!!

I made my kick panels from an ol car hood cut them bent just where needed and tack welded them in. more trouble cutting and bending than anything else the previous owner had frp(dont ask)init wjen I got the thing but I didnt know till I took them out worked real good,but wanted sheetmetal(frp is what you see alot in commercial kitchens and is really easy to cut comes in 4x8 sheets and you can get at lowes,home depot etc.

As for the replacement panels, they don't fit. As you noticed the bend at the bottom of the panel is parallel to the panel. The space it fits into is not. Also the indentations don't line up with the underlying indentations in the structure. It takes a whole lot of re-work to make it fit. I don't think it could be done without the outer cowl panel removed. However, it would make good stock to cut a patch from to go over your existing damage.

I'm looking at my '42 Chevy right now, both front corners on the cab are rotted out, the most serious bit of rust in the whole project. Intending to slice each corner right off with a 4inch grinder fitted with a 1mm thick metal cutting disc and fabricating new inner and outer cowel panels out of a sheet of new stock 1.6mm black sheet metal on the bench.
Lot of curves and stuff down there imnpossible to bend up and shape, will make a pattern and cut each component out of the panel steel and braze them all together to make a single unit and then weld it back on to the bottom of the cab as a complete corner module.
These are outside of the cab floor mounting plate and aren't load bearing, most of the repair will be covered by the trailing lower end of the front fender which attaches to the upper end of the area being rebuilt.

On another note, the Aussie '47 Chevy light truck or utility was built on the '42 sedan frame, allowing the light truck of that year to have independent coil suspension up front.
Was that the same for US 47's? There were no Australian sedans built during the war years and GM Australia had a large stock of sedan frames.
The engine is the same as for the 42 truck, would the cab and associated parts fit the 42 sedan frame.
I have a 47 Chevy utility that I'm wrecking for parts, all complete except for the engine, gearbox, radiator, front fenders and grille, but in poor condition.

if you are lookig for a cheep fix. clean rust good primer and then use the foam in a can at home depot to seal her up did this on a 78 chevy that had cab rot at floor and firewall worked good kept the water out till i sold the truck 5 years later

I have this problem on my 72, and since I had a bunch of sheetmetal from another project, I just cut an overlay patch and brought the hole down after using rust converter and rust primer. Then I did the big rust hole in the floor and slid it upside the kick panel patch. I am rebuilding the truck not really restoring it. I plan then to make or buy a carpet cover to go over the sins. When the next rebuilder comes in 40 years from now, he can call me anything he wants!

So you could just sheet metal screw the thing together, and if you got short self taping ones, you could do it in minutes with a cordless drill/driver. If you got a shiny piece of aluminum diamond plate you could make it kinda neat if you wanted.

We had to do this with lower wall panels on a dining car we were restoring. It had huge holes in it and it was just not in the budget to cut and replace all that stuff. It had scuff plates on it anyway. It was an MKT car and they were kind of a poor man's railroad.

KENZ, Arnswine said just what I was thinking. If you're not interested in restoring, just rebuilding, this is the perfect opp. to try a little metal fabrication. Basic handtools and some scrap sheetmetal are all you need. Get a hammer, a block of wood, tin snips, and a 4" grinder is also handy but not neccesary. Take some measurements for the area that you want to cover. (draw a somewhat square area on the existing kick panel outside of the rotten area.) Cut your new panel about 1/2" bigger all the way around the area you want to cover. Hammer, bend, cut, shape your panel until you're happy with the fit over the old panel. (you can even bend a small flange on the bottom to sit on the floor) When you're happy with the fit, cut on the lines you drew earlier, treat the area around the hole with some primer, and/or seam sealer. (you can even use silicone gasket maker) Prime or undercoat the back side of your new panel, and fasten it around the edges with some 1/2" self-drilling screws, or some aluminum pop-rivits. Now you can prime the inside and cover it right up and no one will know the difference. (plus you gained some body/metal working experience)

To all - Thanks for the input. I think you gave me enough ideas to do the job myself without getting involved in more complicated cutting and welding, which I know would be the right way...but I'm not doing a frame-off here. The real idea is to drive it, enjoy it, and try to keep my feet as warm and dry as possible.

I know I'll be needing more advice later...thanks for the words of encouragement.

I just did this today, but used a welder. I cut a piece, folded up the outboard side (this was on my 72 truck passenger side) and then figured out where the bend in the floor was going to come in. I then marked that line, cut a V notch in the flange for the passenger kick panel, and then welded the whole mess in. I took a few pictures of the repair so email me KENZ if you'd like to see them. Its really not all that difficult and probably harder on the 72 as the floor has a 'crown' and dips down as it moves outboard.