The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Patch panel quality

Many venders out there now have enough patch panels and complete sections to completely rebuild a whole truck. I have heard that some of these panels are of inferior quality. I guess my question is who has the better quality panels as far as fit and thickness from anybodys experiance. Ihave to get numerous panels for my 58 Apache so I want good thickness (guage) and good fit. Could someone please steer me in the right direction. Thanks in advance for the help.
18 guage--good
20 guage--ok
22 guage--cheap

Just aboout all of the panels out there today are made by Dynacorn. They only sell through distributors.

With CNC technology, these panels are made to extremely close tolerances, and generally have an excellent fit.

As for thickness, I don't know what your options are. Although I have seen it advertised somewhere that Dynacorn's "GM authorized" panels are the same thickness as OEM.

Any patch panel is of better quality than the rusty part it is meant to replace.

I have yet to find a patch panel that was a drop in dead set exact copy of the area I am replacing. They all require some coaxing, cussing and cutting.

while it is true that anything is better i think that it is worth your time to find the right one for you. i would also not ovelook cutting your patch panels out of an old truck. my friend used all origional chevy steel to patch his 57. he found one that a guy was selling for parts and paid him half price the patch panels to cut them out and use them. he rolled out to the guys house with a catalog and a grinder and cut all the patch panels he needed for less than $100. granted this is not as easy to do and it might take some time to find the correct vehicle, but if you want panels exactly like stock then this is the best place to go.

Thank you Inky for the info.
I know that NO panel is a "drop-in", they all require coaxing and massive amounts of cussing to get the job done. It is because of this is the reason why I dont want to have poor quality to deal with too. Besides we are talking about my 58 here, my baby! I'm concerned about the guage because its the floor step plates door pillars and stuff like that that need attention. Hey Fort Knox, if I found another truck I would probably would want to fix that one up to!!!

Steve C
I agree and she,s prolly gonna shoot me anywho when I bring the next Stray home,
LMAO
regards

i hide mine in the back under camoflauge tarps.i don't think the wife has seen them yet.