The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs 1953 Chevy Panel Truck 3100

Im going to be taking off the front end of my 1953 Chevy Panel Truck soon. Im not taking it off as a clip because i dont have the room to store it inside the garage connected together,but i can store it inside seperately. I will take the hood off first,then take pics. of the wiring locations and paths. I have to replace all the 6 volt wiring to 12 volt at some point because the cloth is broken off and I want to upgrade to 12 volt anyway for brighter lights,add radio and some interior lights in the back,etc. I already removed the front bumper a few months ago. i already purchased a shop manual,Assembly manual and a 6 volt to 12 volt conversion manual. Correct me if im wrong, but next thing after taking pics of the wiring paths and removing the old wiring is to drain the radiator then removing the hood latch/catch assembly ,grill,lower filler panel and core support and outer fenders. After I get everything off the front end ,I will be pulling the 6 cyl. engine and 3 spd. transmission ,get them out of the way so I can start working on replacing the Inner and outer cowl panels,Inner and outer kick panels,floor boards LH & RH and the toe boards and maybe part of the firewall panel ,(depends on how far up the toe boards go. So , what do I start to replace first ??? the kick panels first,then the LH & RH floor boards second ??? and then the toe boards ??? Im planning on buying all the repair panels first and see how they fit and line up ,before cutting out the rot. Any help would be greatly appreciated on this. I also have to replace the panel above the windshield Inside the truck. Thanks, Mark.

Hopefully someone will chime in on this sometime this week ?? Theyre had to be several guys who have had all theserepair panel to replace at sometime.

Mark,

You're right, there are several of us who have replace floor and cowl panels on AD trucks, me being one. The pickups and panels are the same from the doors forward, so the same things apply.

As far as sequence, if you also need to replace rockers, that might be your first item to get in place. If they're rusted away at the hinge pillar (very common issue), they are critical to maintaining the door opening dimensions. Other than that, I would start with the floor and toe panels, then work my way out. The floor laps over the rockers, then the kick panels lap over that, then the hinge pillar. That joint is going to be one of the last ones that you should weld. In fact, you'll need to fit EVERYTHING in the lower cowl area before welding anything solid. Use sheet metal screws to hold things in place temporarily.

Take a look thru my pictures. Specifically around here and working backward in time.

You'll want to brace the cab before cutting the rust out to maintain the correct door openings and hinge pillar location. The Factory Assembly manual has cab dimensions that you should check to be sure things are correct before final welding.

There are others who have shared their experience over in Paint and Body. Some browsing thru that forum might be helpful to you as well.

Garageguy6078,

Since your '53 Panel truck repairs involve primarily the cab front body sections and floor (from your description), you may want to ask this question in the Paint and Body Shop forum

Your questions apply to all such truck cab sections, with little variation until you start moving to the rear beyond the door openings.

Here is just one of many conversations about what you are asking about found using the Search the Site link in the left margin of the page:

https://www.stovebolt.com/ubbthread...98507/re-cab-rust-repair-what-order.html

Between re-asking your question in the Paint and Body Shop forum, and using this tool to further search for previous conversations, I think you will get more response and have a good bit of info to help decide on your plan.

Another very necessary and useful resource you should have is a Factory Assembly Manual. The GM approved reprint I have is titled 1947-1954 TRUCK Factory Assembly Manual. This book has detailed truck assembly sheets for most every section of our trucks, along with diagrams that provide specific body measurements as initially designed for assembly specifications at the factor. These reprinted books are available form many sources. Do a web search and you should be able to get one in hand fairly quickly.

One other suggestion - take a look at other Project Journals for folks with 1947-55.1 Advance Design trucks. Many of them have probably done what you are looking to start and their information and pictures they have posted will be of help too.

Hope this is of some help in moving your project along.

Dan

EDIT: Seems Kevin beat me to the posting punch - lol. Hope all we have noted is helpful!

Mark

Here's a video that I ran across a while back. www.youtube.com/watch?v=3UhYW3ee-H8 It shows how the parts go together. One thing I noticed about it was that he has minimal bracing on the door opening. There are more out there that you can get ideas from. They may not be doing it right, according to some, but sometimes bad examples can be helpful.

Hello Guy,
Wow, the allure of the panel truck, went down this rabbit hole 15 years ago still trying to find my way out.
I think you need to address the floor and toe panel area first. Perhaps you can find a donor panel truck for the floor seat riser area as I believe this area is unique to the panel trucks and nobody makes the repop,(at least at the time I did mine) or maybe fabricate something yourself.

King Kielbasa, thanks for replying, the floor seat riser and what it sits on are ok,its everything in front of it, L&R side floor pans,toeboards L&R side kick panels,L&R inner and outer cowl panels,radiator core support,braces for floor,metal section inside the truck above the windshield. There is no hope of finding a donor panel truck for parts, Im very fortunate to have found this truck. Its really very straight and pretty complete,just missing the starter and air cleaner and glass fuel bowl, and needs alot of repair panels cut out and welded in. Im doing the cutting and welding,just need to know the best way to brace everything and where to start first. Thanks.

Mark,
You may not have noticed this in my post above: "The pickups and panels are the same from the doors forward, so the same things apply."

So you don't need a panel truck as a donor. Any pickup cab from 51 or later would work. You could theoretically slice that donor pickup cab and yours in two right in front of the seats and splice the two good parts together. I don't think I'd recommend that option though. It would be difficult to get everything aligned correctly and have a decent seam across the roof.

Klhansen, Thanks for replying. Yes i did notice that you mentioned about the pickups from the back of the doors up are the same as the panels. Im going to just use the best quality repair panels that i can get to repair my Panel Truck. I cant wait till March because thats when im going to get the repair panels . Im going to start taking off the hood,fenders radiator core support and radiator,inner fenders,wiring ,and then pulling the motor and transmission ,so that I can get to everything without anything being in my way, bagging and tagging as I go along. I will begin doing this next week. I want to have everything ready so that when the repair panels come in I will be ready to tear into it.