The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop AD Interior inner cowl patch panels

I’m preparing to replace my floor in my ‘52 1/2 ton and the lower cowl panels panels on both sides need to be replaced. I remember talk about one panel fitting better than the other (full vs. just the lower) and the price difference is not that significant, so I want to order the one that fits the best.

Can any of you ‘bolters share you experience on this?

Phil,

I found that the shorty panels (about 8-10" tall) fit better than the ones I got initially from Jim Carter. They were shaped closer to what fit well at the front corner with the toe panel on the replacement floor pieces I got (the right and left ones that include the toe board). I was far enough down the road on the ones I bought initially that I decided not to use the shorty ones and sold them to another Stovebolter. In my investigation of the issue, I saw the full panels from Dynacorn link that looked like it would be a good fit, but don't have direct experience with that. Here's some pics for comparison of the two different inside cowl panels I had. I beat the longer ones into submission as I didn't want to deal with another weld joint part way up. If your rust isn't too high on the panels, the shorty ones should probably work for you. Expect to do some customizing them to fit in any case. That's just the way it goes.

Phil I did my drivers side last winter and used the full patch panel and ended up straightening the 90 degree part that fits between the floor and bending it on a angle to make the panels fit at the floor. Take a look at carter auto restyling on you tube he usually makes this piece but there is a good video of him using the aftermarket pieces and showing the difference in original .I learned from this that the ribs on the panel don’t line up with the ribs on the door . The video also shows cutting close to the door rubber track instead of removing it but I chose to carefully remove the spot welds for the track as they are sandwiched between the panel . On my floor the ribs on the panel I used were also a little off I was going to cut and join on the rib closest to the seat and they were off also ,could be a Canadian truck thing .The transmission cover is we’re the original ribs were and the original rib were I wanted to join is were I circled and got lucky that I did not cut using the ribs as a guide.

Here is the video .about the inner panel

Carter Auto Restyling is a great YT channel. He’s an odd bird, but in a good way. Super talented and a good teacher.

The shorties with the shiny black primer are a good fit right out of the box. Not much tweaking needed.

Thanks all, now I can go ahead and complete my order! I’m going definitely to check out those videos.

Phil are you changing the inner to outer cowl piece also ,if so that is one that you want to get the lowdown on also .I found the one with the stamped not welded and with the rounded bumps for the indents,not the squared off .

Both sides look good from what I can see but you never know until you actually get into it. I’m hoping I don’t have to go that far.

Hope your diagnosis is right🩺

If there are rusted out areas on your inner-to-outer cowl part, Do Not Get Rid Of It. You will be many hours ahead of the game to cut out the rusty parts and weld in new metal, than to try to make the aftermarket ones which are welded together and aren't anywhere near usable out of the box.

Have you installed one of those stamped ones yet? It would be really cool if they fit.
I am embarrassed for the entire reproduction parts industry that anyone sells the welded together ill-Fitting monstrosities. They are not even close in any way, shape, or form.

I have only used the welded type that is not good ,but on the y tube video it seems the stamped one fit.

I used the welded ones and had to slice and dice them to make them fit worth a darn.

Having just done both sides of the cab, my experience is that the welded up inner to outer cowl piece is unusable without significant modification. I used the single, stamped version. It, too, needed some persuasion to make it usable. In the end, I used the old one as a template for what the new one should look like. Once I got the new one to look like a new version of the old, rusty one, it fit pretty well. My original one was too far gone to save for any use other than as a template. As far as the complete panels vs the partial panels, I found the complete panels to be better options for me and my skill level of welding. If I was more confident of butt welding, I might opt for the partial panels. With the complete panels, there was no butt welding, just plug welding.