The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs This may be sacrilegious but...

we have got a 58 Panel that we took the front clip off of this past weekend to start doing body work. We found the reason we couldn't adjust the driver's side fender in to clear the door was because someone in the last 45 some years rewelded the sheetmetal hump just in front of the drivers door and it sticks out too far. Along with the holes in both floor pans, rotted passenger lower door post. welded in bad replacement door pans etc etc with what we found this weekend, we were wondering.... I located a 58 truck cab that is in great shape. Would a truck cab fit in place of the front part of a panel? We know it would be a tremendous amount of work to replace the front cab but when we look at all the other work of patching and fitting etc., it just might be worth it. Any ideas?

Thanks

Mike

the basics will work, like cowl and doors, the problem will be in matching up the roof - if you examine each you'll see the crown of the panel is much different than a pu - you'd hafta cut the cab off above the windshield and mate the complete roof of the panel right there at the 'brow', including the top of the door openings - be quite a job making it all fit, and I'd think the available patch panels for yer bad places would be easier

let us know if ya try

Bill

I think I'd go through the windshield pillars, like the AD cab example in the "Restore your Chevy Pickup" book.

I've seen pictures where a guy replaced the cowl and related parts on a panel with pickup stuff by cutting through the windshield posts. Of course that was an AD truck too. Don't know if that will work on a '58 or not, but if the windshield is the same I'd expect it to work.