The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop '49 cab corners

I'm removing the old, rotten cab corners from my '49 1/2-ton and replacing them with patch panels. My question is this: how is the outer cab corner secured to the inner cab corner where the two meet at the bottom? spot welds? What is the easiest way to remove the outer corner from the inner corner? My inner corners are in good shape, so the outside corners are the only thing that need to go. Thanks.

Drill out the welds.

I'd drill 'em out if I could find them. They're not easy to see, at least not on my truck. Anybody know how many welds there are and where they're located?

They are located along the flanges where the two pieces meet. Since they were spot welded by human hands, the number and spacing will be whatever the assembler did at his/her station on the line.

Buff off the rust and paint with a wire wheel and most of them will be easy to spot. ( get it, spot ? )

The assembly manual list how many welds and a general description of where they are to be made. Check Ebay for the "Chevy Truck Factory Assembly Manual".
I use mine all the time.

Good advice. I used a high-speed wire wheel to remove paint, rust, etc. and get down to bare metal. Between that and a feeler gauge I was able to locate and drill out the spot welds. After working at it for a couple of hours, I successfully removed the driver-side outer corner.

My next dilemma is the fit-up of the new patch panel. Not good. It appears I'll have to cut off part of the inner cab corner to make it fit, or buy a different cab corner. Grrrrr! Have others had this problem?? I noticed the sticker on the patch panel says "made in Taiwan".

I'm curious to know how others have welded in the new corners? Two thoughts come to mind: I could use a continuous butt weld, or maybe a flange crimping tool along the seam and then a lap weld where the two edges overlap. Thoughts?

Welcome to the wonderful world of patch panels... you pays your money and takes your chances.

Butt weld is better because there is nowhere for water to get trapped and accelerate rusting, but a butt weld requires more precise fitting and more precise welding.

Don't feel compelled to use the entire patch. Sometime flaws can be cut off the patch because that part isn't required.

I made My own cab corners...Then after fitting & welding in
I finished them off using LEAD....Bill B

Those corners are well respected as quality products. It is hard to match up every surface with all the curves. I would leave the other side alone until you finish the one side in case you need to compare. I used a butt weld and it turned out nice. I kept applying small welds, spaced out and moving around. When the distance between the welds got to about 1/2", I used a back stepping technique to blend each successive weld into the one beside it. Eventually I had a continuous weld. Grinding it down there were no pinholes.

MOST NEW CAB CORNERS HAVE BEEN COATED WITH BLACK PRIMER "EDP"

IT "MUST" BE REMOVED IN ORDER TO WELD.... IT WILL NOT MIG WELD IF IT IS NOT BARE STEEL!

TAKE MY WORD ON THIS!

rico_bob