The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot Panels 'N Burbs Cut or get repro panels?

I have a 57 GMC panel with a 270.
I have a 58/59 pickup cab that's near perfect.
My floor, steps and rockers are rusted esp. the steps and rockers, the floor is repairable with available patch panels. The steps and rockers need replacement.
The lower door hinge pockets are rusted and when the door opens they sag quit a bit.
Do I sell the cab whole (thus not cutting it up for the parts I need?) It's soo nice it's shame to cut it up and buy the parts (and most other parts I will need) to complete my truck with proceeds of the cab sale.
I'm told most patch panels and body parts don't fit very well. Using the parts from an original donor truck seems to garantee fit; what is the best route?

I'd start with a very careful examination of that cab to be sure you won't be buying patch panels anyway. In this part of the country a rust free truck is pretty rare.

Second how salable is the cab? By that I mean is there anything about it like big window or clear title that make it an attractive purchase. How nice is it?

My bias is toward using the cab unless you would still need the patch panels or you can easily sell the cab for more than the cost of the patch panels.

I've bought cabs for less than $50 which would not buy much in the way of patch panels.

I have a cab I bought for $40 in Port Orchard. It's a rusty '48 Chevy 5-window, but since you're in Port Orchard I thought it worth adding the note.

If it was mine,I would cut it through the windshield posts and across the back of the floor and use the whole cowl panel.
It will be a lot easier than putting in a lot of small pieces.You will have to drill a couple of holes for your hood hinges,but everything else should fit.
You shouldn't have any trouble selling the back of the cab to someone who needs it.

I just spent 5 years restoring a 58 GMC Napco Panel I bought the replacement steps with the rockers installed. then I installed the lower hinge panel its a lot easier to put the panels in than messing with trying to get a hole front clip to line up unless you have a full body shop at your disposal. Well thats my 2$ worth hope this helps Sam T

PS If I can get the the PICS up of my 58 I will let you look at it.

Dumb question here. Can you use the entire 58 cab on your 57? If they are the same design, it would be better to just use the good cab. If they are not the same, then I would be inclined to use patch panels purchased instead of destroying a good cab. If you buy good quality products, you will have few fitment issues. I can tell you that 40 and 50 dollar cabs are the exception not the rule-the economy notwithstanding. Additionally, parts suppliers are offering decent discounts on their products at this time of the year. JM2C.

Here are some pics of the panel that my son and I worked on. You might need to check the dimensions between a 58 cab and a 57 panel. We cut the windshield posts and the floor rib behind the front seats.

http://rides.webshots.com/album/575365357rrLxoj


Mike

I think this depends how obsessive on making a perfect truck and how handy you are with a welder. Even if you pull the most perfect truck out of Southern California that's never had a body job, it's still going to have some minor perforations somewhere in it. I still ended up replacing the floors and repairing cab corners, but you could have probably just covered them over with some minor patching.

I'd just start with what you have if you are capable because most anything you're going to look at, unless it's near perfect or has already been repaired is going to need work, unless you can find something that's in better condition. Whether it's an inch of rot, or 6 inches in the rocker, you're still going to buy the entire rocker unless you're making your own patch panels.