The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk Rebuild cab versus find one and buy it???

The only thing that is keeping me from driving my 54 is pretty much the cab. I went through Jim Carter's catalog and wrote down everything I think I'll need to fix the cab and it came to a little under $3700 with tax. My question is, is it going to be even worth it welding in all that metal for that much money or would it be easier, cheaper, and better to find a cab in better shape and fix it? I haven't found anyone selling cabs around here that are in decent shape, and if I do find one, it's on a truck that the owners won't separate parts from and want 3 or 4 thousand for.

Hey Jordan,was looking thru my Classic Truck mag, and there is a company called premierestreetrod that sells cabs.They want 7000.00. Looks like either you do the work,or look for a decent cab.3700.00 is cheap, compared to 7000.00

Roy

Jordan, i was faced with the same situation on my 56. after i had the cab bead blasted, it looked like swiss cheese and the body guy said it would cost too much to repair it. I started the search for a replacement cab and eventually came across a very nice one for just over $1000 (cab) . it didn't need anything more than to be block sanded and painted. the key is to take your time. there is one out there but you won't likely find it in a few days or a week. you might have to search for a month or two.

good luck!

another vote for replacing.....you can find some decent old grain trucks for cheap...those cabs seem to be in better shape most times...you can either scrap or part out the rest to recoop some of your money back as well....dave

If you need $3700 worth of patch panels, your cab must be in really bad shape. Unless you are retired and can work on it full time, you may never get it finished. I would look for a grain truck that spent its life in a barn or a parts truck from the high desert. Have you ever installed patch panels? It involves a lot more than welding.

I like Bruce have had lots of decent spare cabs and rarely paid more than $400-600 for complete parts trucks (look through my pictures). I guess there are parts of the country where they are hard to find. I also would agree that a cab requiring $3700 worth of patch panels would not be worth fixing. To me a decent/repairable cab is one that requires corners, the floors probably on both sides and some lower cowl/inner cowl panel work (about $400-600 worth of new sheet metal). Good luck!

The bottom half of my cab is pretty much going to need replaced. It was in decent shape when I found it, but 4 years under a tarp took it's toll and rotted it out. This part of the country is hard to find good parts trucks because no one wants to get rid of them. Most are still in use and when something goes out, it's usually the motors, in which the owners take another engine and put it in. Thanks guys, I'll definitely follow this up.

This should serve as a warning to people who think storing their vehicle under a tarp is a good idea. Moisture condenses out of the air under a tarp and is trapped in.

Also: place a vapor barrier under the vehicle (to stop the moisture under the vehicle (under the tarp) from rising - from the earth/ground and/or from a cement floor that does not have a vapor barrier under the floor.

Jordan, start your search here:

craigslist

An actual canvas tarp is not as bad. But those cheap blue plastic things would be better used for the purpose Tim suggested.
Also, you didn't say whether your cab was sitting directly on the ground or on blocks. The higher off the ground the better, to allow some air to circulate around it.

Trust me, you can drive without the cab!

Jordan, how do you come up with $3700 in patch panels? I didn't even think they made that many pieces...

Jeff

I went through Jim Carter's catalog and wrote down what I thought I needed. Just about everything on two pages, and when you need two of just about everything, it adds up quickly!

Hey Jordan-

I asked a similar question a few months ago and got similar responses from our Stovebolt Buddies.

You see, the Blue Funk was hit by a Semi last Summer and bent up the cab. The floor board and toe pan had been patched up some by the PO, but the collision pretty much distroyed any chances of saving that part of the cab. I added up the costs of replacing the parts plus body shop work and a replacement cab seemed in order.

I located a place in Tulsa OK that has some AD trucks and plan to take trip down there the first week of June. The place is called East-West Auto Parts. Ken Freeman is the Guy I've been communicating with. He says he has good, virtually rust free, three window cabs for about $650.

www.eastwestautoparts.com

Good luck to you, Jordan.

Not sure where Marco is but I saw a couple in the chicago area last week on Craigslist for cheap - and they looked pretty rust free. Try searchtempest.com and look under parts not cars and trucks....the guy said in the add he was going to scrap it soon!

Jordan, has it really been four years since you got your truck? How old are you now?

It's been 4 years since I got the truck. But it took 4 years to convince my mom to let me have it. I found the truck when I was 9 or 10 and it was not in bad shape. But it sat in a damp wooded location and by the time I was allowed to get it the cab had gotten much worse. So, I've known this truck for 8 years total. I'm 17. Barnfind, Marco is in Greene County, about an hour or hour and a half south of Indianapolis. Thanks guys.