The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Body patch and replacement.

Hey guys, a little help here please.

This fall/winter is gonna include body work. Will be doing left and right cowl, inner cowl, kick panels, floor pans and cab corners. I'm assuming starting with the outer cowl panels and work my way in...one side at a time. Looking for pointers and tips to help me along and things to expect. I can almost bet that cowls are a pain in the rump. Do I need to worry about bracing cab?

Also, some tips on floor pans as well. For example, i need to replace all the way back to the existing seat frame. Any suggestions on how to tie into this? I currently have some tiny separation between the factory floor pan and seat frame.

Hey Stove 51,

I'm just about in the same place on my cab. I'll be following your post closely. What part of PA are you in? I live just north of Philadelphia in Bucks County.

Joe

Central Pa...Clearfield County.

I just had my local body shop replace the cab corners, inner and outer rockers, front and rear lower door pillars, outer floor, upper floor and front and rear cab mounts on both sides of the cab on my '66. He told me that they had to use jacks and porta powers to keep the cab in shape. So yes I'd say it would be a very good idea to brace your cab and just do one side at a time. You'd be surprised how much the different parts of the cab rely on one another for support.

There's lot's of information and pictures on the bolt, just use the SEARCH FEATURE to find them, here's a POST that may be helpful. Look through all of the pictures to find what you need. Here's another members album that is pretty detailed. ........g

Are the door posts rusted & inner rockers bad, too?

If door posts are not being replaced, then careful drilling out of spot welds
and careful peeling of the outer cowl from the post is in order. This should include
bracing; esp if the floor&inner rocker has been removed or is rusted out completely. Tack the outer,inner,kick panels and trial fit the door to assure yourself that it will align properly.... now is the time!

Judicious sequencing of the cut out of the panels need to be considered so as not to put undo stress on the door posts.

Keep in mind that the floor, toe board, inner kick panels, middle filler panels,
and outer cowl panels all converge... if you cut all away then the body will sway in the breeze!

Lastly, if replacing the toe board then use the radiator support and inner fenders to help guide you as to proper angle before welding and keep the inner fender bolts holes in alignment with your new toe board. IF NOT replacing the toe board then keeping them attached to the toe board and radiator support will help in bracing the body...

My 2 cents
mike

Great guys!!! Thank you very much. Exactly what I was looking for.

This looks to be quite a task. Lots to consider. But fun

I was sent this link to see another project replacing inner and outer cowl panels. It may be of some help. Just finishing the drivers side installation after doing the passenger side. Needless to say the second time seems easier etc. good luck

http://www.pbase.com/czechman/arightside&page=all

I use a Makita grinder (4 inch) with the thin grinding disk, mark my cuts carefully, and dive in. I butt weld everything using butt weld clamps and very careful welding to not warp the metal. If done carefully, you cant tell the panel was ever replaced. I use a wire feed mig and a lot of patience. Ive replaced everything available for these trucks at one time or another, and the steps are always the same.

Looking at the pictures above, I was wondering what you guys do if your replacing the inner cowl panel and the channel needs replaced that the windlace slides into? Do you make a channel piece for the windlace or can it be bought somewhere?
Also where is the best place to get a finished rocker panel? I see it is noted that not all rocker panels are finished shaped at the front.

John

If your windlace channels are shot, you can buy them from Classicparts. They also sell the rocker panels that are a good fit. The only inner cowl panel that is a good fit is the lower half-panel that has black e-coat primer. The full panel, in awful gray primer, is not even close to fitting at the bottom.

Yeah I'm not sure what I'll do for the inner panel. I don't like that they just make them with a rectangular hole. Not "nuts" and the corners of the hole aren't rounded.... I may try making one myself.....
Thanks John

I went to a salvage yard and pulled just the windlace channel from a very bad cab and now I have enough to do my projects. Not sure about the rocker panels. I would want to get the ones that are shaped properly cause I am lazy.

Is it better to take it to a shop? Or is it easy enough for a regular joe to do this? I really don't want to mess it up.