Hi, was wondering if anyone has replaced this panel, this is the fresh air vent (louvers) on the passenger side of the truck. Someone has completely destroyed the louvers and they need to be replaced. I see where I can get the replacement panel, but looks like a lot of work.

 

Probably not much more work than say..replacing a lower cab corner. Some folks opt to eliminate the vent altogether and smooth the exterior with a shaped replacement panel..the same folk's probably who smooth the cowl vent area. While some skill is required in any body panel, it is learned easy enough..and the question comes down to..do you really want the vent??
I personally like the semi-stock look and my vent was in good shape..so it remained along with the cowl vent..,but on the flip-side,a mangled vent could be very difficult to get straight and aligned..a replacement panel may be worth your "time", and save aggravation if you chose to keep it..check out Eastwoods sheetmetal butt-weld tools, might make things easier. My .02$

 

Thank you, so your saying to cut out the vents and weld in a new piece of sheet metal?

 

What is the rest of the front cab corner like. The lower section is usually rotted out or are in my neck of the woods. You can purchase new pieces with or without the louvers. There might be someone in your general area that may still have the louvers from a corner they have changed out if that's all you need. It's not that difficult to change the corner piece out, just a matter of drilling some holes around the perimitter and plug welding.

 

I just replaced my whole front cab corner on my 55 and let me tell you it can be easy or it cant ..I started to tear into it and discovered many other areas that were in bad shape, not to mention my cab was different than the patch panels nothing lined up and I had to d some mods on the patch panels that I thought would just pop in and be done!

 

You've got to remember that when these trucks are moving they are very flexable in thier nature, when the attachment points are rotted away things are going to get tweeked. It's not so much that the patch panels don't fit but more that the truck don't fit the patch panels.

 

The only thing messed up are the louvers, looks like someone mounted a radio antenna to it and destroyed the louvers. What I was thinking was just ordering the new panel, and cut out the louvers of the new panel and weld in, at least that way I would have the right curver or bend of the panel, looks like it has some curviaure to it.

I'm not very good or at least have not attempted much in the way of body work, what do you mean by drilling some holes and plug welding?

thanks

 

yeah thats true also from what I hear is these trucks were put together by hand at different plants so no two cabs are alike making it interesting when putting in new patch panels almost have to beat them in to fit. so far everything looks good o mine I dont think it will be tweaked too much if it is. DGMFORD I think it would be cheaper for you to just go to home depot and buy some 16gauge metal and use that rather than spending 100 bucks. its not that hard to get the right curve, set it on a table and bend it till it looks right and get it as close as you can ... weld it in use body filler ifyou need it.t would be alot of work if you decided to replace the whole thing..unless it needs it i wouldnt .

 

Drill out the spot welds. a regular drill bit is cheap but one made for drilling spot welds will not drill all the way through. search "Eastwood 19017 Spotweld Drill Bit". Spotwelding like the factory does takes special machines so instead you can drill holes in the edge of the new patch panel and plug welded into place. Make sure the two layers are tight together. That usually takes some long reach vice grips. This method is for installing a complete quarter panel or a body section that is the same size or shape as the original panel. Smaller panels, like a rectangle to fill in the just the louvered area, are usually done as a but weld.

 

Another alternative, if the rest of the panel is good, is to cut out just the vent from a junk panel. That way you wouldn't have to shape the contour, just cut out the ruined louvers and weld in the good ones if you want to keep it looking original. I could cut out and ship to you if you can't find a junk panel locally.

 

The body panels are held together with spot welds from the factory, they would have to be drilled out and as explained by das54 you can use a regular drill bit and purchase a spot weld cutter. The holes I was refering to in my other post was for the new patch panel that comes with no holes and was assuming you didn't have a spot welder like the rest of us tool deprived,lol. You are lucky if the is no other repairs to do to the panel as most are rotted at the rocker panel. It has been mentioned by james G. phillips that he has the piece you need, taking his offer will be cheaper than buying and destroying a new piece. If you haven't done any welding on body panels this is just a reminder to take your time and do one spot weld at a time allowing the metal to cool before your continue otherwise you'll have a bigger mess than you have now.

 

That would be perfect if you could, I will pay for them, nothing locally I can find. There are 5 louvers that are beyond repair. Below is my email address, if you send me an email, I will send you my shipping address, just let me know how much. I'm in the Dallas area

david.g.miller@tx.rr.com

 

Thanks everyone for all the suggestions and help. This truck was a one owner in the Dallas area and had / has no rust, the only problems she has is a small crack in the floor board on the drivers side under the seat (not sure why, I was thinking this was a known issue) and a small crack in the firewall area where the trans cover bolts to. Those two areas are easy to weld up. I'm planning on strengthening the floor board between the braces before putting the cab back on the frame.

thanks again!

 

I may be able to help, have sent you an e-mail

 

Okay, thanks