My tonner is here. Last week I drove out to Montana and Tinman and I pulled the front clip of a truck he had bought. Had a blast. I am now rebuilding a 59ab for it and today started pulling the kingpins and doing front brakes and springs. A lot of work ahead. I have bought some really well cared for trucks in my day, but this is NOT one of them. Absolutely love that it's a panel AND a tonner.

 

For its age it really appears to be in good condition

 

Bump. Any new panels out there? How about old panels with new progress to report?

I'd be interested in seeing some panel interiors and hearing what owners have done for sound deadening. Has anyone, for example, put insulation behind the removable metal side panels in the cargo area? Would doing so be helpful?

How about the roof? I've seen pictures of Rangers with very fancy wooden headliners. Has anyone finished their panel interior to look like a Ranger minus the windows? I'd maybe like to do something with painted wood and canvass to finish my panel's cargo area and still keep a spartan military like persona.

 

Not a new panel owner but thought I would reply to the part of sound deadener behind the removable panels. I would think it would be very helpful and cannot hurt.
I am currently fitting front doors, installing altman latches w/ striker plates per Charlie Leds design. Seems to be a straight forward install, we'll see in the next few days.
As far as interior not quite seeing the finish, but want the open and simple look, wood floors with the metal runners, a felt type material for the sides with a surf theme design of some sort not overly loud just to compliment a couple surf boards hanging on the sides. I am building this and going to give it to my son so he can haul his surf boards to the ocean, but only after I play with it for awhile. The roof, I am leaning towards the bow type liner. I am close to this stage so the thoughts and ideas are fresh in my mind.
Hope others chime in, always nice to hear others ideas.

 

I used Eastwood's acoustic sound/ heat shield in my panel and went kind of overboard with it and added about an extra 200 lbs. I haven't had any problems at all with it but if doing it again I'd go with the Dyna-mat system..


I made all my own interior panels from 3/16" mahogany plywood and the one piece headliner by using the headliner from a Ford club van and a section from a Chev half ton extended cab

Then found a guy who did upholstery and let him do his first vehicle


I provided the pattern I wanted and he stitched it up

I then installed 1/2" oak veneer plywood and solid oak strips to the floor to finish it off.

It's good to see this thread pop back up, I started it around the same time I started work on my panel..

 

02749472.jpg[/IMG]
I then installed 1/2" oak veneer plywood and solid oak strips to the floor to finish it off.

It's good to see this thread pop back up, I started it around the same time I started work on my panel..[/QUOTE]

Great to see your work John always so helpful and full of ideas. I have a question here maybe a couple. First how do your arm rest attach to the luan and are they made from fiberglass resin build?
Than you say you have 1/2" oak veneer ply wood than solid oak strips. So you have a solid steel pick up bed floor, sound deadener, 1/2: oak veneer sheet of plywood than 3/4 oak strips. so the bed floor is approx. 1 1/4 higher than stock. My questions are did you have any issues with front seat placement and adjustment and side panels do they still remove or are the fixed now? Once again I am just in awe about your panel and am really patterning my design around yours.
I notice two round holes in the drivers door and one in the passenger door, could you shed some light on those to me? I have a feeling they are for the flex tubes for power wires to your electric windows.

 

I don't think I have responded to this thread. I have been working on a '51 F1 Panel for the last couple of years.

TCI front and rear suspension. Front, Custom Coilover Mustang II type suspension w/disc brakes, power rack and pinion steering. Rear, Custom coilover 4 link on a '72 Ford 9" w/disc brakes. Ford style 5 on 4 1/2 stud hubs.

I have installed a 2015 Ford 5.0 L. Coyote engine with a Ford 4R75W transmission. All stainless exhaust. I moved the gas tank to the rear of the frame.

The last year I have been doing body work and getting read to paint, which I hope to do this Summer.


The beginning.

Frame w/engine and new suspensions.

Body work about done. Looking forward to finish paint.

Check the entire thread of the work in my signature.

 

Great to see your work John always so helpful and full of ideas. I have a question here maybe a couple. First how do your arm rest attach to the luan and are they made from fiberglass resin build?
Than you say you have 1/2" oak veneer ply wood than solid oak strips. So you have a solid steel pick up bed floor, sound deadener, 1/2: oak veneer sheet of plywood than 3/4 oak strips. so the bed floor is approx. 1 1/4 higher than stock. My questions are did you have any issues with front seat placement and adjustment and side panels do they still remove or are the fixed now? Once again I am just in awe about your panel and am really patterning my design around yours.[/QUOTE]


My floor started out 3 inches higher because of the frame swap I did,

You can see how much the floor was raised in this picture, The 1/2" oak veneer is bolted to the floor with countersunk head bolts and the solid oak strips are only 1/2"' thick 3/4" wide that is screwed to the plywood with 3/4" brass wood screws and hide the bolts holding the plywood to the bed floor. I drilled and tapped the cross members for those bolts.
You can see the strips a little better in this pic and the seat bases showing up front. I like the panel because of all the leg room because the seats have more clearance to move back than the pickup.
The arm rest I made had the shape you see cut out of 3/8" plywood with the top cut out of the same thickness of plywood and a couple triangle braces to hold the top of the arm rest. I installed tee nuts to secure it to the door panels. Then I wrapped it with some stretch cotton jersey material and applied enough resin to it to hold the shape then fiber glassed it. The sound deadener is only about 3/32" thick..

 

I've been lurking around the forum for a while now, but new to this thread.
I own a badly rusted and bondoed '54 panel many of you would only use as a parts car. Or send directly to a salvage yard.

It's a straight six with three on the tree. Engine turns around, but have no brakes, bad wiring, and a lot of stuff missing, especially panel specific parts.

However, I'm in Europe, it's not that easy to find another truck, so I try to put this back on the road and have some fun with it.

Currently it's in winter storage at a friend of mine.

 

My panel wasn't very pretty when I got it either. It had a 223 cu in stripped of parts motor in it when I got it..
I like your little roadster you have parked there, is that yours or the friend's where you are storing your panel..

 

That's my friend's ride, it has a steel body hand-made from scratch.
The hood and fenders were temporarily installed for an inspection.

OT here, so I just post a link, but this is the official look of the car:
http://v8cars.hu/cikk0380/v8_00002.jpg

 

Your friend has some great skills and should solve many of your problems if you need patches made for your panel..

 

I was just able to buy back a 56 panel project that I sold 17 years ago. See my thread "buying one back".

 

Looking forward to your build on it thomc

 

53-56 panel owners, could somebody show me a close up photo of the tail light installed in the body?
I have some problem with the placement. If the housing is parallel to the barn door it doesn't follow the body line on the outside.