I was on one of my trips to Drs.,and thought I would stop at NAPA for some truck parts,and it was snowing and blowing and miserable out. I turned my head to the left,and there was a multi-colored 58 panel truck sitting at a quick-shop store,and it was idling. WOW--the man was coming back to his truck,so we hit up a quick conversation and he owned the 58 since new. It had some filler over the fenderwells and by no means real nice--but it WAS A SURVIVOR from all the new inventions of comfort available for these trucks. It looked darn near uncomfortable to see him with 4 skids on top of each other in back for traction. He had his stocking hat over his ears and was freezing in that ole truck!!!! THOSE WERE THE DAYS. I offered to trade him even for my van---and he turned it down. I sold my van a week later,for 4k and even though the 58 was worth less---I wanted to trade for it.
I used to think they were UGLY--but FTE changed me--and now I am reborn!! Bill

 

I've got several 51-52 panels. A 52 that I'm serious about and should be driveable this summer. Three panel trucks that I plan to combine into one good one. The bodies are so beat up it takes several to make a good one. Most of these I've gotten off ebay and dragged home. Lucky for me the girlfriend lets me store them in her backyard. Also built and sold a 51 f1 panel rat rod last summer, pics of this one in my gallery.

 

I own a '56 panel. Not much to say about it really, except that I've owned it since 1995, and have only just recently started really digging in and working on it. So far I've replaced both cowls, both front lower door pillars, and both the related gussets and body mounts up front. I've also started un-screwing the "smoothing" of the firewall that was done by the POs "bodyman".

FWIW, it has a Camaro front clip, and will get a 327 Chevy engine (for starters; a 383 is in the works) backed up with a 700R4 trans. Out back is a 9 inch Ford that I built for it several years ago. I'm not really happy with the way it came out, so I'll be building another housing for it soon. Wilwood discs on all four corners, and it will also be bagged. Wheels will be 15"x6" chrome steelies; tires will be 670-15 3.250" WWW Firestones from Coker. I'll still need to narrow the control arms about an inch on the front end.

It will be used as a chase/support vehicle for my car club.

So much for "not much to say about it".

 

Howdy folks,

I dont have a panel but i do have the complete whole right side of a 59 panel. i am looking to get rid of it fairly cheap. would be great decor for the side of your shop or something like that, its about 1 1/2 ft thick, also have the rear doors. i know i ought of thrown it in the classifieds, but saw all the panel people here.

thanks, Jess

 

I still have my old 56 Siebert 4 door ambulance(aka the meatwagon). It's sitting in the shop w/o a motor, but I plan to get started on it someday soon. I also have 2 53 F100 panel bodies that need a new home, if anyone's interested. I have too many projects going.

 

There is a 56 panel running around here in Australia. I don't think there are too many of them here. It's a LHD, been full resto, 6 cyl 3 speed. It's a pretty neat looking straight panel and he is only asking $34,000 aus

 

Count me in-I have a 59 panel with a non running 318 Mopar.I have always loved a panel but I am not sure why-I think it is because you just don't see them very often.Thanks to dylan 1952 you see how few there were around. These trucks and pickups were built for a work truck and were beat up therefore are more challenging to rebuild because you find them in much worse shape.I remember carpooling with a friend and his Dad bought an old van for us to ride in . Back in 1968 the phone company, painters and plumbers were driving the mess out of vans and farmers and carpenters were wearing out the pickups, now we love them and are attempting to undo all that was done in the name of making a living with them. As tough as the are with a little TLC they should last us a life time .
Thanks Mike

 

Thought I'd bump this back to the top as I need a favour. House of Colours has a digital paint booth and I need someone with a 56 panel to upload a picture to thier site. I have contacted one of our fellow site member who did send in a photo or two to house of colour but hope that there might also be others to do the same just to make sure they have one in thier database. With all the new members here I hope one will have suitable pictures. This digital paint booth looks to be a very valuable tool when trying to decide how to paint your project vehicle.http://hokdigitalpaintbooth.com/wordpress/demo/

 

Forgot to add this link http://www.hokdigitalpaintbooth.com/wordpress

It says that red painted vehicles are prefered and with no graphics

 

My 1957 Ford panel came to me as a 4WD, using some of the running gear off a '59 or '60 4WD pickup. Not with the stock transfer case and crossmember, but the axles and springs looked correct. I left the springs on, but swapped in the front and rear axles and engine from the '60 M100 pickup.

I still don't have a '57 grille, hood or fenders for it, so this spring it might get a painted '60 grille, or a slightly flawed '59 chrome grille. More of the body needs attention... the paint on the roof looks really bad. The right rear is horrible; the whole corner needs to be made from scratch. The right fender is mostly filler and rust too, but I have a near-perfect Styleside boxside that will hopefully fix that. The rear door sill and roll pan are nasty too... rust, bent metal, cracks and old brazes and welds.

There's also the 1960 Ford panel delivery. The cab and cowl are rusty, but the rear is in better shape, since it has an original rear bumper, though there's still lots of rust, dents and filler. Roof is straighter, and has more bracing than the '57. About all I've done to it was get rid of the too-tall swivel van seats, and borrow the fuel tank to use in the '57.
It's future is uncertain; it's worth more to me for parts like the back doors. For the time being, I'll see if I can make it move again. Then maybe patch the cab supports and floor.

Anyway, the '57 (that looks like a '60) is what I drive, and as ugly as it is, I still get a lot of questions, waves, and thumbs ups.

 

I sent them this:

and this:

This was taken a year ago:

It's getting painted this week!

DB

 

Thanks for doing this thread years ago panelford.

Glad a little panel is spoken here......since www.paneltruck.com has died. Hopefully Doug will sell it and it makes a recovery.


Michigan Rick

 

Jack, your truck is a very fine example and hope that it will be what they need and congratulations for being ready for paint,if all goes well I too may be doing it also.

 

Here's my 1956 Ford Custom Cab panel truck long-term project. It's currently in limbo while I'm trying to focus on my coupe.



Here's a page about the truck: 1956 Ford F-100 panel truck project

Dave
(602) 233-8400
Roadsters.com

 

My 51 Panel was built for the US Army,...it was ordered in 51 and Vin was dated for a 51 but it was not delievered to Uncle Sam until 52 so it was, and always has been registered and titled as a 52. It had a six banger in it at birth,... but some where along the line a 239 8ba was dropped in it.....pretty odd. The battey is still on the drivers side. The PO told me the side windows were added for the army but not a Ford option. I have seen a few with windows like mine,....and they were referred to as "SHOP TRUCKS"???. Its a good old truck,... gets a lot of favorable vibe and comes in handy. I got shots in my gallery but I couldn't get them posted.
John