I have some repops, they are Blue Oval Brand. I have yet to see repops that fit without doing some work on them.

These corners however don't seem to even be close...... I am not sure if my cab is just that outta whack or if the corners need a bunch of reshaping.

I was just curious if any others had experiences with these and what you had to do to get them in???

 

I replaced the inner and outer on the passenger side on a 53 with panels I got from Midfifty...no problems. Here's a few pics that may help...

 

Those are blue oval, that's who midfifty uses. Did the holes in the panels line up with the existing cab mount holes???

When I place mine flush with the crossmember the hole on the panel is not centered on the mount hole, the patch hole is about 1/2" higher than the originals.

 

If you look at the second photo (the one with the vise grips) you will see that the hole in the repair panel lines up perfectly with the cab mount bolt hole.

 

Lets see some pic's of what ya got Clinton.

 

Here is how the originals were position. Flush towards the end near the middle of cab, and down 1/4" at the end of the cross member. They were centered on the bolt hole.


When I pull mine up nice and even like Charlie's, mine are offset like this...(both sides did the same thing) If I allow them to sag just a little more than the originals they center up ok.


The after market pillars don't match the rockers. The front is close, but the rears are way off.



Here are some overall shots.... Notice the sag in the inners at the cross member.
The outside corners do fit though......



I think I am just going to weld the gaps up where the pillar meets the rockers... What's your opinions on doing that?

Also, I noticed when I closed my doors that everything looks pretty decent on the outside but the gap between the inside bottom edge of the door and rocker is about half an inch from the front of the door and then widens to nearly 1" at the rear. Is that normal???

I am afraid the door won't seal up like this.....

 

Number 1 error that I see is that you are attempting to replace structural body components with the weight of the cab still in place on the mounts. The floor is bowed and you have lost your points of reference. You are going to have to pick a corner to start on and then work your way around the cab. Find another stock cab and make some measurements, the door openings are easy because they match the doors, but the rest is a bit more difficult. I use diagonals across the floor, this will be a good place to start...then go from the upper rear corner of the door opening across and down to the lower front opening of the opposite door. Using diagonals will ensure that you end up with a cab that is square.

BTW - I do see that you have installed some bracing in the cab...I think that you will find that this bracing did not stop the downward flex of the cab corners however.

 

I plan to square it up. The major pain with this thing is that there is NO WHERE to support it.......

When I got it someone had done a poor chop, no braces, no nothing. The front corners were completely gone. The mounts were rusted out and there were essentially holes between the cowl and rockers.

I supported it under the cross member at the back of the cab. I am going to completely remove that crossmember and make an exact replicaand start from there. I just wish these after market pieces matched each other. As far as the braces go, I put them in to hole the inner edges of the door pillars after I set my gaps, think I will have to cut some braces for the outer edges, I notice when I removed the lower corners spring forward and my gaps disappeared. I wish I could have found a cab in better shape to start out with.

Oh well I like the challenge.

I know my cab is all out whack, it just sucks having to fight that as well as not being able to depend on the panels being close.

I have 2 outer corners from oval, both are made differently. I will get you some pictures of the differences in these as well.

I actually have another cab outside that I am going to use the top half of that I have been using for measurements.

 

I'm curious as to why you are putting this much work and money into repairing a cab that someone else cut up and put back together crooked, especially if you are going to restore the chop? Better cabs aren't that hard to find or expensive to buy, likely less than all the panels you're putting into this one. Reminds me of trying to put a broken egg back together straight and smooth using another egg to measure off of, a long shot at best.

In addition to what Charlie said. I wouldn't have cut all the corners out before starting the replacements, I would have done one section at a time, even tack welding in the opposite door to maintain as much structural integrity for as long as possible.

 

Open the hole up to get the fit.??

 

Well, I got this thing for less than free..... I literally bought some junk for 500.00 bucks, ton of random parts and stuff. It came with a chevy 12 bolt for a 68 Nova. I sold it for 750.00 ad made my money back on the purchase with some extra to put towards the cab.

Some of what I am replacing a lot of guys would just left alone, I however want all the rust gone.

AND the main reason is because I don't lie chopping/customizing good metal. I guess that is the traditional part of me. I just hate seeing good metal destroyed.

 

I'm just the opposite. If I'm going to do heavy customizing i want the best metal I can get to start with, much easier and likely to end up well. Cabs are not rare, so it's not like I'm cutting up a solid Pierce Arrow or a Cord boattail. Big job parts trucks are often easier to find, cabs are identical, usually in much better shape and less expensive. Sell off the usable parts.

 

If I was tackling this job I would start with the floor pan...this is the piece that formed the base for the cab when it was originally fabricated at the factory. Get the pan right and then bring the body onto it.

From what I see in your photos, I would weld in the toe boards/front floor pan...get them put in place to match your unmolested cab. Get the rockers in next and make sure they are the proper width when measured across the floor pan...jamb to jamb. Once that is complete, weld in your inner rear cab corners. Then position the cab onto the floor pan and weld in the outer corners. Good luck!

 

Clinton, did you ever get this cab worked out? I'm going through almost the same thing now. Any tips besides find another cab?

 

Yes.


I'm looking through my threads to see what I can find to show you.