I picked this 54 Panel (with a 56 grill) up on Friday. BJMayberry2 had seen this at Pate and I was interested. A friend of BJ's knows the guy I bought it from. It is pretty solid except for the passenger side rear door as you will see in the pics. The rest of the body is rust and rot free except for some surface rust. No hinges for the hood, it has a 289/C4/Ford 9", and an Aerostar IFS. The dash hasn't been cut up but somebody did weld in some 1" tube to make benches in the back. All that will be coming out, and I am going to make a plan as soon as I clear it all out and finish the repairs of the back door. The back passenger side door did not have a bottom jamb hinge half. I found a bottom right side door hinge half in the truck so I spent today making it into the other side jamb hinge half that it needed. Now I need to cut off the bottom part of the door skin and do some repairs.
It came with a brand new set of steel smooth running boards still in the box which I will be using, and a brand new unopened set of Rocky hinges for making the doors suicide style. If anyone is interested in suicide doors let me know because I won't be using them.
I made a new center knuckle, tacked it in, drilled through the old knuckle while lined up with a pin on the drill press, then cut off the two outside knuckles. It works fine, but the door interior frame is broken loose and the skin needs to come off to repair it.

 

Glad to see you got it, will you be starting on this project right away or finishing up your 52 first?

 

John, I am trying to do both at the same time
I may have some questions for you as I get into it!
I got the exhaust done on the 52 and the door poppers are wired, next is the windshield and back window. I am taking it less than two blocks to get that done at a local auto window guy who has a small shop who does all the work by himself. When that is done I will get the bed and install it and then finish the paint. Interior still to finish but getting closer. And I am doing the cabinets in a 15K sq ft house during the day. And I don't drink coffee
I like having lots to do, especially the toys.
A friend of mine helps with them, and I have another buddy who wants to bankroll a hotrod shop. He is going to fund the restomod of the panel.

 

The rot in the rear Panel door hinge areas is common.

 

Were the hinges on the door bolted on? Mine are riveted to the door. How do you like my hinge pin?

 

The inner structure attaches to the inside shell of the door. I cut out that area and rebuilt it then welded it back in. No need to remove the door-skin that way.

Original Damage:


Rebuilt inner structure:


Hinge bolted to it:


All tacked in:

 

Thanks, yours looks good. I might do the same if I can fix the skin at the same time. It does need a lot of work anyway so I may still go in from the outside. A PO tried fixing it with a fender washer and a bolt through the frame and the side as you can see in my pics.

 

This one was bolted in and "fixed" with a fender washer and bolt. The hinge and inside frame was twisted (because it is loose) so far that the hinge was outside the edge of the door. The other door has been replaced at some point and still has the rivets and is in good shape. And all the hinge pins were exactly like the one you have, all bolts with a nut that don't quite fit. Inside the panel last night I went through the boxes where I found 4 new pins along with a bunch of other new parts and 4 wing windows and all the door and window mechanisms.

 

My '56 panel was the exact reverse, a '56 with a '54 grill. I should have a hinge piece laying around if your home brewed one doesn't work for some reason. The hinges on mine were all chopped out, and I gathered a couple of incomplete sets to have enough good ones for my truck. Did your truck come with the original running boards? Looking for some for mine in any form or fashion.

 

No, it didn't have any running boards on it. And if you want to sell your hinges that you aren't using PM me. My homemade hinge might work but a real one would be better. I haven't been able to find any used hinges or doors.

 

JD "herbman" on the HAMB has a set of doors. They're rough but they are in the Houston area. JD's got the club cab MidFiftys truck he's also trying to sell. He's also got another fifties Panel.

 

Stop! Don't you dare tell me about anymore trucks in my area! If I got another I would have to keep it on my front yard
Thanks, I will check out the doors. I am on the HAMB too but never post there.

 

Looks like another fun project. You might want to get your first truck done before jumping into this one. Doing more than one project at a time usually spells diaster for me.