Whats up guys,

I took delivery on the truck this weekend, and its great! I'm combing through it and ID'ing everything, "taking inventory", and figuring out the work that I need to do to it. I have an LMC Truck catelog which I love because of the illustrations, but I can't find the name of this specific body panel on the truck. I've searched in that catelog, blue oval, mid-fifty, JC Whitney, and Boss auto and it appears that none of them sell it.. I was wondering if someone could tell me what this panel is called, I thought it was just a cowl put I guess not.
I have to replace it because it appears that one of the previous owners bent the door WAAAY back and as you can see left a nice crease in it. If you need more pictures let me know. It goes all the way down to the step board. Its between the door and the fender, actually goes behind the fender... driver side.. the passenger side has a vent on it, this side doesn't.. is that normal?

Jeff

 

midfifty sells those thats a front cab corner, they should be tall enough for that crease

 

ill check it out.. now that I know what they call it maybe ill be able to find it
While I have this here and people are gonna look at it.. anybody know where to find a 1955 Style Grille? only remakes I can find are 53 and 56...

 

The fender is not hard to remove. That crease does not look that bad. Would it be easier to get to that crease from the inside and beat it back out? Or use a unispotter and pull it back out? I would hate to cut up the area unless I had to.

 

I might give that a try before I try to replace it... Its a 2' long crease though.. i dont have the whole thing in the shot.. I dont have a unispotter but I could take it to a body shop I guess.

 

If you are planning on repairing it yourself you may want to check the lower area for bondo or other non-metal materials using a magnet. If there's anything other than metal, it's gonna more than likely pop out when you start hammering that area. The magnet will give you a good ideal on which way to go and help you determine the best plan of attack. the front cab corners (cowl patch panels) are 21" high and cost $100.00 a pair from Dennis Carpenter. www.DennisCarpenter.com and the grill (chrome) can be purchased at John's F-Fun Hundreds (www.F100.com) for $400.00 with exchange, hope this helps.
fever

 

I measured the panel and its 32-33" long.. I saw that on there but figured it wasnt same piece because of the size.

 

Jeff5683,

I am looking at the Mid Fifty catalog now and on page 98 they list a complete front cab corner and cowl that is 32 inches long at a price of $85.00 each they also have the reinforment for $18.50 each. I'm sure they aren't the only place that has these just happens that the catalog was close.

If it were mine I would try and knock it out either way it will require a bit of time to do it right. Have fun and we need more pictures of your prize.

Chuck

 

Since our doors don't have wind checks I'd expect it's a common damage spot. That's the only place I've found any previous body work on my Panel so far. I'll be adding wind checks to my doors before painting it. It's not a difficult area to get to, just remove the kick panel cover If the metal hasn't been stretched, I'd take it to a paintless dent removal place and see what they can do with it, even if it requires repainting at least they can straighten it without needing filler. The guy I go to could take that out in about 3-4 hrs and you wouldn't know it had been touched. I hate pound and putty places.
It would definitely be less work to straighten that panel than to replace it unless there is hidden body cancer involved.
PS, If it were mine I look at getting rid of those toolbox latches at the same time...
Call Mid Fifty right away and order their free print catalog, there's TONS of pictures and info in it besides all the parts you could need, and Sy and the girls are GREAT to deal with and really know their stuff!

Yes, only the Pass side cowl had the fresh air louvers in it.

 

If you can repair the original panel, do so. Beware that the replacement panels from the aftermarket suppliers are very thin and only come close to fitting correctly. I purchased the cowl panels from Mid-Fifty and they probably weigh half of what the original ones did.

Jeff

 

I to am going to need these "cab corners" as I think that what happened to Jeffs truck has happened to mine some in it's past life. So on the drivers side I will need the full 32" piece and the passenger side will only need the lower corner. Both lower corners have body rot. However I am by no means a body and paint man and will be going to a body and paint shop for this work to be done. So I have plenty of time to find a good body and paint shop between now and then. Got a ton of other stuff to do before that time comes LOL.

Mason

 

Thanks for the info guys. I didn't think about the replacement parts being a lot thinner and weaker, so I probably will try to find a good paintless dent removal place... The truck has a LOT more dents than that, though
The worst of it is on the Radiator Grille Panel, which I probably WILL have to replace.. looks like one of the previous owners was in reverse and got snagged on a tree stump and floored it, ripping it forward. Heres a picture of the front of the truck with all the dents haha. You can't really see the radiator grille, later on I'll try to put up another picture of that.

 

Also, Ax, I agree about the stupid locks on the hood. I'd like to smack whoever put them on there.. first of all, its a real pain in the butt to open the hood, and especially close it because it doesn't like to close in the exact spot it needs to everytime to latch those stupid things. I don't know why they put them on there to begin with..

 

Are you talking about the lower valance panel that goes across below the grill behind the bumper? Unless it's got rot any panel can be straightened, and any rot can be patch paneled. See if any schools around you offer an extension body repair class, it's not hard to do once you learn the basics. A good start would be to pick up a copy of Ron Covell's excellent video/dvd "Basic Techniques for Working with Steel". www.covell.biz
Fixing that valence panel would be a good beginner project, removable for working on, simple shapes. Ask around and find out who the best body craftsman is in your area (NOT your local Earl Schieb) and go see him, ask if you could sweep the floor, clean his tools or do other meanial tasks if he'd let you look over his shoulder as he works. If you are sincere and don't get in his way, a good craftsman is likely to be agreeable to let you hang around. Another option is to find a local group of hot rodders that tend to get together and help each other work on their projects. You'll probably have to earn your way into the group before they are going to work on yours tho. Do you have any special expertise, not even necessarily automotive related, i.e. computer geek, tax preparer, plumber, electrician, salesman for consumer products (NOT AMWAY!!!!) that you can offer for trade?

 

Yea Ax, the panel behind the bumper. The catelogs call it the Radiator grille panel. I definately want to learn how to do steel work, I just thought that piece was beyond repair. You know more than I do though, thats for sure

There are a few small rust spots on the body, but I'm sure I could piece in some new steel. (that is, after I learn how lol)

That Covell DVD sounds great, unfortunately I don't have any of the right tools or a welder. I have friends that have what I would need until I can buy my own, though. I almost bought a 47 Dodge pickup a couple years ago and was really close to buying a nice welder and a two stage air compressor and a paint gun but that all came to a hault when I found out my wife was pregnant. teehee

I'm an estimator at a sitework company and a semi-computer geek, I probably don't have anything to barter with. I'll figure out a way though, to get my foot in the door.

I'll have more pictures on here in the near future, maybe tonight.

Thanks again