Has anyone here every installed any metal replacement patch panels from Chevy Duty? How do they fit compared to stock and how does the metal compare in thickness? Last question - What company sells the best quality patch panels that you have used? I'm looking to buy Chevy Duty's complete rocker panels and their front lower fender tips. Let me know what your results have been and what sheet metal you guys have replaced. Thanks! -Fred ------------- 1966 Chevrolet Shortbed Stepside. 292 engine with Edelbrock 4 barrel+headers+cam & manual 4 speed overdrive. Tons of fun.
Fred - I've ordered a number of patch panels from Chevy Duty and have been quite happy. However.... patch panels for our old trucks often require a bit of 'massaging' for them to work, not the fault of Chevy Duty, it's just that factory parts are rarely (if at all) available and non-oem suppliers get as close as they can and still keep the price reasonable. Also, some pieces offered for the 60-66 are actually 67-72 parts that cannot be used as whole pieces, but a part of the piece will generally do the job. Example, the front floor pans are 60-66 and fit okay with some minor pounding, but the rear floor pieces are 67-72's which only about a third of the piece is the same as the 60-66. The best bet is to cut away as little of the original piece on your truck as possible and use what's needed out of the replacement piece. I've been happier with the results when I did that instead of trying to use the entire replacement piece. Even though it took a little extra effort to use the 67-72 parts, it still was better than trying to form the pieces from scratch. The only piece I couldn't find and had to make from scratch was the bottom of the front door pillar. Maybe it's available now. As far as the thickness of the metal, it seemed to be comparable to stock. When you order, they should be able to tell you what is really 60-66 parts and what is 67-72, just to prevent any confusion. Brent
Beware of lower outer door skins. I just ordered one from ##### and it came in bent all to heck. It almost looks like it was made that way. The way it's bent, it does not look like it was bent in shipping. Attachments: https://talk.classicparts.com/images/attachments/Caution
