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Patch panels

drivea55

drivea55

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Well, the heat wave here in Texas seems to be relentless, but I want so bad to work on the truck.
I've started ordering parts today, as I've still got about 4 weeks to wait on my new motor. I got under the truck to look at the cab corners, and while I obviously need to replace both inner and outer cab corners on the left side, the inner of the right side looks okay. What I'm wondering is that since the inner and outer are basically right up against each other, and the outer on the right side is pretty eaten up, should I just go ahead and do the inner as well? It appears as though in order to cut out the outer, the inner is gonna be cut as well.
Any help would be much appreciated. For the one(s) that do help, you've got an open invitation to come enjoy some of this wonderful weather we're having. No rain in over a month. Triple digit heat every day for about two weeks. I've seen 106 and 107 on several occasions. Of course all you guys in AZ don't count :D
 
I did the outer cab corners on my 57 . You can cut the outer cab corners carefully with grinder and 4" cut off wheel . I made a tool to put an off set in the sheet metal so you can us cleco's to hold in place while you tack weld the patch panel . I like doing it this way instead of butt joining the patch panel. Use short 1" welds with 1" to 2" spacing between welds to prevent warping the matterial. The tool i made is at work i'll bring it home and take some pictures of it and post tommorrow.
Good luck
Bobby
 
Hey Steve,
here's the pictures of the tool i made to put a step on the cut out section of the cab corner. I didn't have chance to make a sample at work, tommorrow looks like a better day to make it and i should have it posted some time in the a.m .
Bobby
 

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Woody, Their was a Great Article In Custom Classic Trucks Or Classic Trucks On Replacing
Patch Panels On our Year Trucks Cab Corners, I Followed This Article and Left Out The
Inner Panels Of My Truck! It Just Made Seance To Me To Leave It Out as I Think Its The
Major Cause Of it Rusting Out To Begin With. If You Going a 100% Restore Ya I Would Put
it Back In But I am Not Going The Stock Route and You Don't Notice It Gone Unless Your
Underneath The Truck and You Know Their Was a Inner Panel Their.
You Don't Have The added Co$t Of The Inner Panels Also
I Also Like Butt Welding The Panels In Also To Me Its Not That Hard to Tack Weld In Place, Also I Cut a Vertical Cut In Mine Like The article Showed as The Panels Did Not
Fit Right to My Cab and After I Did It Lined Up Great and Looks Perfect.
I Also Bought The Butt Weld Clamps That Harbor Freight Has and You Could Use Them
To Hold The Panel In Place as You Tack Weld.
Butt Welding the Joint Together Is Just My Personal Preference Everyone Has Their
Way Of Doing Things!
If I can Find The Article I Will Let You Know What Month & Year For You
Allen
 
I saw the same article and considered the butt joint,i was more comfortable with putting a step in the patch panel then cleco in place then weld. A liitle extra time with the same result.I do agree with not replacing the inner corner.It made life a whole lot easier.Use the welding method your most comfortable with and you'll be fine. Don't be affraid to make a test piece before attacking the real thing. Practice makes perfect. Wow,I just sounded like my Dad .today is a good day.

Good luck
Bobby
 
Woody,
Here's the sample piece i fabbed up for you i hope these help. I used the modified vise grips to put a step in the black piece of material. Using the raw piece of sheet metal i cleco'ed the two pieces of metal together to creat a flat surface joint. Weld, grind, and fill.This worked well for me. Like i said earlier, Use the method that works well and is comfortable for you and you will be happy with the results. I hope this info helps.
Good luck
Bobby
 

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Allen and Bobby,
Thanks guys for the tips. Bobby, I'm worried with your method, that putting the step in, may be difficult in tight places, and around curves. Plus, the steps to make the tool, and the cost of the clecos. I'm sure none of this is that big a deal, but I had originally wanted to do the butt welding procedure.
Allen, Thanks for the help, and if you do find this article, I would be most interested in seeing it. Also, thanks for the source for the clamps. I'll probably go by HF today and look. I needed some blast media anyway. My plan had been to just hold the pieces together with strong magnets. That sounded easy enough, as long as my welding is perfect...............NOT. I'm sure there would have been a lot of trial and error, mostly error.
Bobby, I hope making the examples for me wasn't too much trouble, and I do appreciate it. Not to sound too anal, but I was also worried that deep down inside my pee brain, I would always know that if I looked hard enough, I would see the splice on the back side.
 
You Could Also Try Custom Classic Trucks Also They Both Seam to Run The Same articles
and There Sights Both Look Similar,I Tried<(Cab Corners) in the Search Column and It will
Give You Many Months of Articles,This Article That I am Talking about Had The Guy Replacing Cab Corners and Inside Steps,and I Think also Lower Hinge Pocket If I am Not
Mistaken! Any way a Good Article & If I Can Find It I Will Let You Know gotta Dig Threw
All My saved Mags To Find. Woody HF had The Clamps in the Welding Section If That helps!
Allen
 
Hey Bobby,I Was Talking With Some Car Guys That are What I would Call Real Purist and
They Said, and I Quote That with Using a Flange Tool that you get a thicker area at that
Point and they said with a Temperature Change in the Metal You Will See a Band or Line
in That Area Threw The Paint and That is Why Some of them Don't Like Going This Route
Bobby, I am Not Trying to Beat This Subject To Death and Beating you Down On This
as I have Used The Flange With Helping Some Of my Friends Projects,Just Wondering
If You Have Ever Come Across this in Seeing This in The Paint, Ive Never Noticed It in
Some of My Friends Cars But Never looked For It Either! I Guess it Could Happen
FWIW,Allen
 
never had a problem. the body shop liked it and i can't see any line on the corner patch or on the rear fenders i repaired. This is a technique i've used over the years working on racecars and applied it to my truck with good results. no hard feelings.the forum is here to help and give ideas to those who want to do things themselves,its all good to me.
Bobby
 
Okay guys,
I went to the site BA recommended and read the article. It's pretty much how I envisioned it should go, although I was hoping to avoid body filler. But we'll see. I also went to HF today and bought the butt weld clamps. I also bought some smaller wire for my welder (.023). I have no idea if that's right. I can run a bead, but as far as technical knowledge in welding, I'm clueless. Maybe tomorrow, I'll go find some 18 guage sheet metal and do some practicing.
Now, if only someone would turn the fire in the sky off. It's almost 6:00 PM here and it's still 104 outside. No way I'm tackling this now. Anyway, my patch panels haven't showed up yet. Hope to see them tomorrow.
Thanks for all of your help, and I'll certainly let you all know how it turns out. That is, if it turns out good. If not, I may just disappear :eek:
Woody
 
Bobby,I am Glad You Took It That Way! Just To Let You Know, I Have a Flange Tool In
My Tool Box and Have Done Several Patch Panels That Way! I Have just Found That
The Butt weld has Worked Good For Me On my Truck and Again This is To Help and Not
Cause a Conflict,I Believe That is What This Forum is about Guys Like You and Me Helping
a Fellow Truck Owner Have Fun and Enjoy the Hobby!That is What Its All About!
Take Care My Friend!
Allen
 
Woody (0.23) Is What I am Running in My Millermatic 130 With Shielded Gas
are You Running Shielded Gas ? Cause Once I Did It was a WORLD of Difference!
a Small Skim Coat Of Body Filler is Not Going to Hurt after You Grind The Welds.
Also with Butt Welding You Really are only Putting Down Small Beads Of Weld and
not Welding a Bead, Just Filling in the Seam With Spot Welds and Skipping around To Not generate
To Much Heat In One Area! You Also Want To Remove The Black primer On The Patch Panel were The
weld Will Go, Don't Try To Weld with the Primer Still On You Will have Better Luck with the Butt Joint
Area Down to Clean Metal On Both sides
Apologize If I am Being a Forum HOG!
Again FWIW, and Good Luck With Your Truck,Keep Us Posted!
Allen
 
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Allen,
Ok, I looked at the wire, and it does say .023, but no matter.
I've not tried welding with gas yet. Is it required? This is why I want to get some scrap and try it out first. I have gas welded before, but it was the old school way, with a torch and rod, not with the wire feed welder.
 
Allen,
I read this article this morning from American Welding Society:

Use the smallest wire diameter feasible. Smaller wire takes less heat to melt, which, in turn, heats the metal less. A smaller wire also allows for more control over the weld bead and a better chance of recovering from mistakes because it has a lower deposition rate. That's why professional groups like I-CAR, the Inter-Industry Conference on Auto Collision Repair, recommend using 0.023-in.-diameter wire for most collision repair work. For welding material 18 gauge and thicker, you may be able to use a 0.030-in. wire for higher deposition rates.

For welding mild steel, choose an AWS E70 wire in S-2, S-3, or S-6 classification. For a shielding gas, always use a high argon-based gas such as 75% argon/25% CO2 gas, commonly called 75/25 or C25. Argon carries less heat than pure CO2, and you'll get less spatter.

Does all of this sound right to you? What I get from it, is that I'm using the proper size wire, and it's also not a flux cored wire, which the article recommends against.

It also states "if using a shielding gas", which means to me that it's not required. Please tell me if I'll get a better result using gas. I know there will come a time when I need to, just a little shy about it. Right after I bought the welder, I bought an instructional DVD on Mig welding. The problem I found with the DVD, is that I couldn't stay awake long enough to finish it in one sitting :eek:
 
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